Page images
PDF
EPUB

"To choose from the Bar it were fittest, I think; Perhaps you've a man in your eye"

And his Holiness here gave a mischievous wink To a Cardinal sitting near by.

But the lawyer replied, in a lawyer-like way,
"I know what is modest, I hope;

I didn't come hither, allow me to say,
To proffer advice to the Pope!"

"Very well," said his Holiness, "then we will do The best that may fairly be done;

It don't seem exactly the thing, it is true,
That the Law should be saint-less alone.
"To treat your profession as well as I can,
And leave you no cause of complaint,
I propose, as the only quite feasible plan,
To give you a second-hand saint.

"To the neighboring church you will presently go, And this is the plan I advise:

First, say a few aves-a hundred or so

Then carefully bandage your eyes;

"Then (saying more aves) go groping around, And, touching one object alone,

The saint you are seeking will quickly be found, For the first that you touch is your own.”

The lawyer did as his Holiness said,

Without an omission or flaw;

Then, taking the bandages off from his head,
What do you think he saw?

There was St. Michael (figured in paint)
Subduing the Father of Evil;

And the lawyer, exclaiming "Be thou our saint!"
Was touching the form of the DEVIL!

Part Twenty-third.

Each of the Four Numbers of

"100 Choice Selections" contained in this volume is paged separately, and the Index is made to correspond therewith. See EXPLANATION on first page of Contents.

The entire book contains nearly

1000 pages.

100

CHOICE SELECTIONS.

No. 23.

SONG OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE.

I build my nest on the mountain's crest,

Where the wild winds rock my eaglets to rest,
Where the lightnings flash, and the thunders crash,
And the roaring torrents foam and dash;

For my spirit free henceforth shall be

A type of the sons of Liberty.

Aloft I fly from my aërie high,

Through the vaulted dome of the azure sky;

On a sunbeam bright take my airy flight,

And float in a flood of liquid light;

For I love to play in the noontide ray,

And bask in a blaze from the throne of day.

Away I spring with a tireless wing,

On a feathery cloud I poise and swing;

I dart down the steep where the lightnings leap,
And the clear, blue canopy swiftly sweep;
For dear to me is the revelry

Of a free and fearless Liberty.

I love the land where the mountains stand
Like the watch-towers high of a patriot band;
For I may not bide in my glory and pride,
Though the land be never so fair and wide,
Where Luxury reigns o'er voluptuous plains,
And fetters the free-born soul in chains.

бу*

Then give to me in my flights to see

The land of the pilgrims EVER FREE!

And I never will rove from the haunts I love,
But watch, from my sentinel-track above,
Your banner free, o'er land and sea,
And exult in your glorious Liberty.

Oh, guard ye well the land where I dwell,
Lest to future times the tale I tell,
When slow expires in smouldering fires
The goodly heritage of your sires,—

How Freedom's light rose clear and bright
O'er fair Columbia's beacon-height,

Till ye quenched the flame in a starless night.

Then will I tear from your pennon fair
The stars ye have set in triumph there;
My olive-branch on the blast I'll launch,

The fluttering stripes from the flagstaff wrench,
And away I'll flee; for I scorn to see

A craven race in the land of the free!

ON THE FRONTIER.-I. EDGAR JONES.

What! Robbed the mail at midnight! We'll trail them down, you bet!

We'll bring them to the halter; I'm sheriff of Yuba yet. Get out those mustangs, hearties, and long before set of sun We'll trail them down to their refuge, and justice shall yet be done.

It's pleasant, this rude experience; life has a rugged zest Here on the plains and mountains, far to the open west : Look at those snow-capped summits,- waves of an endless

sea;

Look at yon billowed prairie, boundless as grand and free. Ah! we have found our quarry! yonder within the bush! Empty your carbines at them, then follow me with a rush! Down with the desperadoes! Ours is the cause of right! Though they should slash like demons, still we must gain the fight!

Pretty hot work, McGregor, but we have gained the day. What? Have we lost their leader? Can he have sneaked

away?

« PreviousContinue »