The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1871-06-09

THE FATE OF MISSISSIPPI.

Here's the cabin in the hollow,
Where this neck Of woods comes down
And tho fr-trecs nod and zwhisp>r
As they bsckon IS. aud froun.
Ali the throat Of stick and mortar
Breathes no more the curling sinokas
And that raven, over youaer,
Has piaintive, funeral eToak
There's the door, on broken hinges,
Leaning like o weary thing;
And the pathway, dim with grasses,
Winding downward TO the spring.
While this tyramid of aHlleTs-
Spois Of many ringing shase-
Tells you Of q hunters labor
In this lonely, lonely place.
No, not In theret--tbiz is bettcr.
Who're the golden suabeasns sleep Z
There are ftains. .Hpon those ps,s,ei1eens
That would make your fBaseiss creep.
Sit upon the log beside me.
And III tell yeu how it esms--
Match aboat yea 7--tisst the Ssbin
las Wild aud fssffui fame.
He was big and nairy-fhroated,
And his name was . Mi,si.sIpp' =
Rather curious sHersaI, was iie,
And be didn't care flip
For the frills .f polished eities,
Or the sciences and arts!
And be fed, ike ons fsrsnsnted.
Prom the highways and the msrts.
Well. in trailing down the bsrder.
Here be pitched bis tent. st isi.
And the dezs-tbcy sought him somehow
Gathered round bin thick and fast
Hound and eur. fall twenty Of fhens,
Leapsd about iis open door
And fns cabin Taa their kennel
And their coucb-itss rugged floor.
Up and down the wooded gsrges.
Ere the morning sun grew waTm.
You could hear their angry eisorus,
Sweeping like winged storm
Till the quick sBari Of his rife.
Downward by the river sbory,
flashed the rolling wase cfamor.
And tbs gallant chase was Ger.
But the vanguard of Improvement.
With the compass and the chain,
Bi"oaacked along Tbs valley.
Prom the mountain 70 the main
And the iron arm Of Progress
Der the virgin wild was throws.
And the steam-6erd sbrieked and beloved
Where the solitude vas known;
And the rasoas thrnbbei and fhandered
With the tread Of mailed sfeeds.
Rolled like war clouds DER the meads.
yaiBiy, when the shadows lifted.
And the dew was on the bush,
Mississippi would wind bis eow's horn
In the mornings fragrant hush
Turk" would lead the tawDy hunters
To the hillside. rs Of old,
But would never pitch the music
For the tracks were dim and cold.
And iuil often, too, misfaking
FOR the horn the engine pipes,
They would wander on Wild chases-
Like the foolish after snipcsi
Twice and thrice il was repeated,
Wien his gun went o'er the bank,
And the hunter vent TO swearing
As bis heart within hin sank
This has eyIne of that ere railroad,
And knew. when they begun.
That 'twouid skeer the deer ts thunder,
An the hounds -tBcy wouldn't run =,
Then he sat within his cabin.
10 wreaihing eis.d Of smoke.
While from hound and cur. beside him,
on the whine Of hunger broke;
But he sat and smoked screnely.
With the famine IN his eye,
Til you guessed shis. awful psFpose,
And were sure be mraut to tf-.-zs--
And the eyeballs, hot aud siaring.
tayerned aanks and dripping jaws,
Spoke the anguish Of his hunters
From the emptiness that gnass:
Nearer, nearer now they eIrcied,
And the click Of cleaning fanxs-
Was the Wild beast rising in them
From the he'll Of hungsrss pangs.
VAST the cry Of 90. or desil7
Mercy. wnat sight was there-
All. the odnr of that orgy
Even now musi tainr the air.
Eat hime Well. should rather say So
Mississippi was sson released.
And their mouths wers vet and crimson
With the rich, unholy feast
Simmons. up from Sleepy Hollow.
Happened by the place one day,
And he halted just t. ask him
Ii his steers had been that way;
But be only reached the threshold,
When he started, all aghast,
As n something, sE 1T aad nosscless,
Like shadow, fitted past-
Dog, perhaps. but then no matter.
When be woke from ,errur's thraIl,
he was startled by sentence
On board. against the wall
Mississippi. no doabt had duise it,
Twas rude and homely scrawl,
Written with a piece OF charcoal,
''Dern the Raie Rode THAT is IN
From .ie jane 0seriaHd AoasAfs.