| Show q WHALEN'S LUCK LUCIe luck was copious Whalen's luck was copious and itt it t. t t became proverbial The facts here recorded re- re 1 corded are aro but specimen pages from ther the r book of his experience When the Consolidated Canal Cana company com corn pany went into insolvency its assets r consisted of at a mortgaged ged t tight of way through the sagebrush sagebrush and several completed com corn but detached sections of a big ditch Mi Alz Brick Whalen the contractor on sec section on 8 3 34 had bad finished tho the heavy work there and was preparing to move camp to section B 6 when the company went vent broke It was in fact upon the very day the the suspension was vas posted that Whalen having bad his contract work inspected took the en engineers engineer's certificate tip up to headquarters to get his check He received instead a statement that the r company was vms in m temporary difficulties and an assurance that it would soon resume re re- sume Whalen bad had before this worked for shaky corporations Be He knew better and lost no time timo in acting on ou his knowledge No good howlin over a broken pipe or or try in to save Eave the pieces he be told himself To his To-his his gang of 2 20 men he said Bys the company's broke and so am 1 1 I 1 can cant can't t pay ye and I cant can't feed ye You got to rustle the matter with us ns taking the mules said one ono Them mules nud dont don't belong be long to me as Ive I've often told ye It said Whalen whose custom it was Vas to refer to a legendary backer This ditching outfit is lathe the prop property of Martin of San Francisco and aud any man Dlan that meddles with it will ill get the tho sheriff after him It Ill Ill I'll tako take one ju just t the same said Enid Shorty and aud tell Martin ho he can have him again when my wages is paid That ThatA s about fairA fair fan A few others took the same view view of the equities equines involved IU and nud took mule to which Whalen made marIe only a wordy resistance Most Alost of the men were induced induced lu in- in to accept orders on ou the defunct company for the amount due them payable with large largEl interest 10 And if yon you don dout dont t get it very ery soon toon the Interest will vill double your jour money woney said said Faid Whalen When the 1 last man had bad gone goue Whalen went vent out to the corral cerral aud and counted the mu Forty oue bead That was a pretty close call said gaid beIt be It was late in JU the season to find an an- other job lob of scraping but the mules N could not live li on ou s sagebrush and were at once started for the railroad On Ou a ar r small email stream where camp camp- was made One oue one night a n baud of trail sheep was vas also camped Whalen eyed them dis dis- I I 1 eat cat sago sage said said he Why certainly replied the sheep V f mau nau the finest kind cf of feed for sheep 1 wish work mules would do do that r r said Brick I I 1 never uever w was s so near a ar r sheep in my life he continued The smell of em cm a mile away is enough for forme forme me Funny little litHe fellows and aud they leak tome some like mules mulct with ears and tails cut cutoff off What do you rou do with them Double our money on them every 12 months was the tho reply No extended description of s sheep ep farming would have impressed the fancy of the veteran mule skinner but double your mone money was his bis own awn f fa phrase e for describing any hope hopes hopeful ful ml venture and on that evening be smoked many p pipes Pf'S of black plug over it A brute that can thrive e on a 0 brush brash diet and aud double doable Ar your monty money every y year is au interesting ng creature At daybreak was VIlS in iu the sheep R camp negotiating a u trade cf sheep steep for mules ou on a u basis bagi of 50 to I and pre prepared pared to accept mach less leEs Three days later he be sat fiat at in the door of the shack which hall had long Jong done duty as mess house bonse ou on section 3 8 of the canal as V many an au evenin evening before he be h had bad id sat watching the mules mule come iu in in from water vater TonIght th there re was never a mule in sIght bight Down the breeze came a pungent odor oder and a n tinkling of little Halo bells Over the crest cres of an adjacent hill bill appeared the flock browsing on ou the tilo rank sage cage They do look Jook some liko lika mules It he hI soliloquized and Ill I'll bet Im I'm the only Irishman in m America ever owned a n asherd herd sherd of or sheep ep Winter came callie and pa passed sed und and the only Irishman prospered By Dy in a cut with brush be he had commodious sheds and cross crass sections of poles divided the broad ditch into as many corrals II as us he chose The sheep were vere fat and carried heavy fleeces Whalen had for help two boys who ho had wandered there and aud asked He lIe had proposed to hire biro one oue of lIf them but the boys protested protest J that they bad hl never been separated and that if they Athe other got jobs at Dt different ranches one wouldn't know where the other one Yone was was a in which vich they could not elude So Whalen offered to take the two Vo at It the lie price o lI ono one and auel co ct ca that basis they shared with him biD the th and cooked tin till shack herded the flock grub They goon eoon knew as ns much or as all little about sheep as IS Brick himself t and the th proprietor found opportunity to to break the monotony of camp life by railroad and occasional trips trip to the once to San SaU Francisco V tI see friend d Martin Mar Mer Martin Im Im I'm going to Ic se le my tin he ho told the toj Now No tend lend t to 10 business cud and dou dont don't t let any suy pet get away Iud And the boys boy f fafe c fb their heir ir wi woid Brat t on one hond s cp P Dat Darn t J ti fawns fawn's N J t in the the pity city Iff u. u it e rp il I j f V 8 i T pc r. r 0 0 r iF f 5 i j. j r rz ant z oVa autun u Luau ut uti i lilt tUlU Ie 1 previous The instruction to the boys was fulfilled to the tho letter Not any got away It happened on a hot bot day in June when contrary to the usual custom the boys brought the flock Sock to camp and the shade of sheds at noontime It never rains in m that arid region but sometimes pours This was one of those times Charged with ire ice and aud Jd water vater a n great grent black cloud came drifting down the wind and aud emptied out oat its load loid upon apon the camp and the hillside above it it The canal curving around its base formed an nn eave trough for the whole mountain and poured several thousand inches of water into Whalen's improvised sheep sheds Thu Tho flood very soon subsided but v when hen the tLe cloud had bad passed and ancI the sun again shone forth there were no living sheep Not many mony minutes are required to drown a rat iu in a It hole Meanwhile the boys greatly frightened frightened fright fright- ened by the tho sudden sadden storm and with no thought for the safety of the flock were vere in the shack The hail pounded and aud the wind shook it Water covered the floor II Pray Billy It said the one cue on the barrel No uNo you yon do it it he answered from the table top The TLe shack bad had ro 10 window and with the door closed it W wa was l pretty dark in there When Whalen r reached ached homo home two t i hours hoars later the floor was still wet and ond the boys were yet roosting on au table and I Ithe barrel but outside in the bright sunlight sun sun- Ji light ht the ground appeared already almost al most mOISt dry A solitary goat goit stood upon the tho shed roof He bad had been among the sheep au iu the pen pell You You cant can't keep a n good goad man moo down any anymore more than you yoa can a goat JJ was Bricks Brick's comment on the catastrophe While Whalen was WitS working the boys double doable time tune at pulling pallin the wool from the dead sheep be he bad had the happy thought of stocking hi his bis ranch with bees Hav Having ug money enough from the of his wool sale to buy A be he promptly carried the tho thought into effect Again be sat down fown in door of his bis shack to double his bis money montY JJ This is Letter better than sheep said he for they herds lards themselves And they are like mules moles in iu one cue thing You yon yon are liable to get hurt if you yon fool with t em em m This wave of prosperity broke up as soon as former ones had done doue for IJ M hA had imported a 0 bad case awe of foul brood and aud within u a year the hundred swarms had petered out When we went down do there last summer in th the interest of a n anew anew new company which has bas taken up ap the work of completing the canal Whalen gathered the bones out of the old shed in the cut and aud hauled them to the railroad railroad rail rail- road where he sold them for fertilizer realizing enough to buy tw two more 0 more mules With his four mule team be he is at work worl in the ditch for days day's wages Somewhat grizzled now and aud not Dot so brick red of hair bair and whisker as S formerly be he u is happy as ever and sanguine that bo ho will jouble his money II Heres Here's hoping that he may G Q 3 B. B Dunham in San Francisco Argonaut |
