20. HERE THEY BUILT THEIR LONELY CABIN.
One ford above, one ford below,
Easy crossings of the Tunxis,
For shallow there the water's flow
In the Town of fair Barkhamsted.
Here they built their lonely cabin
In a Paradise of Beauty.
Shaded by a spreading larch tree,
Midst the spring time's rich profusion,
Near the Tunxis winding southward,
Like a pathway through the forest,
With two fords for easy crossing,
Where the leafy boughs are parted
And the slanting rays of sunlight
Glisten on the tiny wavelets
As they dance along the shallows
O'er the pebbles and the boulders.
Here the mountain bending eastward,
Leaves a place for habitation
Midst the rocks and mighty ledges—
"Light-House Flats" beside the river,
On the side of Ragged Mountain,
In the town of fair Barkhamsted.
21. CHILDREN IN THE HILL-SIDE CABIN.
Then one by one the children came,
Eight in all to break the silence,
And each one bore a pale-face name
Hiding not its Indian features.
Here they dwelt while-years rolled onward,
Bringing children to the cabin,
Lonely cabin on the mountain,
Eight, in all the silence breaking
[n the lonely; Light House cabin,
Two were boys with feet so nimble,
Little Solomon and Samuel,
Hallowed names from out the Bible,
Six were girls with smiling faces,
Mary, Mercy, Sally, Polly,
Then came Elizabeth and Hannah.
Blended in each youthful figure
Was the fairness of their mother
With the darker hue of father,
Like a shadow on a lily.
Long and straight and black their hair was,
Like the Narragansett children.