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The Water Goats and Other Troubles
The Water Goats and Other Troubles
THE WATER GOATS -- MR. BILLINGS'S POCKETS -- OUR FIRST BURGLAR
Book Excerpt
tween us two. M. T."
A Keeper of the Water Goats had been selected with the utmost care, combining in the choice practical politics with a sense of fitness. Timothy Fagan was used to animals--for years he had driven a dumpcart. He was used to children--he had ten or eleven of his own. And he controlled several votes in the Fourth Ward. His elevation from the dump-cart of the street cleaning department to the high office of Keeper of the Water Goats was one that Dugan believed would give general satisfaction.
When the goats arrived in Jeffersonville the two heavy crates were hauled to Alderman Toole's back yard to await the opening of the park, and there Mayor Dugan and Goat Keeper Fagan came to inspect them. Alderman Toole led the way to them with pride, and Mayor Dugan's creased brow almost uncreased as he bent down and peered between the bars of the crates. They were fine goats. Perhaps they looked somewhat more dejected than a goat usually looks--more dirty and down at the heels than a goat o
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Three short stories, all of which are rather jocular and somewhat daft. The Water Goats is almost a clever satire on how councils and politicians often waste public money by through foolish committee decisions and face-saving exercises, coming up with something that nobody is happy with. This story could've done with more humour though. Mr Billings' Pockets is a kind of mystery that revolves around some sort of convoluted lie, but I didn't quite understand it. Does it make sense?! Our First Burglar is very short, probably the most amusing and daftest of the three. All in all, they're quite average and now rather dated.
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Three mildly amusing short stories, good for a quick read.
In the best of them, "The Water Goats," a misunderstanding about gondolas vs. angoras has the aldermen of an Eastern town trying to teach goats to swim, but it all turns out to be a shaggy goat story. Some readers may be offended by the depiction of the politicians as graft-taking Irish buffoons.
In "Mr. Billings's Pockets," Mr. B. comes home late with pockets full of suspicious articles and some tall tales for his too-savvy wife. And in "Our First Burglar," a skinflint comes up with an unusual way to burglar-proof his house.
In the best of them, "The Water Goats," a misunderstanding about gondolas vs. angoras has the aldermen of an Eastern town trying to teach goats to swim, but it all turns out to be a shaggy goat story. Some readers may be offended by the depiction of the politicians as graft-taking Irish buffoons.
In "Mr. Billings's Pockets," Mr. B. comes home late with pockets full of suspicious articles and some tall tales for his too-savvy wife. And in "Our First Burglar," a skinflint comes up with an unusual way to burglar-proof his house.
08/30/2010
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