Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1897-12-23
.ALE N'CR0NKY
AND HIS MULE
The Mule Nzde the Corn
and Was Allowed to
Eat Every Darn Stalk
n il.

-oz- r..rs ago Alex sho
hAt Inherited son. property
and lad sdf-a . fex thousand
dollar By hi- ezeryy. began in
the v-rnaeaisr Of The boys. TO
rol them pretty hi-h.- ard to
the ext@Et that he xx- fOrr-,.
to - between the pleE handles
AID pail a bell cord over a
male
tie worked hopefully enozyh
1oEever. gong To s0sz bal
-e.to7- and rarely ever seeing
a. oiI cham. Bat h- xa< al
yav- eh~>rfal- none ever heard
% Alexis --~tfi1- on tie -,0o.
of rePe1tanee and ehe<inx the
cad u bitterness. he VERY
properly rvz>ose1 that --acl
ihiRgs 10 70 god tie had
mad his day and eEioyed II.
There wz> positively 70 -
n grlevInc over split mix. He
"a. encouraged TO think that
every day 49, a ne~ beginning
AID every morn AS a World
made new Or something 70 that
Effect He often sid that
something might yet turn I'D.
sho eO1if tell.-
There vas AZ least one OF hi.
cad habIte that still eI1nc to
him. namely. he invested a
dollar zach month IN the lottery.
EyeTy month be scanned the
lOug lit and invariably Laid il
aside He knew that lightning
sometimes struck IN he most
oGt-of-the-<sy places and he
patiently hoped that -one ezy
- Sogid get n reward.
Alex had worked faithfully
throughout the spring and his
crop "a. 10 a splendTti cOudI-
iiOn- and one DAY be began to
ploE his young corn for the
ihlrG and last time-iayIng it by.
through the several mOnths
Alex lad pitled h. poor mule.
and congratulated himself that
h- was nearly done for a Sra
son and that he could very soon
give aim hrs long. wIII-.arred
est Old George lad teen
~ faithful. 80 quick 20 respond
20 ali his commands 50 patient
z sunshine and n storm sneu
.alr>ry- when very hungry: OF
Ehen over led hence Alex va
very mech attached 70 I'm and
as aaxIog- to turn Il into
TIE pasture to reeHp@ re5e.
Just before noon 81 tal- par
tleG a. day. one Alexis neigh
50-s rode up to his fence aad
handed hin the latest lit al The
lottery drawing Alex ran h.
eyes over tue long Inst and d.
Covered with al ees.ztic sur
Prise that can be better IuarIn-
I'd tam described that he had
4F2Ea the capital prize OF ssJ.-
'sri- HE sat down and ponder
ed over hl- recent good fortune
a. best be eO4-d- II almost
too much for him 10 fully grasp.
he nu24Iy made soEe sort Of a
summary Of the situation. how
ever. aud thea old What vas
decidedly Characteristic Of the
Man. namely. thought hrsr of
hi- faithful. mule. After a few
minutes he walked deliberately
over to Ekers the little hags.
iaml-ned creature vas standing
aud slowly removed the gear.
lie sas IN the middle of a row
He then surveyed. with his eve.
the twenty acres OF beautiful.
gr0Sing corr IN which he had
taSea 80 much PRIDE and which
Promised 80 much To his eager
IliHd only a few hours before
II last he removed his ewes
Rom ii. crop and thogghtfqlIy
Took the birdie of the mUl,
then gently and earnestly be-
eaa talking TO his old eo-labor-
r. = 4 the dumb animal could
r--ss~Fstand every word he said.
-GeOrge. I've struck il rich and
am going back 10 town To live
An sure that | will be wiser
aud | hope a better man. /
shall try to marry. settle down
and be somebody. van, 10
tell you goodbye. for a time.
and say that I appreciate all
that yOa have done for me. The
landlord thought that since We
we're green hands he would not
experiment with Us. hence lie
gave Us the toughest land. but
6eorge- all agree that you have
Hiaar the oest crop In this
neighborhood- You have worI-
ell hard early. and late. and
often In the evening you have
carried me TO the barn on your
back when you were 80 ex-
haustion that you could hardly
stand Nov George you made
all that corn, and l want you to
eat every darned stalk OF il.
les III pay the rent and We
will m 1rder any man that tries
TO stop you You we're a true
friend and stood b. me .nmy
adversely. and l shant forget
you now, in my prosperity
Ii Is needless to say that old 4
George reyeled in luxury for
many weeks, and until the day
Of his death was never known i
to want for anything that Alex 1
NeCiosky could sgppIy-D. III. 4
A. in Kate Powers Review.