And now, dear friends, don't think that you are "sold"
If still as yet the story's left untold—
But paper, ink, your patience, and my time
Are all exhausted in this race with rhyme!
Transcriber's Notes
Variations in spelling, hyphenation, and punctuation have been retained from the original book, except for the following changes:
Page [9]: raiload changed to railroad:
(From the raiload bridge, with its single span,).
Page [49]: Aud changed to And:
(Aud do the very best I could the heat to struggle through,).
Page [56]: Punctuation corrected from:
(Old "Bull "Spring?") to (Old "Bull Spring!").
Page [62]: Their changed to There:
(There where briars in tangled network sway).
Page [101]: Ephram's changed to Ephraim's:
(Was dear to Ephram's eye and heart, it was his claybank, Fan;).