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XIII
A VISION OF SUDDEN DEATH
N the mountains of Spain you sometimes meet a
curious creature. From afar it resembles a gigan-
tic beast, which, presenting a pointed tail ahead of it
and dragging a great yellow head behind, dashes in
and out down the crooked mountain paths, the dust
rising in clouds about it. On closer view it turns out
to be a great omnibus rocking along behind a team of
as many as fourteen mules, head to tail in long pro-
cession. Only the two animals closest to the vehicle
are paired, the rest are in tandem.
On the first mule of the procession rides el delantero,
the outrider. This man guides the course of the long
file and in ancient days, when there were no railroads,
he was often obliged to sit in the saddle for three days
and three nights running. ‘There is quite a distance
from the outrider to the omnibus. On the seat of the
omnibus sits el mayoral. He holds the reins of the
two wheel-mules and with their aid guides the vehicle,
which, owing to the sharp curves of the mountain
paths, is often going in a direction opposite to that of
the outrider. The mayoral also has the important
duty of applying the brakes, besides being responsible
for the entire outfit. He has a lash with a short handle
and a long tail, which can reach the third animal ahead
of him; and besides, he has el zagal, a boy fourteen
or fifteen years old, who runs by the side of the car-
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