Jumper is the Coates family’s mule. Named “Jumper” because of his incredible jumping skills, he’s is a docile and easygoing animal who gets tired easily and hates doing too much work. Jumper’s laziness sometimes annoys Travis—yet Jumper is always ready when Travis needs him most, such as when Old Yeller gets mauled by wild hogs, and Travis and Mama rig a sling so that Jumper can drag Old Yeller back home.
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Jumper Character Timeline in Old Yeller
The timeline below shows where the character Jumper appears in Old Yeller. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...after the lunch, Travis hurries out to finish planting corn. He hooks the family’s mule, Jumper, to the plow and gets to work; he wants to finish by sundown. Jumper is...
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Chapter 3
After milking the cows, Travis grabs his rifle and saddles Jumper up with some ropes to carry back any doe he might catch. Travis and Jumper...
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Chapter 11
...will not leave Old Yeller to die. He defies Mama, goes outside, and starts readying Jumper for the journey. Soon, Mama is at his side, ready to find a way to...
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...starts tending to Old Yeller’s wounds. She orders Travis to get a long hair from Jumper’s tail, then pulls a sewing needle from her pocket and starts sewing up Old Yeller’s...
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...care of him as they ride home on a cowhide full of pillows tied to Jumper’s harness. Arliss is excited to ride home on the hide. Jumper puts up with the...
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Chapter 15
...still aren’t home, which makes Travis deeply worried and uneasy. He knows that they have Jumper and Old Yeller with them—still, however, he can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong....
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Chapter 16
About a week later, as Travis feeds Jumper some lunch, he hears Mama yelling at Little Arliss’s speckled pup—the one fathered by Old...
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