"And you look like a dead mule," I thought, but didn't say it out loud.

Take one of the empty saddlebags from the dead mule, old friend.

He dared not try to get over the dead mule while the two warriors waited for his guard to slip.

He probably saw many dead mules, lying on their sides, reduced to pulp.

Then he looked down at Sam, who was still standing before the dead mule.

He began edging backward, but came up against the dead mule.

The nearest Indian screamed and plunged forward, falling over the dead mule.

During his own life lived in the American south, he says, "I have never laid eyes on an actual dead mule."

You can tell it's Southern if it has a dead mule in it.

Most signifiers - even the dead mule - are open to debate.