Darius Green and His Flying-Machine

Fur I'll make 'em b'lieve I'm a chap f'm the moon;
An' I'll try to race 'ith their ol' balloon!"
He crept from his bed;

And, seeing the others were gone, he said,
"I'm gittin' over the cold 'n my head."
And away he sped,

To open the wonderful box in the shed.

His brothers had walked but a little way,
When Jotham to Nathan chanced to say,
"What is the feller up to, hey!"

"Don'o'-the 's suthin' ur other to pay,
Ur he wouldn't 'a' stayed tu hum to-day."
Says Burke, "His toothache's all 'n his eye!
He never 'd missed a Fo'th-o'-July,

Ef he hedn't got some machine to try."
Then Sol, the little one, spoke: "By darn!

Le's hurry back an' hide 'n the barn,

An' pay him fur tellin' us that yarn!"

Agreed!" Through the orchard they creep back

Along by the fences, behind the stack,

And one by one, through a hole in the wall,

In under the dusty barn they crawl,
Dressed in their Sunday garments all;
And a very astonishing sight was that,
When each in his cobwebbed coat and hat
Came up through the floor like an ancient rat
And there they hid;

And Reuben slid

The fastenings back, and the door undid. "Keep dark!” said he,

"While I squint an' see what the' is to see."

As knights of old put on their mail

From head to foot an iron suit

Iron jacket and iron boot,

Iron breeches, and on the head

No hat, but an iron pot instead,

And under the chin the bail,

(I believe they called the thing a helm,) Then sallied forth to overwhelm

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The dragons and pagans that plagued the earth So this modern knight

Prepared for flight,

Put on his wings and strapped them tight
Jointed and jaunty, strong and light-
Buckled them fast to shoulder and hip;
Ten feet they measured from tip to tip
And a helm had he, but that he wore,
Not on his head, like those of yore,

But more like the helm of a ship.

"Hush!" Reuben said,

He's up in the shed!

He's opened the winder-I see his head!
He stretches it out, an' pokes it about,
Lookin' to see 'f the coast is clear,

An' nobody near;—

Guess he don' o' who's hid in here!
He's riggin' a spring-board over the sill!
Stop laffin', Solomon! Burke, keep still!
He's a climbin' out now-Of all the things!
What's he got on? I vum, it's wings!
An' that 'tother thing? I vum, it's a tail!
An' there he sits like a hawk on a rail!

Steppin' careful, he travels the length

Of his spring-board, and teeters to try its strength.
Now he stretches his wings, like a monstrous bat;
Peeks over his shoulder; this way an' that,
Fur to see 'f the' 's any one passin' by;
But the''s on'y a caf an' goslin nigh.
They turn up at him a wonderin' eye,
To see-
-The dragon! he's goin' to fly!
Away he goes! Jimminy! what a jump!
Flop-flop-an' plump

To the ground with a thump!
Flutt'rin' an' flound'rin' all 'n a lump!"

As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear,
Heels over head, to his proper sphere-
Heels over head, and head over heels,
Dizzily down the abyss he wheels-

A Great Fight

So fell Darius. Upon his crown,

In the midst of the barn-yard, he came down,
In a wonderful whirl of tangled strings,
Broken braces and broken springs,
Broken tail and broken wings,
Shooting-stars, and various things;
Barn-yard litter of straw and chaff,
And much that wasn't so sweet by half.
Away with a bellow fled the calf,

And what was that? Did the gosling laugh?

'Tis a merry roar from the old barn-door.

And he hears the voice of Jotham crying,

Say, D'rius! how do you like flyin'?"

Slowly, ruefully, where he lay,

Darius just turned and looked that way,

As he stanched his sorrowful nose with his cuff.

"Wal, I like flyin' well enough,"

He said; "but the' ain't such a thunderin' sight
O' fun in 't when ye come to light."

I just have room for the MORAL here:
And this is the moral-Stick to your sphere.
Or if you insist, as you have the right,
On spreading your wings for a loftier flight,
The moral is-Take care how you light.

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John Townsend Trowbridge.

A GREAT FIGHT

"THERE was a man in Arkansaw
As let his passions rise,
And not unfrequently picked out
Some other varmint's eyes.

His name was Tuscaloosa Sam
And often he would say,

'There's not a cuss in Arkansaw
I can't whip any day.'

"One morn, a stranger passin' by,
Heard Sammy talkin' so,

And down he scrambled from his hoss,
And off his coat did go.

"He sorter kinder shut one eye,
And spit into his hand,

And put his ugly head one side,
And twitched his trowsers' band.

"My boy,' says he, 'it's my belief, Whomever you may be,

That I kin make you screech, and smell Pertiklor agony.'

"I'm thar,' said Tuscaloosa Sam,

And chucked his hat away;

'I'm thar,' says he, and buttoned up

As far as buttons may.

"He thundered on the stranger's mug,

The stranger pounded he;

And oh! the way them critters fit

Was beautiful to see.

"They clinched like two rampageous bears, And then went down a bit;

They swore a stream of six-inch oaths

And fit, and fit, and fit.

"When Sam would try to work away,
And on his pegs to git,

The stranger'd pull him back; and so,
They fit, and fit, and fit!

"Then like a pair of lobsters, both
Upon the ground were knit,

And yet the varmints used their teeth,
And fit, and fit, and fit!!

A Great Fight

"The sun of noon was high above,
And hot enough to split,
But only riled the fellers more,

That fit, and fit, and fit!!!

"The stranger snapped at Samy's nose,
And shortened it a bit;

And then they both swore awful hard,
And fit, and fit, and fit! ! ! !

"The mud it flew, the sky grew dark,
And all the litenins lit;

But still them critters rolled about,
And fit, and fit, and fit! ! ! ! !

"First Sam on top, then t'other chap;
When one would make a hit,
The other'd smell the grass; and so
They fit, and fit, and fit! ! ! ! ! !

"The night came on, the stars shone out
As bright as wimmen's wit;

And still them fellers swore and gouged,
And fit, and fit, and fit! ! ! ! ! ! !

"The neighbours heard the noise they made,
And thought an earthquake lit;

Yet all the while 'twas him and Sam
As fit, and fit, and fit!!!!!!!!

"For miles around the noise was heard;
Folks couldn't sleep a bit,

Because them two rantankerous chaps
Still fit, and fit, and fit! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

"But jist at cock-crow, suddenly,
There came an awful pause,
And I and my old man run out
To ascertain the cause.

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