The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1910-01-13
MIR. DOOLAN'S
TEAM
BY MAX ADELER
By MAX ADELER


an lrishman named Par Doolan. One
OF Mr. Doolan's duties is to take care
Of team OF mules They are very ec-
centric mules. and some OF his expert
ences with them have been peculiar.
One day last winter the near mule, by
one OF those extraordinary accidents
which never happen to any fourlegged
animal but a mule, managed while
rubbing his hind quarters against a
board fence. to get his tail through a
hole in one of the boards Keyser's
boy saw II there, and, selling a tough
stick, tied the tail Of the mule firmly
to It; and when the mule found that
he could not get away, he stood there
as calmly as II he never expected any
thing else. After awhile Mr. Doolan
called the mule several times with
out producing any motion from the
animal ThereupoD, in furious rage.
he rushed at 1t with a club, and, whack-
ing 1t over the head, said:
Won't nina. won't ye Be the pow
ers. III knock the head off OF ye II
ye don't"
Then ne hit the brute another blow
and the mule, making one conyulsiye
effort pulled down four panels OF
fence, and, starting at a trot, ran the
fence against Mr. Doolan, knocked him
down, scraped the fence over him,
tore his clothes, and knocked the skin
of of him in half dozen places. When
lie arose the mule was flying around
the barn-yard With four boards and Il
post still hanging to its tail Mr.
Doolan looked at the animal a min
ute and then exclaimed:
Mother OF Mosesl But I'd give a
thousand dollars to know how that
haste iyer fixed that stick on his tail
and crawled through the hole in the
fencel"
Mr. Doolan and his wife lived on the
farm in a little cabin in the corner OF
a field. One night the mules were pas
turing in the field and in order TO
keep them from jumping the fence
they we're tied together by rope of
considerable length. Mr.. Doolan's
house has no cellar, but is supported
by bricks placed beneath the four
corners. The mules during the night
wandered one on one side of the cabin
and one on the other, and as soon as
the rope became taut both of them
pulled A second later the cabin slid
off the bricks ard came to the ground
with thump Mr.. and Mrs. Doolan
awoke in great agitation and Mr. Doc
Ian said:
What the diyil's that Is It an airth-
quake, Biddy"
Then the mules gave another jerk,
and Mr. Doolan said
"Begorra it Isl Dye feel that now?
Shakin' like ship In a gaIe!"
Mr.. Doolan ran for the door, in
tending to escape before the root fell
in, but the door opens outward and
the rope was against it, Then he
concluded that it was not an earth
quake, but robbers, and he went to
the window to reconnoiter The mules
we're ON the blind side OF the house,
giving an occasional tug. Mr.. Doolan
looked out Of the window in front and
could see nothing; he gazed from the
window on the left side, and nothing
was there; he peeped through the
easement on the right side. and moth
ing appeared Then he was scared,
and he said:
~Biddy, acushla, but don't It bate
Banagher? / believe it's the ould boy
himself"
AT that moment the mules united in
pull, and they succeeded in turning
the cabin completely upside down;
the bedstead, the stove. and the crock
cry were piled upon the Doolans as
they lay against the ceiling, in man
ner that was awful to behold
Half-wild with fright they crept to
the window and reached the open air.
It was a moonlit night, and the mules
were grazing close by, with the rope
around the pump. Mr. Doolan under
stood the situation in a moment, and
he expressed his opinion OF those ami
mails in the Ballyhudeen dialect with
such ygor and voeiferousness that he
started all the ROSTERS for miles round
10 growing.
Next morning he resigned, but he
reconsidered his determination after
Keyser fixed the cabin up again for
him, and he is still chief engineer Of
that team He ties the mules in the
stable, now, al night. though