The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-06-18
THE Ride OF COLLINS GRAVES.
BY JOHN BOYLE o'RErLLY.


From the Boston Pilot
No song Of a soldier riding down
10 40 the raging hght from Winchester town:
with nations throe at q nations birth;
But the song Of brave man free from fear
AS Shertdan's self or Paul Revere;
who risked what they risked free from strife
And Its promise Of glorious pay--his life.
The peaceful valley has walked and stirred,
And thus answering echoes of life are heard
The dew still clings to the trees and grass,
And the early toilers smiling pass
As they glance aside at the white-waled homes,
OF up the valley, where merrily comes
The brook that sparkles in diamond rills
AS the sun comes over the Hampshire hills
What was It, that passed like an ominous breath;
Like shiver of fear or a touch Of death?
What was itY The valley Is peaceful still,
And the leaves are afire on the top of the hill;
1t was not a sound, nor a thing of sense
But pain, like the pang OF the short suspense
That wraps the being Of those who see
AT their feet the gulf Of Eternity!
The air Of the valley has felt the chill;
The workers pause at the door Of the mill
The housewife, keen to the shivering air,
Arrests her foot on the cottage stair,
lnstinctiyely taught by the mother-love,
And thinks OF the sleeping ones above!
Why start the listenersp Why does the course
Of the mill-stream widen? Is IL horse?
Hark to the sounds of his hoofs, they say,
That gallops so wildly Williamsburg way?
God! what was that like human shrick
From the winding valley? viii nobody speak?
Will nobody answer those women who cry
AS the awful warnings thunder byr
Whence come they2 Listen! And now they hear
The sounds Of the galloping horse-hoofs near
Ihey watch the bend OF the vale, and see
The rider, who thunders SO menacingly.
With waving arms and warning scream,
To the home filed banks of the valley stream,
He draws no rein, but he shakes the street
With shout and the ring Of galloping feet,
This Is the cry he filings to the wind:
To the hills for your lives? The food is behind 70
He cries and is gone but they know the worst
The treacherous Williamsburg dam has burst
The basin that nourishes their happy homes
Is changed TO a demon-It comes II comes
A monster in aspect with shaggy front
of shattered dwellings to take the brunt
OF the dwellings they shattered-white-maned and
The merciless terror fills the course
Of the narrow valley, and rushing raves,
With death on the first Of its kissing waves,
Till the cottage and street and crowded mill
Are crumbled and crushed.
But onward still.
In front of the roaring flood is heard,
The galloping horse and the warning word.
Thank God that the brave mans life is spared!
From Williamsburg town he noby dared
To race with the food and to take the road
In front OF the terriabe swath IL moved
For miles Il thundered and crashed behind,
But he looked ahead with steadfast mind
They must be warned I" was all he said,
As away on his terrible ride he sped.
When heroes are called for bring the crown
To this Yankee rider; send him down
On the stream of time with the Curtius old;
His deed as the Romans was brave and bold,
And the tale can as noble thrill awake,
For he offered his life for the peoples sake.