As through the throng on either hand
The old horse nears the judges' stand,
Beneath his jockey's feather-weight
He warms a little to his gait,
And now and then a step is tried
That hints of something like a stride.

"Go!"-Through his ear the summons stung As if a battle-trump had rung;

The slumbering instincts long unstirred
Start at the old familiar word;

It thrills like flame through every limb,—
What mean his twenty years to him?
The savage blow his rider dealt
Fell on his hollow flanks unfelt;
The spur that pricked his staring hide
Unheeded tore his bleeding side;
Alike to him are spur and rein,—
He steps a five-year-old again!

Before the quarter pole was past,
Old Hiram said, "He's going fast."
Long ere the quarter was a half,
The chuckling crowd had ceased to laugh;
Tighter his frightened jockey clung

As in a mighty stride he swung,
The gravel flying in his track,

His neck stretched out, his ears laid back,
His tail extended all the while
Behind him like a rat-tail file!
Off went a shoe,-away it spun,
Shot like a bullet from a gun;
The quaking jockey shapes a prayer
From scraps of oaths he used to swear;
He drops his whip, he drops his rein,
He clutches fiercely for a mane;

He'll lose his hold-he sways and reels-
He'll slide beneath those trampling heels!
The knees of many a horseman quake,
The flowers on many a bonnet shake,
And shouts arise from left and right,

"Stick on! Stick on !" "Hould tight! Hould tight !"
"Cling round his neck and don't let go-

That pace can't hold-there! steady! whoa!”
But like the sable steed that bore
The spectral lover of Lenore,8
His nostrils snorting foam and fire,
No stretch his bony limbs can tire;
And now the stand he rushes by,
And "Stop him!—stop him!" is the cry.
Stand back! he's only just begun—

He's having out three heats in one!

"Don't rush in front! he'll smash your brains;
But follow up and grab the reins!"
Old Hiram spoke. Dan Pfeiffer heard,
And sprang impatient at the word;
Budd Doble started on his bay,
Old Hiram followed on his gray,
And off they spring, and round they go,
The fast ones doing "all they know."
Look! twice they follow at his heels,
As round the circling course he wheels,
And whirls with him that clinging boy
Like Hector round the walls of Troy;
Still on, and on, the third time round!
They're tailing off! they're losing ground!

9

8. Lover of Lenore. After his death the lover of Lenore appeared on a black horse and carried Lenore to the graveyard where their marriage was celebrated amid a crew of howling goblins.

9. Like Hector. After being slain by Achilles, Hector was dragged three times around the walls of Troy.

Budd Doble's nag begins to fail!

Dan Pfeiffer's sorrel whisks his tail!
And see! in spite of whip and shout,
Old Hiram's mare is giving out!
Now for the finish! at the turn,
The old horse-all the rest astern—
Comes swinging in, with easy trot;
By Jove! he's distanced all the lot!

That trot no mortal could explain;
Some said, "Old Dutchman come again!"
Some took his time,-at least they tried,
But what it was could none decide;
One said he could n't understand
What happened to his second hand;
One said 2:10; that could n't be-
More like two twenty-two or three;
Old Hiram settled it at last;

"The time was two-too dee-vel-ish fast!"

The parson's horse had won the bet;
It cost him something of a sweat;
Back in the one-horse shay he went;
The parson wondered what it meant,
And murmured, with a mild surprise
And pleasant twinkle of the eyes,
"That funeral must have been a trick,
Or corpses drive at double-quick;
I should n't wonder, I declare,
If brother-Jehu-made the prayer!"

And this is all I have to say
About that tough old trotting bay.
Huddup! Huddup! G'lang! Good day!

Moral for which this tale is told:
A horse can trot, for all he's old.

40

THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

It was a tall young oysterman lived by the riverside,

His shop was just upon the bank, his boat was on the tide; The daughter of a fisherman, that was so straight and

slim,

Lived over on the other bank, right opposite to him.

2

It was the pensive oysterman that saw a lovely maid, Upon a moonlight evening, a-sitting in the shade; He saw her wave a handkerchief, as much as if to say, "I'm wide awake, young oysterman, and all the folks away."

Then up arose the oysterman, and to himself said he, "I guess I'll leave the skiff at home, for fear that folks should see;

I read it in the story book, that, for to kiss his dear, Leander swam the Hellespont 1-and I will swim this here."

And he has leaped into the waves, and crossed the shining stream,

And he has clambered up the bank, all in the moonlight

gleam;

Oh, there are kisses sweet as dew, and words as soft as. rain

But they have heard her father's steps, and in he leaps. again!

1. Leander. To see Hero, Leander nightly swam the Hellespont, but was finally drowned. In her grief Hero then drowned herself.

Out spoke the ancient fisherman: "Oh, what was that, my daughter?"

"'Twas nothing but a pebble, sir, I threw into the water." "And what is that, pray tell me, love, that paddles off so fast?"

"It's nothing but a porpoise, sir, that's been a-swimming past."

Qut spoke the ancient fisherman: "Now bring me my harpoon!

I'll get into my fishing boat, and fix the fellow soon." Down fell the pretty innocent, as falls a snow-white lamb; Her hair drooped round her pallid cheeks, like seaweed on a clam.

Alas for those two loving ones! she waked not from her swound,

And he was taken with the cramp, and in the waves was drowned;

But Fate has metamorphosed them, in pity of their woe, And now they keep an oyster shop for mermaids down below.

41

THE YARN OF THE NANCY BELL

WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT

'Twas on the shores that round our coast
From Deal to Ramsgate 1 span,

That I found alone on a piece of stone
An elderly naval man.

1. Deal, Ramsgate. Seaport towns in Kent County, England.