Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1898-03-31
uhalen's Sheep Ranch.
by G. q. puHHAM.


When the consolidated canal com
pany went into Insolvency its assets
consisted of a mortgaged right of way
through the sagebrush and. several com.
pleted but detached sections of big
ditch.
Mr.. Brick Whalen, the contractor on
section three, had finished the heavy
work there and was preparing to move
camp to section six when the company
went broke. 1t was, in fact, upon the
very day the suspension was posted that
Whalen, having had his contract work
inspected, took the engineers GER
tificate up to headquarters TO get his
check. He received instead statement
that the company was in temporary diff
ficulties and an assurance that il would
soon resume.
Whalen had before this worked for
shalxy corporations; he knew better,
and lost no time in acting on his knowl-
edge
mo good howlin' over broken pipe
or tryin' to save the pieces" he told
himself. To his gang of 20 men he said:
"B'ys, the company's broke and so am
I. l can't pay ye and can't feed ye.
You got to rustic"
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 We" said
Whalen, whose custom it was to refer
to a legendary hacker. This ditching
outfit is the property of Martin, Of San
Francisco, and any man that NEEDLES
with it win get the sheriff after him" "
"I'll take one. just the same" said
Shorty, .'and tell Martin he can have
him again when my wages is paid.
That's about fair"
A few others took the same view OF
the equities involved, and took mules,
to which Whalen made only wordy re-
sistanee. Most of the men were induced
to accept orders on the defunct com
pany for the amount due them. pay
able with large interest. And il yon
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
pretty close call" said he.
1t was late in the season to find an
other job Of scraping, but the mules
could not live on sagebrush and were
at once started for the railroad. On
small stream where camp was made
one night band of trail sheep was also
camped Whalen eyed them disdain-
fully.
IT see the beggars eat sage said he.
why, certainly" replied the sheep
man: that's the finest kind of feed for
sheep"
Il wish work mules would do that"
said Brick 81 never WINS so near
sheep in my life he continued; THE
smell of 'em a mile away is enough for
me. Funny little fellows. and they look
some like mules. with ears and tails cut
off. What do you do with them?'
"Double our money on them every
twelve months" was the reply.
No extended description of sheep
farming would have impressed the
fancy of the veteran mule-skinner, but
double your money" was his own ia
miliar phrase for describing any hope
full venture. and on that evening he
smoked many pipes of black plug over
it. 4 brute that can thrive on brush
diet and double your money every year
is an interesting creature.
AT daybreak Whalen was in the sheep
camp negotiating a trade of sheep for
mules on a basis of fifty to one, and
nrcpared to accept much less. Three
DAYS later he sat in the door OF the
shack which had long done duty as
messhouse ON section three of the canal.
as many an evening before he had sat
watching the mules come in from water
Tonight there was never a mule IN
s;obt Down the breeze came pungeni
odor and a tinkling of little bells. Over
H. crest of an adjacent hill appeared
the flock browsing on the rank sage.
"Tbey do look some like mules. he
soliloouized. land I'll bet I'm the oniy
freshman in America ever owned hefn
winter came and passed. and the only
freshman nrospered. BY roofing IN
49,. ,r;,h brush he had commodions
shsds and cross sections of poles dl-
r;ded the broad ditch into as many cor
rails as he chose. The sheep were i"'
and carried heavy fieeces.
Wholen had for help two boys VINO
Ia ,.andared there and asked for WORK
He had proposed to hire on, one Of. q .p Sad
hut tbe BOYS protested that they e mar, nae
never been separated. and that hat 7 Inc, ,hey
soe Joo o,,, a know where the other ore
one ~ :. Contingency which they could Quiz
was s. .",-.l@lc- S-2rad to 'aAS