Louisiana capitolian., 1880-01-17

THE SHOWMAN'S STORY.

Beyond tho rabble rude,
TO where an old man sat apart
In fixed and mOurl,ful mood.
And why 10 sorrowful, old manf'
asked. He raised his head,
His eyes were full Of that dumb g,tef
On faces that are dead.
They're selling oRold Bet from me,
In husky voice no said.
"And do you care NO much 7" "A tear
Upon the rough check fell
Stranger, sit down beside mo here,
And, il you like, III tell
Why that old beast to me il dear,
And why love her well.
',ris nigh twelve years since Bet and
First started on tho road,
Aud never once, In ali that time,
I've touched whip or goad;
She is the kindcst, quickest thing,
That ever bore load
She'd catch trick and do Il too
Before you'd time TO wink.
And every word I'd speak she'd know,
And, times, Id almost think
She'd find, at Inst, n way to talk,
And be that 'missn' link
Always the same old patient girl,
Though little hay she get
Sometimes, when biz was very bad,
And the roads were rough, and yet
She was the gentlest Of we three,
Me- Jimmie and old Bet
Jim was my little one, you sen,
The brightest, pertest boy
That ever came from heaven on earth
To bc fathers joy.
His mother died when he was born,
And Bet awhile whs COY;
And jealous, too until Mt lcngtl,
She somehow seemed to find
That Jimmie had no mother left
AMI sO-Ashc changed her mthti,
And doptcd him herself, and proved
As any mother kind.
We brought him up by hand, Mctw"
You needn't smile, 'tis true,
There's not muse IN all the land
That could old Bet ontdo;
She'd make cradle of her trunk,
And shake his rattle, too.
Aud when the nights were cold and sharp,
The rain came driving In,
Benca,l, her big warm side he'd lay
And laugh ut blankets thin. Z
No fear that Bet would doze away
And crush that baby IN.
All well, one day (the rich don't know
What poor folks have to dol
was training Jimmie for the ring,
When, as he vnuitcl through
\ paper hoop, he missed and fcl'',
All white, and scnsclrss too.
His spine was hurt, and two long years
We nurscd my crippled child,
Yet even when he suffered most
lie patient was and mild.
A hundred times he dried my tears
And cOaxed mo till I smiled.
We never left him, Bet and !, O
But steady day by day
She'd softly swing him off to sleep,
Or fan his pain away: 9l
And every cake or nut she'd gct,
On Jimmic's bed she'd lay.
But that's not all--one stormy night,
Just as we pitched the tent,
The lightning struck tigers cage,
And out the mad beast went.
Then suddenly there came scrcam e
For help that Jimmie sent.
We heard the tigersnarl just where
The tiny bed did lie.
The keepers icrkcd thoir pistols out
And rushed towards tho cry;
Quick ~ we were, old Bot was first
She flung the baby high!
And as upon her great black head
He clung, all scared and Hat,
With lifted trunk and levelcd tusks
Old Betsy faced the tat
gaNekcr double hay that night
Who wouldnt--after thatl
AT last Jim died, and when in peace
The little angel lay, q
The very cloud had tears to shed,
And one knct down to pray
Although onr boss was rough and hard,
Wcdidnt show that day.
And as around the coffin small
Gathered our little band
Old Betsy took 1t up herself
Ere we could stretch hand,
And, when we left the grave, looked back,
And seemed to understand.
Then only WE were left That seemed
But closer still to tcther
Old Bet and me- and sadly since,
In fair or stormy weather.
Upon the road or in the ring, a
We've mOurrlcd our dead together.
They say beasts have no souls--no heaven
When thew are dead--I know %
If there's place where faithful love
Has rot the smallest show,
They'll let Bet in or else it's not
The place want to 60. ~
havnt many years to live,
And Betsy's growing old;
They might have let us rough it through"
just then his face grew cold
For as he spoke the hammer fell,
And poor old Bet was sold.
Murderous Deeds of a Maniac.
GALVESTON, Jan. l0.-To-morrov
News will publish the following sp
cial from Cambridge:
NJ. A. Seay, who is supposed to
insane, went to the residence of J.
Ladd, ten miles east of here and sll
Ladd dead without the least prov
cation. Thence he went to Samu
Tubbs' house and shot him five tim,
Tubbs is not expected to live. SCI
then went to Logan's farm and
formed Logan Of what he had dor
and before he could be prevent