Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-08-10
Miscellany.
KIR OARsON's RIDE.
By JOAQUIN MILLER.

That lay in the rear the full ride of night.
We lounged in the grasses-her eyes were OF
mine,
And her hands on my knee, and her hair was al
wine
In its wealth and its food pouring on and all ove
Her bosom wine-red, and pressed never by one,
And her touch was as warm as the tinge of tht
Burned brown as it reached to the kiss of the sun
And her words were as low as the lute-throatet
dove,
And s laden with love as the heart when it beats
In its hot eager answer to earliest love,
Or the bee hurried home bv its burden of sweets
Welay low in the grass on the broad plain levels,
Old Revels and |, and my sto en- brown bride.
Forty foil miles If foot to ride,
Forty full miles If a foot, and the devils
OF red Camanches are hot on the track
When once they strike it. Let the go down
Soon, very soon" muttered bearded old ReVeis,
As he peered at the sun, lying low on his back
Holding fast to his lasso; then he jerked at his
And sprang to his feet and glanced swiftly around,
And then dropped as if shot, with his ear to the
Then again to his feet. and to me, to my bride,
While hi eyes were like ire, his face like
Hs form Ikea king, and his beard like cloud,
And his voice loud and shIill, as if blown from Q
'Pull, pull in your lassos and bride to steed,
And speed you If ever for life you would speed,
And ride for your lives-for your lives you must
For the plain is afame, the prairie on fire,
And feet of wild horses, hard flying before,
hear like a sea breaking high on the shore,
Wnile the buffalo come like urge of the sea,
Driven far by the flame, driving fast three,
As hurricane comes. crushing palms in its ir-.''
We drew in the lassos seized saddle and rein,
Threw them on, sinched thems on. sinched them
And again drew the grth, cast aside the macheers,
Cut away tapidaros loosed the sash from Its fold,
Cast aside the catenas red and spangled with
gold.
Cast the red silk serapes to the wind in breath;
And so hared TO the skin, sprang all haste TO the
horse,
As bare as when born-as when new from the
hand
Of God-without word. or one word of command,
Turned head to the BraZOs in q red race with
death;
Turned head to the Brazos with breath in the
Blowing hot from king leaving death in his
Turned head to the Brazos with asound in the air
Like the rush of an army, and flash in the eye
OF a red wall of fire reaching up to the sky,
Stretching fierce in pursuit of black rolling sea-
Rushing fast upon us as the wind sweeping free
And afar rom the desert, bearing death and des-
pair.
Not a word not wall from a lip was let fall,
Not kiss from my bride. not look or low call
Of love-note or courage, but on DER the plain
So steady ana still, leaning low to the name,
With the heel to the flank and the hand to the
Rode we on, rode we three, rode we gray nose and
Reaching long, breathing loud, like ereviced
wind blows.
Yet we broke not whisper, we breathed not q
prayer
There was work to be done, there was death in the
air.
And the chance was as one to a thousand for all.
Gray nose to gray nosei and each steady mustang
Stretched neck and stretched nerve till the hollow
And the foam from the flank and the Group and
the neck
Flew aroand like the spray on storm driven
deck.
Twenty milesl thirty milesi....a dim distant
Then along-reaching line and the Brazos in sight,
And rose in my seat with shout of delight.
! stood in my stirrup and looked to my right,
But Rovels was gone; glanced by my shoulder
And saw his horse stagger; saw his head droop-
Hard on his breast, and his naked breast stopping
Low down to the name, SO swifter and bolder
Ran reaching out for us the red-footed fire;
To right and to left the black buffalo came,
In miles and in millions, rolling in despair, 1
With their boards to the dust and black tails in the
As terrible surf on a red sea of flame
hf5her.
And he rode neck to neck with buffalo bull,
The monarch of millions, with shaggy name full
OF smoke and of dust, and it shook with desire
OF battle, with rage aud with bellowings loud
And unearthly; and up through its lowering cloud
Came the flash of his eyes like half-hidden fire,
While his keen crooked horns through the storm
of his name
Like black iances lifted and lifted again;
And l looked but this once, for the fire licked
And he fell and was lost as we rode two and two.
I looked to my left then, and nose, neck, and
Sank slowly, sank surely, till back to my thighs;
And up through the black, blowing veil of her |
hair
Did beam full in mine her two marvellous eyes
q nd vet q 1nnE of
And pity for me as she felt the smoke fold her,
And flames reaching far for her glorious hair.
Her sinking steed faltered, his eager ears fell
To and fro and unsteady, and all the necks swell
Did subside and recede, and the fall dead
Then she saw that my own steed still lorded his
With a look of delight; for this Pache, you see,
Was her fathers, and once at the South Santafee
Had won whole herd, sweeping everything
In a race where the world came to run for CROWN
And SO when won the true heart of my BRIDE
Ny neighbor's and deadliest enemy child,
And child of the kingly war chief of his tribe
She brought me this steed to the border the night
She met Revels and me in her perilous flight
From the lodge OF the chief to the horth Brazos
And said. so half guessing of i'll as she smiled,
As ifiesting, that I. and only, should ride
The feetfoOted Pache, SO if kin should pursue
should surely escape without other ado
Than to ride, without blood, to the north Brazos
And await her-and wait till the next hollow
Hung her horn in the palms, when surely and
And swift she would join me, and all would De
well,
without bloodshed or word And now as she fell
The last that saw was look of delight
That should escape-a love desire
Yet never word, not look of appeal,
LestI should reach hand. should stay hand or stay
heel
One instant for her in my terrible flight.
Then the rushing of fire rose around me and
under,
And the bowling of beasts like the sound of thun-
Beasts burning and blind, and forced onward and
As the passionate flame reached around them and
wOve her
Hands in their hair, and kissed hot till they died
Till they died with wild and desolate moan,
And into the BraZos. .Irode all alone
All alone, save only horse long -limhed,
And blind and bear and burned to the skin.
Then just as the terrible sea came in
And tumble d its thousands hot into the tide,
Till the tide blocked up, and the swift stream brim
In eddies we struck on the opposite aide.
Sell Pache-blind Pacheg Now, mister, look
You have slept in my tent and partook of my
cheer
For the ways they were rough, and Camanches
near.
But you'd @ better pack upl Curse your dirty skinl
Do you men that make books think an old mount
On the rough border born has no tum- tum at ALI
Sell Pachei You buy him A bag full of gold!
You show him! Tell of him the tale have toldi
Why, he bore me through fire, and is blind, and il
Now pack up your papers, and git up and spin:
And never look back. Blast you and your tini
AN old gentleman living near NeWbury-