 Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel. Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel. A beautiful red steam shovel. Her name was Mary Ann. Mike Mulligan was very proud of Mary Ann. He always said that she could dig as much in a day as a hundred men could dig in a week. But he had never been quite sure that this was true. Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann had been digging together for years and years. Mike Mulligan took such good care of Mary Ann, she never grew old. It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann and some others who dug the great canals for the big boats to sail through. It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann and some others who cut through the high mountains so that trains could go through. It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann and some others who lowered the hills and straightened the curves to make the long highways for the automobiles. It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann and some others who smoothed out the ground and filled in the holes to make the landing fields for the big boats and the landing fields for the airplanes. And it was Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann and some others who dug the deep holes for the cellars of the tall skyscrapers in the big cities. When people used to stop and watch them, Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann used to dig a little faster and a little better. The more people stopped, the faster and better they dug. Some days they would keep as many as 37 trucks busy taking away the dirt they had dug. Then along came the new gasoline shovels and the new electric shovels and the new diesel motor shovels and took all the jobs away from the steam shovels. Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann were very sad. All the other steam shovels were being sold for junk or left out in old gravel pits to rust and fall apart. Mike loved Mary Ann. He couldn't do that to her. He had taken such good care of her that she could still dig as much in a day as a hundred men could dig in a week. At least he thought she could, but he wasn't quite sure. Everywhere they went, the new gas shovels and the new electric shovels and the new diesel motor shovels had all the jobs. No one wanted Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann anymore. Then one day Mike read in a newspaper that the town of Popperville was going to build a new town hall. We are going to dig the cellar of that town hall, said Mike to Mary Ann, and off they started. They left the canals and the railroads and the highways and the airports and the big cities where no one wanted them anymore and went away out in the country. They crawled along slowly up the hills and down the hills till they came to the little town of Popperville. When they got there, they found that the selectmen were just deciding who should dig the cellar for the new town hall. Mike Mulligan spoke to Henry B. Swap, one of the selectmen. I heard, he said, that you are going to build a new town hall. Mary Ann and I will dig the cellar for you in just one day. What? said Henry B. Swap. Dig a cellar in a day. It would take a hundred men at least a week to dig the cellar for our new town hall. Sure, said Mike, but Mary Ann can dig as much in a day as a hundred men can dig in a week, though he had never been quite sure that this was true. Then he added, if we can't do it, you won't have to pay. Henry B. Swap thought that this would be an easy way to get part of the cellar dug for nothing, so he smiled in rather a mean way and gave the job of digging the cellar of the new town hall to Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann. They started in early the next morning, just as the sun was coming up. Soon a little boy came along. Do you think you will finish by sundown? He said to Mike Mulligan, sure, said Mike, if you stay and watch us, we always work faster and better when someone is watching us. So the little boy stayed to watch. Then Mrs. McGillicuddy, Henry B. Swap and the town constable came over to see what was happening. And they stayed to watch. Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann dug a little faster and a little better. This gave the little boy a good idea. He ran off and told the postman with the morning mail, the telegraph boy on his bicycle, the milkman with his cart and horse, the doctor on his way home, and the farmer and his family coming into town for the day. And they all stopped and stayed to watch. That made Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann dig a little faster and a little better. They finished the first corner neat and square, but the sun was getting higher. Clang, clang, clang! The fire department arrived. They had seen the smoke and thought there was a fire. Then the little boy said, Why don't you stay and watch? So the fire department of Popperville stayed to watch Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann. When they heard the fire engine, the children in the school across the street couldn't keep their eyes on their lessons. The teacher called a long recess and the whole school came out to watch. That made Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann dig still faster and still better. They finished the second corner neat and square, but the sun was right up in the top of the sky. Now the girl who answers the telephone called up the next towns of Bangerville and Popperville and Kipperville and Copperville and told them what was happening in Popperville. All the people came over to see if Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel could dig the cellar in just one day. The more people came, the faster Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann dug. But they would have to hurry. They were only halfway through and the sun was beginning to go down. They finished the third corner neat and square. Never had Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann had so many people to watch them. Never had they dug so fast and so well and never had the sun seemed to go down so fast. Hurry Mike Mulligan, hurry, hurry! shouted the little boy. There's not much more time. Dirt was flying everywhere and the smoke and steam were so thick that the people could hardly see anything. But listen, louder and louder, faster and faster. Then suddenly it was quiet. Slowly the dirt settled down. The smoke and steam cleared away and there was the cellar all finished. Four corners neat and square. Four walls straight down and Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann at the bottom and the sun was just going down behind the hill. He shouted the people. Hurray for Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel! They have dug the cellar in just one day. Suddenly the little boy said, how are they going to get out? That's right, said Mrs. McGillicuddy to Henry B. Swap. How is he going to get his steam shovel out? Henry B. Swap didn't answer. But he smiled in rather a mean way. Then everybody said, how are they going to get out? Hi Mike Mulligan, how are you going to get your steam shovel out? Mike Mulligan looked around at the four square walls and four square corners and he said, we've dug so fast and we've dug so well that we've quite forgotten to leave a way out. Nothing like this had ever happened to Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann before and they didn't know what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened before in Popperville. Everybody started talking at once and everybody had a different idea and everybody thought that his idea was the best. They talked and they talked and they argued and they fought till they were worn out and still no one knew how to get Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann out of the cellar they had dug. Then Henry B. Swap said, the job isn't finished because Mary Ann isn't out of the cellar so Mike Mulligan won't get paid. And he smiled again in a rather mean way. Now the little boy who had been keeping very quiet had another good idea. He said, why couldn't we leave Mary Ann in the cellar and build the new town hall above her? Let her be the furnace for the new town hall and let Mike Mulligan be the janitor. Then you wouldn't have to buy a new furnace and we could pay Mike Mulligan for digging the cellar in just one day. Why not? said Henry B. Swap and smiled in a way that was not quite so mean. Why not? said Mrs. McGillicuddy. Why not? said the town constable. Why not? said all of the people. So they found a ladder and climbed down into the cellar to ask Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann. Why not? said Mike Mulligan. So it was decided. And everybody was happy. They built the new town hall right over Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann. It was finished before winter. Every day, the little boy goes over to see Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann. And Mrs. McGillicuddy takes him nice hot apple pies. As for Henry B. Swap, he spends most of his time in the cellar of the new town hall listening to the stories that Mike Mulligan has to tell and smiling in a way that isn't mean at all. Now, when you go to Popperville, be sure to go down in the cellar of the new town hall. There they'll be, Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann. Mike in his rocking chair smoking his pipe and Mary Ann beside him. Warming up the meetings in the new town hall.