change his mind, and return to the attack, and conscious that, under the
compromise, I had the best of the bargain, I very resolutely took to my
heels, glad of the opportunity of making a drawn game,[1] though I had
myself given the challenge." A friend of mine, who visited Texas a
little while ago, gives quite an interesting account of a ride he had
through an uninhabited part of that country, where wolves were abundant.
He says: "As there was no road, I was obliged to take the prairie. My
conveyance was a mule, which is, by the way, the best for a long journey
in this country, as it is far more capable of endurance than a horse.
When I had rode about five miles, I found that I had lost my course; and
as the sun was clouded, I had no means of guessing at the route. But I
pushed on, and soon found myself in a dense grove of live oak. Here I
heard a distinct barking, and thought I must be near a house. I rode
toward the place whence the noise seemed to proceed, but soon found that
I had committed a most egregious error; for I was in the very midst of a
pack of wolves, consisting of about a dozen. As you may suppose, I was
terribly frightened, though I had heard that wolves in the country
seldom molest any one traveling on horseback. Still, this interesting
party appeared singularly fierce and hungry, and I opened a large clasp
knife, the only available weapon I had, in order to be prepared for the
contemplated attack. In this way I rode on about a mile, with the wolves
after me, when the whole force quietly dispersed. After riding about
three hours more, I discovered that I had been on the wrong track all
the time, though I was not sure where I was; but it was so dark it was
not safe to go further. So I spread my cloak on the grass, tied my mule
up to a tree, made my saddle into a pillow, and, thus prepared, lay down
for the night. I thought of wolves and snakes for some time, but being
very tired, soon went to sleep."

[Footnote 1: A drawn game at chess, as some of my readers may not be