Page:Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection).djvu/185

An' steam a-steamin' out through every crack.
Wal, fust they set ter work ter fill the pan
An' git the fire to goin' good an' hot
An' then they try to have a little fun.
The eggs are dropped inter the hoppin' sap
An' biled, the apples toasted by the coals,
The chestnuts roasted hot, and but nuts cracked,
An' then they spread some blankets on the floor
Before the glowin' arch where it is warm,
An' set down for a feast an' story tell.

Aud sech tales as them country boys can tell
Things that they've read out of the garret store
Of books an' papers on a winter's night.
Stories of Injun fightin' on the plains,
An' huntin' grizzlies on the mountain wilds
An' trackin' antelopes across the snow,
With jungle tales an' stories of the east,
An' hand ter hand encounters with the lion,
An' tigers mad with hunger and with wounds,
Of buried treasures in the mountain's side,
An' pirate raids upon the open sea.
An' all the time the fitful firelight gleams
An' dances in the arch, sendin' its glow
Far out inter the gloom, then sinkin' low
Leaves all the scene in dark mysterious shade.

An' ev'ry now and then the howlin' wind
Shrieks in the trees like witches ridin' by,

165