Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1897-12-02

sral completed but detached sections OF
big ditch.
Mr.. Brick Whalen. the contractor on
section No. 8. had finished the heavy
work there, and was preparing to
move camp to section No. 6 when the
company went broke. 1t was, in fact,
Upon the very day the suspension was
posted that Whalen, having lad his con-
:ract work inspected, took the engin-
GERS certificate up to headquarters TO
get his check. He received instead a
statement that the company was in
temporary difficulties and an assur-
ance that it would soon resume. j.
Whalen had before this worked for
shaky corporations; he knew better,
and lost no time in acting on his
knowledge.
mo good howlin' over broken pipe
'r tryin' to save the pieces he told
himself. To his gang of twenty men
ne said: "B'ys, the company's broke,
and so am I. 1 can't pay We, and 1
can't feed We. You got to rustle.'
Whats the matter with us taking
The mules?" said one.
Them mules and scrapers don't be-
long to me, as I've often told ye," said
Whalen, whose custom it was to refer
20 legendary hacker. "This ditching
outtit is the property of Martin, of San
Francisco, and any man that NEEDLES
With 1t will get the sheriff after him."
"I'll take one, just the same" said
Shorty, land tell Martin he can have
hlm again when my wages is paid.
That's about fair
A few others took the same view of
The equities involved, and took mules,
% which Whalen made only wordy
resistance. Most of the men were in
ducod to accept orders on the defunct
company for the amount due them,
payable with large interest. sAnd if
you don't get it very soon, the interest
will double your money!" said Whalen.
When the last man had gone, Whalen
went out to the corral and counted the
mules. "Forty-one head; that was a
pretty close CALL" said he.
1t was late in the season to find an
other job of scraping, but the mules
;ould not live on sagebrush, and were
1t once started for the railroad. On
small stream where camp was made
one night, a band of trail sheep was
also camped. Whalen eyed them dis
painfully.
II see the beggars eat sage" said
lie.
why, certainly" replied the sheep
nan; that's the finest kind of feed
:or Sheep"
Il wish work mules would do that"
laid Brick. Il never was so near a
sheep in my life" he continued; "the
smell OF EN- mile away is enough for
ne. Funny little fellows, and they
ook some like mules, with ears and
,ails cut off. What do you do with
hem?"
Double our money on them every
welve MONTHS" was the reply.
No extended description of sheep
arming would have impressed the
ancy of the veteran le-skinner, but
double your money" was his own ia
niliar phrase for describing any hope
Jul venture. and on that evening he
'moked many pieces of black plug
over it. A brute that can thrive on a
brush diet and double your money
,very year is an interesting creature,
At daybreak, Whalen was in the
;heep-camp negotiating trade of
sheep for mules on basis of fifty to
,ne, and prepared to accept much less.
Three days later, he sat in the door of
he shack which had long done duty
IS messhouse on section of the ca
aal, as many an evening before he had
'at watching the mules come in from
water. Tonight there was never
mule in sight. Down the breeze came
4 pungent odor and a tinkling of little
| oelles. Over the crest of an adjacent
ill appeared the flock browsing on the
ank sage.
''They do look some like mules" he
;oliloquized, "anl I'll bet I'm the only
TlSnman Ill America ever owned
,erd of Sheep
Winter came and passed, and the
only Irishman prospered. BY roofing
n cut with brush he had commodious
sheds, and cross sections of poles d.
vided the broad ditch into as many
:orrals as he chose. The sheep were
at and carried heavy fleeces.
Whalen had for help two boys who
had wandered there and asked for
work. He had proposed to hire one of
hem, but the boys protested that they
lad never been separated, and that if
they got jobs at different ranches the
other one wouldn't know where the
,ther one was" a contingency which
hey could not abide. So Whalen Of
'ered to take the two at the price of
me, and on that basis they shared
With him the shack, herded the flock,
md cooked the grub. They soon knew
IS much. or as little, about sheep as
Brick himself,and the proprietor found
opportunity to break the monotony Of
camp life by occasional trips to the
abroad, and once to San Francisco