“Heed what the Lord’s anointed saith;
Hear one who would deliver
Your bodies and your souls from death;
List ye to John the Giver.
“Thou trustful boy, in spirit wise
Beyond thy father’s measure,
Because of thy believing eyes
I share with thee my treasure.
“Of precious seed this handful take;
Take next this Bible Holy:
In good soil sow both gifts, for sake
Of Him, the meek and lowly.
“Farewell! I go!—the forest calls
My life to ceaseless labors;
Wherever danger’s shadow falls
I fly to save my neighbors.
“I save; I neither curse nor slay;
I am a voice that crieth
In night and wilderness. Away!
Whoever doubteth, dieth!”
The prophet vanished in the night,
Like some fleet ghost belated;
Then, awe-struck, fled with panic fright
The household, evil-fated.
They hurried on with stumbling feet,
Foreboding ambuscado;
Bewildered hope told of retreat
In frontier palisado.
But ere a mile of tangled maze
Their bleeding hands had broken,
Their home-roof set the dark ablaze,
Fulfilling doom forespoken.
The savage death-whoop rent the air!
A howl of rage infernal!
The fugitives were in Thy care,
Almighty Power eternal!
Unscathed by tomahawk or knife,
In bosky dingle nested,
The hunted pioneer, with wife
And babes, hid unmolested.