The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-11-28

One day the King Of Burgia. who was
the Ruler of the Sun. Stars and Moon
and boss of the Seven Seas. and the only
man in the world who could make the
moon turn q back handspring, decided
to take a little walk out into the country
The great King said nothing to his
couriers but put on q suit Of clothes fully
| as Jaunty as those Of crockery house
drummer. and got away by the alley gate
when he desired to strike a eross-road- II
was q walk of another mile, unless he
could find q short cut. In looking around
him, he saw path leading across held
and was climbing the fence to take II.
when his eye caught q nearby sign The
sign read:
NO bull for me!' said the Ruler. as he
dropped back to the ground. Il can take
a kick from q mule as well as the next
man, but I'll be hanged II want to be
tossed twenty feet high and be pinned to
the ground by q pair Of horns when l
come down.
Therefore the long way was taken. and
when the King had arrived at the cross
road he found a peasant smoking his pipe
in contentment as he leaned on his gate.
II was the peasant who spoke first. He
said.
Lord, man, you are all covered with
dust Why ala you take this road. when
YOU could have saved half the distance
by taking a path across my held!
IT was about to take it," replied the
King. when ! saw the sign you had nall
counter your bull"
"Oh. that sigh. eh7 Why. that was
nailed up there fve years ago and there
four years. You should have come right
along"
You could not have told by the sign.
of course. but II you had only walked
half a mile farther. farmer Smith would
have cheerfully told you that he helped
me skin the old bull many a long month
well, I will take the path and go
back" muttered the King. and ! Will
tear down the sign as come TO Il e..
peasant. but II I were you. would
leave Il as a warning to others"
The King had proceeded by the path
only about twenty rods. when ne heard
COW charging him as II she meant TO
! wipe him of the earth. II wasn't very
digniied thing in King. but this one
struck a $40 pace and reached the fence
iust twelve inches ahead Of the horns.
The peasant came down to him and the
King hailed him with:
How now. vile catin, Here Is more Of
your misleading signs and II Ike 20 nave
cost me serious intury-even my life"
Sir" replied the peasant. Il admit
that q COW Is not bull. but she also mas
Q horns. sign OF. beware OF tHt nun
should also mean Beware of the Cow:
Farmer Johnson. a mile up the road,
could have told you that when my ola
bull died I bought a COW OF him
Darn your lodgings" shouted the
King. but neither your dead bull nor
your living COW can blum me- / will go
back by the highway because l want TO
study the bull-thistles by the wayside:
but I will ignore your sign again and
reach there by the path. come OF fam
fly which generally does what II wants
to do
The peasant Rrinned a grin or two but
said nothing, and the King went his way
until he once more stood before the sign.
Beware of the Bull he read. and that
also means Beware Of the Cow. but II
can't mean anything further. The COW
has disappeared and ! will now take the
path in peace.
He had traversed half the distance
when a fierce bleat came to his ears OF
a sudden. and he looked to his right to
see an old ram coming down on him like
a tornado. A great King should not run
from a ram. but this King did not care
to take the chances. He knew little
about natural history but he remembered
of once reading that a rams head was
so hard that he could 20 through stone
wall two feet thick. He was no stone
wall. He wasn't a foot thick. He there
fore made rapid transit to the nearest
tree and Skinned up just in time to es-
cape the impact. He yelled from his
perch to the peasant and the latter came
strolling down to be addressed with:
Darn your picture Here is more OF
your blamed old siRns!''