Jist a-wushin'! Fer the years An' their squandered treasures!

Wushin' still to be a boy With the wide world fer a toy, While the rain-bows ring the medders with a rosy rim of joy!

A Happy Farmer.

What's the use to worry?

Joy is coming nigh: Got the patches planted For the melons bye and bye!

What's the use to worry?

Trust the rain and sky; They will stuff the melons Full of heaven bye and bye!

Sooner Sayings.

When the cow-path fades, the section line appears.

The testimony in a contest case is often a startling work of fiction.

The booth certificate and the lottery number are worthless to the fellow that won't hustle.

In the Lap of Spring.

Took a walk one day to hear Mister Blue-bird sing; Found old Winter sittin' there In the lap of Spring!

"Mister Winter!" So I said, "Guess you'd better hike!

Give the lady here a chance At the rosy pike!"

Loafing.

Loafin' in the sunshine, On a gra.s.sy bed, Dreamin' of the melons An' their hearts of red!

Loafin' in the sunshine,-- That is what I said!

Mockin'-bird a-singin', Tree-tops overhead!

Loafin' in the sunshine!

All the cares are dead, Thinkin' of the melons An' their hearts of red!

Loafin' in the sunshine,-- Work an' worry fled!

Heart's a-dancin' hoe-downs With the roses red!

No Encouragement.

"Ah tole yuh, boss, dat book whut yuh calls de Bible ain't no frien' to de cullud people," said Black Mose in a sceptical moment.

"Why, how is that Mose," said the preacher.

"Bekaze it doan't hol' no encouragement out foh de cullud sinnah! Now, ef Hebben wuz a place full ob banjoes en wohtah-millions, all de black raskels would suah come eh-runnin' to de moahneh's bench so fas' dey coulden' be bapsoused!" And the old man slouched away full of indignation at the barrenness of the heavenly promises.

Only the chemical tests of the long years can determine the true success or the utter failure,--the worth of a great deed or the nothingness of a mean act. The world's esteemed immortals have survived the shadows of oblivion only because of precious deeds they wrought for fellow men. The rags of yesterday are exchanged for purple robes as the centuries pa.s.s, while the crowns of today fade and crumble into forgetfulness. No man succeeds because he becomes a king or fails because he remains a peasant.

The Grip of the Prairies.

Up and down the world I've wandered, over land and over sea, With the rivers rolling under and the mountains over me, And as sure as truth is certain, you will find this saying so: When the prairies grab a feller, they will never let him go!

For there's something in the stretches of the plains that comes and takes All the loves and all the longings for their own exalted sakes, And the man that gets to breathing of their glories day and night Finds the prairies hold his heartstrings in a grip that's good and tight.

He may tread the balsam forests with their whiffs of fir and pine; He may sail the tossing oceans and inhale their breaths of brine; He may walk the rosy valleys, climb the mountains to the snow, But if once the prairies grab him they will never let him go!

Ever see the sun rise proudly from the prairie's naked rim Filling up the world of wonder till it overflows the brim?

'Tis a glory that's unrivaled! 'Tis a most exalted sight, And the prairies that present it come and grab you good and tight!

O, the grandeur of the prairies! O, the seas of gra.s.sy plain!

How they soothe with satisfaction all the hopes of heart and brain!

'Tis a truth beyond disputing, and your own heart says it's so: When the prairies grab a feller, they will never let him go!

Caught on the Fly.

The man who has only two hands has none to spare for his neighbor's business.

Some people get up and fool around in the dark so they can grumble at the lack of sunshine.