Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-12-19
BILL LET CO or THE MULES EAR.
hut Not tntu He'd Added a Chapter Il
the History OF the War.

In the rotunda OF the Auditorium no.
tel recently several veterans of the war
of the rebellion were seated around in a
circle telling Of some of their war expe-
rleAces. One of them related the fol-
lowing incident:
Gun regiment was in camp at Har.
pcrs Ferry, and IN bright morning a
comrade and | secured permission to
visit a farm house some distance away,
where we knew there was some poul.
try. We rode horses aud had some
money in II pockets to purchase the
chickens and turkeys we desired, for
on this occasion we had made up onr
minds 10 forego foraging but later cir.
cumstances arose that made it neces-
sary Tor MS to forget Our good reSolu.
tons. Turning our horses into a grass
field which was but a short distance
fl ON the house We left them 10 Craze al
will. On reaching the house we met
the farmer on All old-fasnioned porch
that ran the whole front of the quaint
farmhouse. told the farmer that We
had come to buy some OF his poultry.
at which his southern blood began TO
boil. He swore he'd rather see every
chicken ap' turkey on the place rot be-
fore he wO, sell them 10 any -
Yankee for a Thousand times what thew
were worth. That settled it with M.
Our northern blood had reached fire
heat. We could not stand such an in
suit and went straightwav to the baru.
where "A fine lot OF fowls were pecking
grain. Ii did not take us long TO tie
the legs OF II goodly number of chickens
and turkeys. As | was in the act of
tying up the legs of a proud go6bler |
looked up and 10 my dismay SAW com
Ing up the lane a small company OF
confederate cavalry. | took in the sill.
uation at n glance. | knew we had not
time TO reach our horses, aud to escape
on foot was impossible. In the barn
yard We're two fine, seek mules.
Throwing my string OF fowls over the
back OF one and jumping astride the
animal | shouted to Bill that was the
first name OF my comrade--to follow
pS ssa on RRisd taken Ike di bat a few Jumps
when | heard Bill" shout:
"Holy smoke! He's baked. Jim"
| looked around and sure enough the
mule had baked. The Johnuies were
close at hand, and | shouted back to
"Biip:
Crawl on his neck, Bill and chew
his ear"
"Bill' lost NJ time in trying the eX-
pertinent. He got the end of the ami
mails long ear into his mouth and began
operations. The mule gave a squeal.
like that OF Il stuck pig, and rushed
madly after its mate, which | was rid
ing on, for dear life. Suddenly l saw
something loom up and rush past me.
1t was "Bill' and his mule. Bills"
teeth were imbedded in the animals
ear. aud blood trickled down the. side OF
its head. Bill WAS ali bumped up on
the back of his mad steed and presented
a most ludicrous sight. The turkeys
Hoped their wings aud the chickens
made a terrible %clatter. which only
served to make the mule go faster. !
heard the Johnnies behind us laugh.
They fired at us. but we were not hit.
| am sure that they could not have bit
"Bill," for he was being carried along
at a great speed.
Through the picket line of our regi-
ment and on through the camp went
Bills mule. the fowls bobbing up and
down at every jump. As soon as l
knew we were out of reach of the en-
envy / gathered all OF my lung power
and shouted:
Let so the mules ear, Bill we're
safe"
bill" heard me and let 60. He final
~ succeeded in stopping the mule.
whose sides went in and out like 4 big
bellows. An examination showed Bill"
had chewed over half the mules ear
og. "Bill" allowed it was the toughest
bit OF meat he had ever tackled, but
that night he got square on roast tur-
KEY and chicken. We lost two of the
best horses in our army.-Cmicage
Tribune.