When the morning sun was shining,
Molly Barber and her husband,
With the aid of Tomo's sannups
Bearing axes and equipment,
Hastened northward through the forest,
Ever near the Tunxis River,
To the side of Ragged Mountain,
In the town of fair Barkhamsted,
And beside the sparkling river
Found a place for habitation,
Builded there a lonely cabin,
Midst the trees beside the mountain,
Built a cabin in the Greenwoods,
Deep within the gloomy shadows.
First of all the early cabins
Built within Barkhamsted borders,
Strong and sturdy was this cabin,
Built of logs of oak and hemlock,
Home of Molly and of Chaugham,
On the side of Ragged Mountain,
Catamounts and bears and panthers
Sniffed around the lonely cabin
In the dark and dreary night-time.
Molly feared these forest creatures,
Feared they'd break the fragile windows,
Feared they'd enter through the windows,
Feared they'd kill herself and Chaugham.
Many sleepless nights she trembled
At the howling of the wolf-pack
In the valley by the Tunxis.
Oft she thought of home and mother
By the mighty Central River,
But her courage did not fail her
When she thought of Peter Barber
And his cruel, angry shouting.
Oft she whispered in the darkness,
"Better fear the catamountains,
Better face the bears and panthers,
Better hear the wild wolves howling
Than an angry father shouting,
Or reside within the shadow
Of his dark and gloomy presence."
For a hundred years this cabin
Stood beside the Tunxis River,
By the famous Tunxis River,
River nam,ed for Tunxis Indians,
Calm and peaceful Indians dwelling
In their Farmington round houses,
And the term, "The Tunxis River,"
Signifies, in Indian accents,
"Beautiful and rapid river."
19. HIDDEN IN THE GLOOMY FOREST.
And deep within the dreamy wood,
Where the sheltering hemlocks rustled,
Beneath the hill their cabin stood,
Looking out upon the river.
The oak leaves trembled in the breeze,
Slowly rolled the Tunxis River,
And high above the leafy trees,
Flew the woodcock ever circling.
Thus it was that Molly Barber
And her spouse, the Honest Chaugham,
Were the first of all the settlers,
In the town of fair Barkhamsted,
Where her father couldn't find them,
Hidden in the gloomy forest,
Where the Tunxis River wanders
Through the dark and gloomy forest,
With the woodcock ever tapping,
Tapping on the mighty oak trees,
O'er the pine trees ever screaming,
Circling high above the mountain,
And the sea-gulls, fishing, screeching,
Dipping low above the water,
And the great, blue herons wading,
Wading, fishing in the river,
Calling, calling through the twilight.