The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-03-06
ANIMAL SPEECH.
A True story or Two Army Mu1as-1hslr
Conspiracy.

A True story or Two Army Mu1as-1lislr
Conspiracy.
Abe and Joff wore army lnuIas. The pair
had boon the p.ido OF the quartermaster,
under whose special care they Ind been
service.
In tho stables their stalls were adjoining.
When tied to the picket. line they stood side
by side. and In harness they had neyer been
separated, for, being of eqnal size~-large
"wheelefs'' to the headquarters wagon.
In this capacity they were serving when
their regiment changed station in the
spring Of "a.
One day the chums had Il misunder-
standing, and Il kick from one and q bite
friendship. They stubbornly refused to
work together. All the persuasion the
driver could bring to bear in shape of OBJ
Jectlons, WHY, or entreatics made no i'm
preston. The W powerful creatures con-
tlnued to kick and plunge; so Abe, the
sition of wheeler to the more humble
one OF "leadsr" in one of the company
wagon There he was as docile us a kitten.
Ths march proved long and the weather
stormy. Sleet and snow fell for days,
rendering the roads almost impossible. At
uAo OAA "a vi iIAIOA oAG ~ AL VIO AlA
malls we're turned out to Craze on the
sparse grass in a field incloseu with a high
rail fence.
The teamsters had taken a great interest
in Watching Abe and Jeff when near each
other, but ~ yet had noticed no signs Of
rsconciliation On this day. however, Abe
was seen to walk up to a part of the
fence which was rather shnky, and to make
a careful examination of it. He then
walked slowly back to the tho herd, and be-
gan nibbling the gras not far from the spot
whore JET was quietly feeding; He ap-
close up to Jeff, when both mules raised
their heads and looked at each other
squarely in the eye. There was evidently
something in the look Abe gave his old
comrade which jeff understood as willinR-
ness on his part to bury the hatchet.' He
returned q look which plainly said, $50 be,
it," And thus the 1econciliation was eff
fected. Ss ~e "~ Nv
Now. as after circumstances showed, Abe
had a scheme which required more heads
than one TO perfect, and he knew his mule,
80 to speak. So when jeff returned his
look with one equally anicable Abe APP
preached and began to whisper in his ear.
For some minutes the remained in close
oonversation. and then they walked away
from the herd together, side by side, the
teamsters watching them.
The pair stopped when they reached the
weak place in the fence. Abe rubbed his
head against it. Then jeff examined it in
the same way, and struck it two or three
times with his foot. They then went back
to the other animals and were soon quietly
grazing again. The teamsters agreed that
them two chums'' we're concocting some
kind of mischief, and resolved to keep an
eye on them. But when night came the
two mules were sleeping in different parts
of the corral, and the matter was dis
missed.
At %roll-call in the morning, however, Abe
and JEFF were missing. The panel of fence
examined by them the day before was
down. The two big fellows had risen and
made their escape SO quietly that the guard
had not heard a sound.
EMILY IHURsToN.
Copyright. . "@