"For the lands sakes alive!" he gasped, "what's that thing?"
"A stage that runs by electric power," Jack replied.
"And what's the trouble with you, sir?"
"I've been having an awful time with Eliza."
"Eliza? Who is she?"
"My mule."
"Oh! It looks as if she had been cutting up tricks."
"You'd ought to have seen her; consarn her old hide–and you'd have pitied me. She's the blamedest stubborn critter I ever seen. Once she gets her back up and quits, there's no use trying to go no farther. Look at the way she left me."
"Pretty sad sight."
"I should say so. She took a sudden notion to stop right here, I coaxed and cajoled her, but she wouldn't budge. Then my dander riz, I spit on my hands and hit her a whang on the tail, and she raised up her heels and kicked out like a battering ram."