Darius Green and His Flying-Machine Fur I'll make 'em b'lieve I'm a chap f'm the moon; And, seeing the others were gone, he said, To open the wonderful box in the shed. His brothers had walked but a little way, "Don'o'-the 's suthin' ur other to pay, Ef he hedn't got some machine to try." 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, 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 695 The dragons and pagans that plagued the earth So this modern knight Prepared for flight, Put on his wings and strapped them tight 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! An' nobody near;— Guess he don' o' who's hid in here! Steppin' careful, he travels the length Of his spring-board, and teeters to try its strength. To the ground with a thump! As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear, A Great Fight So fell Darius. Upon his crown, In the midst of the barn-yard, he came down, 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 I just have room for the MORAL here: 697 John Townsend Trowbridge. A GREAT FIGHT "THERE was a man in Arkansaw His name was Tuscaloosa Sam 'There's not a cuss in Arkansaw "One morn, a stranger passin' by, And down he scrambled from his hoss, "He sorter kinder shut one eye, And put his ugly head one side, "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, The stranger'd pull him back; and so, "Then like a pair of lobsters, both And yet the varmints used their teeth, A Great Fight "The sun of noon was high above, That fit, and fit, and fit!!! "The stranger snapped at Samy's nose, And then they both swore awful hard, "The mud it flew, the sky grew dark, But still them critters rolled about, "First Sam on top, then t'other chap; "The night came on, the stars shone out And still them fellers swore and gouged, "The neighbours heard the noise they made, Yet all the while 'twas him and Sam "For miles around the noise was heard; Because them two rantankerous chaps "But jist at cock-crow, suddenly, 699 |