Howbeit,
it was the turning-point of Billy's career; such restraint as kindness,
civilization, or even policemen had exercised upon his nature was gone.
He retained, I fear, a certain wicked intelligence, picked up in San
Francisco with the newspapers and theatrical and election posters he
had consumed. He reappeared at Rocky Canyon among the miners as an
exceedingly agile chamois, with the low cunning of a satyr. That was all
that civilization had done for him!
If Mr. M'Ginnis had fondly conceived that he would make Billy "useful,"
as well as companionable, he was singularly mistaken. Horses and mules
were scarce in Rocky Canyon, and he attempted to utilize Billy by making
him draw a small cart, laden with auriferous earth, from his claim to
the river. Billy, rapidly gaining strength, was quite equal to the task,
but alas! not his inborn propensity. An incautious gesture from the
first passing miner Billy chose to construe into the usual challenge.
Lowering his head, from which his budding horns had been already pruned
by his master, he instantly went for his challenger, cart and all.
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