VI.
He heard faint calls from the far-off days;
He saw faint steps in the lonely ways;
He caught faint glimpses by wayside path,
As he threaded the shadows dim,
And through the years with their peace and wrath
In the quest of the soul for Him!
Caught on the Fly.
Love heals the wound that truth only irritates.
The world offers no standing-room for the lazy man.
Palpitation of the tongue is the most chronic disease known to the race of women.
Sooner Sayings.
The swift horse plants the first stake.
It is well enough to be early, but too early is worse than too late.
A quarter section isn't big enough for a potato patch when two men claim it.
April 22, 1889-1905.
It is sixteen years since the race for homes,—it is sixteen years today
Since we on that April morning lined up for the mighty race;
And after the strenuous toiling and the griefs that have gone away,
The fields are glad with their beauty and the land is a dream of grace.
We raced for homes in the desert ways, and we won them fair and square;
We built so well as the swift years fled that life was a laughing thing;
And the joys that come as the crowns of life, the joys that are sweet and fair,
Build close their nests by the brooding eaves where the rose-vines climb and cling.
We knew when we entered the strange, new land there were labors of might to do;
We knew that Want with his deadly sword stood guard at the desert gate,
But far to the swarded prairies and valleys that no one knew,
We spurred our steeds on the holy quest for the stars of a mighty state!
The Drouth came out of the sere south-west and the corn died low in a day;
The copper sun looked out of a sky that burned with a molten fire;
While Hope sank deep in the bravest heart, and over the barren way
The dumb feet trailed in the steps of Want and dead was the old desire.
And Famine came with her sunken eyes from the dust of the parching fields
And tapped the door with her bony hands and her fingers gaunt and thin;
Ah, Hearts grow faint at the hunger-cry and the arm of the master yields
When all the world is a heap of dust that its creatures wriggle in!
But Plenty heard of our want and woe, and gave with a lavish hand,
And Love loaned ever her cruise of oil that never of fullness fails;
The God of the rains heard all our cries and He watered the thirsty land
And sent us a patch of turnips instead of a flock of quails!
O, years of the strife and struggle! O, years of the wrath and wrong!
The hands of toil smote the sleeping fields and they woke with the blooms of light;
The homes we wrought are the homes of peace, where life is a tender song,
And the pleasures romp through the laughing days and the dreams go down the night!
Between the seas of the big, round world there never was such a land!
A land that walks in the paths of peace where the stars in their plenty shine;
And the fields are fair with the harvests there and the gifts of the toiler's hand,
And the fruit hangs red in the orchard trees and the grapes on the purple vine!
It is sixteen years since we ran the race, it is sixteen mighty years,
And the days have come and gone again, with the gifts that the strong men claim;
And after the days of the struggle, the grief and toil and tears,
The wilderness smiles in its beauty 'neath the stars of a wondrous fame.
Caught on the Fly.
The younger a bride, the sooner a grass widow.
Lilies are pretty, but the old fashioned potato sticks closer to the ribs.
A magnate and his money are different propositions to the missionary societies.
Willie's Easter.
When Easter Sunday comes along
I hunt and hunt so hard,
And find a nest of rabbit eggs
Out yonder in the yard;
They're red and yellow, blue and green,
All colored every way,
And when the rabbits lay their eggs
I know it's Easter day.
My Mamma cooks a lot of eggs
For little Bud and me,
And says for us to eat ourselves
As full as we can be;
And then we go to dress ourselves,
And find in every shoe,
The rabbits left a pile of eggs
As Easter rabbits do.
And Mamma tells us of the Christ
Who came to earth and died,
And was so good in all he did
He soon got crucified;
But when they took him from the Cross
And buried him away,
He came to life and rose again
And started Easter day.
And Mamma has some lilies, too,
And glad flowers of the spring,
And tells us how the world wakes up,
And tells the birds to sing:
And I like Easter mighty well,
But what is best, I say,
Is when you find the rabbit eggs
And know it's Easter day!
Little Sermons.
Faith is a great heart-cleaner.
The godly man never worries over hell-fire.
Good intentions never make the dollars ring in the collection plate.
A man's meanness and woman's frailty make a pair that prayer can't beat when they get together.
The Devil never attends the church of a scolding preacher. He knows that his presence is unnecessary.
If you want a balance in your favor on God's books, see to it that there is no balance against you on the books of men.
At the birth-hour of every soul, there overhangs a divine plan directing its plans and purposes. That plan is holy and immaculate; it has neither spot nor blemish; and as the soul walks out upon the highways of its life, dim whispers and faint intuitions try to teach the road it ought to travel to the stars. Happy the man who understands the story and walks with unerring feet the divine lanes of life and light until the shadows fall again!
The Blossom Ways.
With one true heart and a hand that stays,
This world rolls ever the blossom ways,
And there as it roams the sweet paths over,
The honey bees and the laughing clover!
And Love comes by with her lips of song,
To hush the cries and the calls of wrong,
Till life romps on to a merry measure
With dimpled hands and a heart of pleasure!
Sooner Sayings.
The swift horse makes the safe filing.
Getting in line is easy, but it's where you want to get that costs the money.
A mother-in-law may not be a popular member of the family, but your wife's folks will do to visit when the crops fail.
A Modern Love Story.
Anent the present divorce agitation, I find in an old paper the following skit which is still in point:
Chapter I.
They met in the Spring
And admired everything.
Chapter II.
In the Summer she said,
"Yes, dear, we will wed!"
Chapter III.
In the Autumn this pair
Had a spat, I declare!
Chapter IV.
In the winter, of course,
They procured a divorce!
However it may happen, there are times when the common-place soul rebels at the petty chains of trifles and seeks acquaintance with the infinite. Then it is a companion of the stars, an associate of wind and wave, and all of Nature's immeasurable forces. Happy he whose sanity is so brave and strong as to walk with the blossoms at his feet and the stars above his head.
Sooner Sayings.
Usury knows no law in a new country.
It's a poor claim that won't beat Arkansaw.
It takes more than a map and a real-estate sign to make a city.
All signs fail in dry weather,—except those of the money-lenders.
Better Hurry.
Man, you'd better hurry!
Life is mighty swift,
Fled before you know it
With the stars adrift!
Soak yourself with sunshine
All the blessed day;
Yonder come the shadows
And the night of gray!
If Love Abides.
Old Mister Trouble hides his face
And crosses o'er the slope,
When Love is laughing on the place
And links her hands with Hope.
No matter if in darkest night
Through tangled ways we grope,
If Love abides with living light
Still lip to lip with Hope!