I now beckoned to a fellow more
sensible-looking than the rest, and told him that I wished to walk and
would take him for a guide, and hoped now to be at rest; but vain
thought! I was in the hands of the Philistines, and getting us up
against a wall, they formed an impenetrable phalanx of men and brutes
thoroughly determined that I should only get away from the spot on the
legs of a donkey. Bethinking myself now that donkey-riding was a
national institution, and seeing a fat Yankee (very like my Paris
friend) mounted, being like myself hopeless of any other means of
escape, I seized upon a bridle in hopes that I should then be left in
peace. But this was the signal for a more furious onset, for, seeing
that I would at length ride, each one was determined that he alone
should profit by the transaction, and a dozen animals were forced
suddenly upon me and a dozen hands tried to lift me upon their
respective beasts. But now my patience was exhausted, so, keeping firm
hold of the bridle I had first taken with one hand, I hit right and left
with the other, and calling upon my guide to do the same, we succeeded
in clearing a little space around us.
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