Mexico weekly ledger., 1876-10-26
- 80 ME EsNIFNE |fE
B Mr.. H0gan's CheerfRl Mule.

aASASS S~oAnAAS1'W <bsese0r EPttu
.sin Mr.. Hogan's Cheerfal Mule.
lu =, urohalit.. -T IL Lgno1
Mr.. Hogan of Hogansville had the
most cheerful mule that ever ground
corr, from a cob. He. hasn'tehim now.
The mule isydead. His disposition was
mild and Serene, his manners, for a
mule, were perfect, his hind heelsIwere
held downto earth in a, sturdy, good
natured way, and no amount. of abuse
could induce him to Send them flying
out in search of an enemy,He hadpno
hair on his tail and no vices. The only
mean thing he ever did was to eat up
Hogaf's new straw hat one day. but
then he did 10 in such a scheerfuI, way
tbatlMr. Hogan aforgave him at once,
and has. worn cloth caps ever SINCE.
Hogan is a very positive, stubborn man,
but he loved, his mule, and the 1mtle
loved Hogan as only a mule q love.
It was a question among the neighbors
which was, the more affectionate Of the
TWO. ,[ljI HeY~la eei5r@o - IT,
Mr.. Hogan. had d ebrand-new wagon
built, and, following .asNew York style,
he called it the Flyaway, and had the
name painted on the dashboard. Ito
add to the general, effect, he had a large
fly painted just under the name. Little
did he think when he hitched his mule
to this new Wagonthat hewas stroking
his glossy sides for the last time, and
that before night the fcheerfulness OF
that gentle animal would vanish in
death. 1t was a lovely morning ia
june, and Hogan's rhule, harnessed for
the first time before the new conveys
ance, trotted down the street, looking
perhaps a tritie proud, but still per-
feotly 7contented, and certainly more
B cheerful than ever. bfa! h1as saa -ssa~
H. Mr.. Hogan pulled up at the grocery
store and alighted, and the cheerful
nude was left alone. His look was mild
and bland, happiness sat perched upon
his waving ears, and peaceful serenity
was in every twitch Of bis hairlesstail.
He gazed up the street.. and. he was
cain he turned his great confiding eye
towards the store, and Hooked happy.
In an evil moment this ckeerful mule
looked behind, and he was lost. He
got his mild eye on. the big painted fly
on the dashboard, and he stood trans
fixed. A look of horror came into his
face, his eyes opened widerand wider,
and he, trembled in eyerylimb. He had
switched the piratical blue-bottle from
his sides, he had wrestled with the live.
1y and all devouring potato bug, and he
had4knocked the life out of the savage
grasshopper, but never in ali his eXpe.
rience had he ever encountered q Zoe
like the monster he saw behind him.
His .cheerfulnesss yanishedsia aamo-
ment. He gripped histsethshardsand
gathered himself together, as it were,
and then suddenly he shot out, for the
first time in his life, his hind legs at ar
.eneany9 " He{paut a great deal Of vigol
into this first effort, and after he had
finished he smoothed his wrinkled front
his cheerfulnesss returned, and with
4 something very like smile on his icoun'
tenance he looked back to gaze upon
the mangled remains of his foe. 3.
sEInsaaE probability, he was the mos
Disappointed mule that ever drew the
breath of life. The fly sat there, look
ing bigger and ~uglierthan ever. Mr.
Hogan's cheerful mule gazed at it ont
moment in a dazed, staggered sort o.
way, and then looked asif he had made
up his mind never to be happy again
Once more he gripped his teeth hard
and then he kicked at the fly for ter
minutes right straight ahead, and wher
he looked back, there the insect sa'
looking quite peaceful and contented
Then Hogan's mule lost faith in him,
self. He DANCED q. sort of wild wa
dance for five minutes straight ahead,
then he let out series of terrible kicks
glanced quickly behind to. notice the
effect, and, seeing that awful fly still
there, bolted up the street like mad. .
Alasi the equaole mind of Hogan'
j., mule was gone aforeysrsa In his mae
! career he Slammed the fiyaway into trees
and fences and gate posts and stumps
until all that he carried behind him wa.
a dismal skeleton of shafts and dash
board. 1t was right on the railroad
track, that he finally got rid of these
and then he halted IN his wild figh
and turned about, and The first thins
his flashing eye lit on was the tiy, Of
the dashboard. He was, just then, 9Th
maddest mule inFthe Emitted States"
Hark!a Puff! puff! puff! A whistl
blows it's shrill, hoarse shrek OF warn
ing, a bell rings! Ills the expires
train approaehing!t .aHi a
osHogan's. mule Needed it not. HI
danced around that dashboard, and b
kicked at that fly. He kicked at j
sideways and backyard; he kicked a
it with foot, then lwithstwos feet, am
then with all his feet together. :
~ A shrill whistle, a sudden dasI
around the curve, one lastdespairin.
+ kick, and Hogan's cheerful mule wen
fifteen feet straight up into the air, an
|, came down in twenty-five differen
Iplaces.d s'nGiaaoL a.
r All that Mr.. Hogan ever found of tn
wreck was the dashboard with the Il
on it.-NeW7 York Sun.