The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-02-16

down for hundred yards further, main
tanning its incline, and then fetches up at
the top OF another ledge. That Jumping
off place has also straight up and down
drop Of twenty feet. At the foot of this
ledge is Salem Run, which is fifty feet
wide there and a couple OF feet deep."
"Salem Run may be two miles wide
and fifty feet deep IL it wants to, said
Packy Griswold, breaking in on the red
haired man, "but even then III bet III
wouldn't have a fish in 1t like some o.
them in New York. There was Spanish
mackerel all the way from Spain, and
looking ss plump and fresh as II they'd
only been ketched that morning. And don't
let me see any OF our salmon trout any
more, / don't care how big they are!
/ seen salmon down I'm New York so blame
big that il you could have the skin OF one
dried it would make boat big enough to
fish in up here, when you 60 out on the
lake after salmon trout"
"I see you have good memory" said
the haired man, with a smile, but
wait till you hear about Micky Callahan's
mulesl / stood at the top of that steep,
crooked hill, talking with my friend, when
along came a team of the most respondent,
hopeless looking mules / ever saw. They
were hauling pair OF bob sleds, and the
bob sleds had a load of logs aboard. Tho
driver of the mules stopped them, at the
top OF the hill TO fasten his brake chains.
"'Thats Micky Callahan and his
mules said my friend. Them mules
hain't got no more life in 'em than pair
OF old rubber boots, my friend continued,
Pm always glad when / see 'em raise this
hill in on their way back home, for |
don't want 'em to drop dead around here.
Micky Callahan and his mules started
on down the hill. l couldn't help but
notice that the mules did certainly look
as il sudden Jar would startle life away
from them. They had gone, maybe,
twenty feet, and had reached the spot
where the hill pitches off the steepest,
when the brake-chain separated, and the
bobs and logs began TO push and thump
viciously at the heels of those mules.
"fTheir time has comet exclaimed my
friend. Them mules is goners now, GER
tainp
"The mules let the logs and bobs prod
them two or three times, and then they
awoke to the situation. They didn't
pause and kick, as the ideal mule would
have done, but away they went down that
hill. They went so fast that their legs
lOOktu llht bDOhtb III tlObtihB PaAN
behind n horse going at 210 clip.
"They hain't got time TO die now,
them mules hain'tl' exclaimed my friend,
but they'll be goners when they git to
the bottom
"But they didn't get to the bottom OF
the hill. When they reached the bend in
the hill they didn't turn it. They kept
straight on. Down the high bank they
went, down the sloping field, with the
logs and bobs doing their best to keep up.
When the mules struck that incline and
went on over it they were going so fast
that IL there hadn't been snow on the
ground TO throw them out in relief we
couldn't have seen 'em. 1t was just q
whizz! f-s-s-s-s-h! and the mules had
cleared that stretch of field and the top OF
the first ledge was reached. The mules,
bobs, and logs disappeared as il they
had been swallowed up in the
earth. My friend was about to open
his mouth to say: THAT settles them
mulesp when the logs came in sight, 60
ing like streaks OF lightning down the
second slope toward the other ledge. The
logs had broken loose from the bobs
and shot forward over the heads OF the
mules, but the mules came in sight right
in their wake, with the bobs all safe and
sound behind them. 1t was like looking
at n fleeting shadow passing over buck
wheat field to sec those logs chased by the
mules and the bobs down that white ex-
-panse-The tep-ef the second ledge was
reached, and the whole cavalcsde disap-
peared again. Neither logs, mules, nor
bobs came in sight any more.
"Therep exclaimed my friend, with a
sigh OF relief. 'Nothin' kin ever make
me believe them mules wasn't dead before
they got half way TO the bend in this hill,
but they were pushed so hard that they
couldn't stop. Ifyou want to sell their
shoes, Micky, said he, I'll make you an
offer for 'em.'
"Micky shook his head a. | started
down the hill. Out OF curiosity / went
along with him, and so did my friend,
lust 10 sec how bad those mules were
wrecked. We had a hard job getting
there, but the trip was worth the trouble.
There wasn't much left OF the bobs, and
the logs were floating on down the run.
But there, in the midst of the wreck, and
up TO their knees in water, stood Micky
Callahan's mules, looking just as inde-
pendent as ever and painting little, but
as much alive a. any mules that ever hee-
hawed, and without a mark or a scratch n
on 'em. My friend couldn't say word,
and stood there rubbing his eyes and
pinching himself even after Micky had
led them across-lots TO the bottom OF the
hill. Then my friend found his tongue.
'Micky9' he shouted. I'm give ye $500
for them mulesp
"But Micky said No Two miles down
the run is Sniveley's mill, where those
mules had started TO haul those logs. The
logs got there all right by water, and the
really beautiful thing about the mules is
that they noticed that little fact, and ever
since then they don't waste their time and
strength in making the two-mile journey
down the hill 10 the mill. but just tear
away like hurricane across those sloping
fields and down those perpendicular
ledges, and send the logs the rest OF the
way by waterl'
The red haired stranger paused, un'
rolled his ulster sleeve, and put on his
blue spcctacles. The circle was silent.
Packy Griswold shut up his note book and
left. by and by the red haired man broke
the silence.
And that's why I say"