all, the nearest thing to a goat was a goat,
and goats were plenty in Franklin. Dennis felt an irresistible longing
to aid Mike--the longing that comes to any healthy man when a request
is accompanied by the legend "Money no object." He wrote that evening to
Mike.

"Dear Mike," he wrote. "I've got two good strong dongola goats I can let
you have cheap. I'm overstocked with dongolas to-day. I want to get rid
of two. Zoo is getting too crowded with all kinds of animals and I
don't need so many dongola goats. I will sell you two for fifty dollars.
Apiece. What do you want them for? Your affectionate cousin, Dennis
Toole, Zoo keeper. PS. Crates extra."

"Casey," said Mike to his friend the saloon keeper when he received this
communication, "'tis just as I told ye--dongolas is goats. I have
been corrispondin' with wan of th' celibrated animal men regardin' th'
dongola water goat, an' I have me eye on two of thim this very minute.
But 'twill be ixpinsive, Casey, mighty ixpinsive. Th' dongola water
goat is a rare birrd, Casey. They have become extinct in th' lakes
of Ireland, an' what few of thim is left in th' worrld is held at
outrajeous prices. In th' letter I have from th' animal man, Casey, he
wants two hundred dollars apiece for each dongola water goat, an' 'twill
be no easy thing for him t' git thim."

"Hasn't he thim in his shop, Mike?" asked Casey.

"He has not, Casey," said the little alderman. "He has no place for
thim. Cages he has, an' globes for goldfish, an' birrd cages, but th'
size of th' shop l'aves no room for an aquarium, Casey. He has no tank
for the preservation of water goats. Hippopotamuses an' alligators an'
crocodiles an' dongola water goats an' sea lions he does not keep in
stock, Casey, but sinds out an' catches thim whin ordered. He writes
that his agints has their eyes on two fine dongolas, an' he has
tiligraphed thim t' catch thim."

"Are they near by, Mike?" asked Casey, much interested.

"Naw," said Toole. "'Twill be some time till I git thim. Th' last he
heard of thim they were swimmin' in th' Lake of Geneva."

"Is it far, th' lake?" asked Casey.

"I disremimber how far," said Toole. "'Tis in Africa or Asia, or mebby
'tis in Constantinople. Wan of thim countries it is, annyhow."

But to his cousin Dennis he wrote:

"Dear Dennis--I will take them two dongolas. Crate them good and solid.
Do not send them till I tell you. Send the bill to me. Your affectionate
cousin alderman M