IV.
Aye, panther, wolf, and bear,
Have perish'd 'neath my knife;
Why tremble, then, with fear,
When now I go, my wife?
Shall I not keep the peace,
That made our cottage dear;
And 'till these wolf-curs cease
Shall I be housing here?
V.
One loving kiss, dear wife,
One press of heart to heart;
Then for the deadliest strife,
For freedom I depart!
I were of little worth,
Were these Yankee wolves left free
To ravage 'round our hearth,
And bring one grief to thee!
VI.
God's blessing on thee, wife,
God's blessing on the young:
Pray for me through the strife,
And teach our infant's tongue.
Whatever haps in fight,
I shall be true to thee--
To the home of our delight--
To my people of the free.
The Cameo Bracelet.
By James R. Randall, of Maryland.
Eva sits on the ottoman there,
Sits by a Psyche carved in stone,
With just such a face, and just such an air,
As Esther upon her throne.
She's sifting lint for the brave who bleed,
And I watch her fingers float and flow
Over the linen, as, thread by thread,
It flakes to her lap like snow.