There was a feller, Barlow, that was known all over the country
for the mules he raised. One day one of his neighbors came by
and said he wanted to buy a three year old red. Well, they traded
awhile and finally struck a deal, and the neighbor paid the man.
The neighbor asked Barlow if he would keep the mule for a couple
more days so he could build a new stall. This made Barlow nervous,
but he agreed.
A couple of days later, Barlow went to deliver that mule, but
the neighbor wasn’t home. So Barlow backed up the truck to
the new stall and commenced unloading the mule. In the unloading,
that spirited mule got turned crossways, reared up, fell over,
and broke his danged neck. Well Barlow left him there and headed
home, because he didn’t want to give up any of that money.
Two days passed, three, a whole week, and not a word from the
neighbor. Barlow’s conscience began to bother him, so he
decided to drive by the neighbor’s house to see what was
going on.
There on the porch sat his neighbor who motioned to him to come
on up. They stood on the porch talking about this and that, and
finally Barlow couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “Well,
how’s that mule?”
“You know, that’s the funniest thing. That mule broke
his fool neck.”
“I sure am sorry to hear that. You know I feel real bad
and I’d be willing to give you some of that money back.”
“Oh no, that’s o.k., Barlow, I actually made out pretty
good on him.”
“Would you like to tell me how you made money on a dead
mule?”
“I sold lottery tickets on him.”
Cover photo courtesy
The Library of Congress
“You sold lottery tickets? Didn’t people get mad?”
“Naw . . . well, except for that feller that won. He got
to acting so ugly, I give him his dollar back.”
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