The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1882-03-11
nr /. Z. ROWLAND.

s0od evenin' neighbOr Marcy come in and take
is's sort 9 cold in the openin' tho the sky is
tribe clear.
Martha has Jest run to the crossin 10 see neigh
Dor or two,
And will be back in = rninute-so.,f ver.ve moth
ID, to do,
~ spin yer yarn how Martha and / fusi
:. struck this place
sgn onto p thirty years ago, when thar wasn's
vi house or farm in Bloomyille, thet,s so fun oi
AAen we We're young and hardy, with no fur
rows ON our brow.
marina an were childer, and lived in a sea-
port town,
"nar the hillscame slopin' greenish down to the
We tended the village school, an romped as
gal and boy
over the wooded uplands, with hearts chuck full
And we learned to love each other-strange wer'
nad sech brownish clusters, she seech enchant-
ing eyes,
An the old folks said it was good an Martha
an held on
An have in the place wer' happier-ah, how the
years have gone.
Our fathers were honest sailors--fshermen bold
an brave,
% Martha an hev often been out on the riley
wave,
An the old folks had pretty houses, an women
The best in the thrifty village thet any man
could find;
And they loyed to see US together, because they
wer' gettin' old,
An they'd hev hated to see their children alone
in the bitter cold
20 the years went on, ,an' the old folks lay under
the sally tree,
An Martha an were spliced and happy as folks
can be.
An for years we liyed in the old place, nor
80. thought ofgoin' away,
Eli the childer came IAN the childer is what
one lives for, they say;
An the village had grown to city, an was full
o. evil then,
With its evil minded women, an drunken
beaStly men,
2 IN we thought if we raised the childer amid
seeh heap o. sin
They'd surely go to ruin and never enter within
The Kingdom o. Gods selected, whar rich an
poor are alike,
4 Nor hearts are crooked with envy, with malice
or dislike.
So Martha and had chat an the upshot of
it was all this:
We took it into our heads thar TO come to this
spot O. bliss;
So we sold every piece o. furniture, our cottage
an patch of land
! An faced for the Western prairie with axe in
the swingin' hand,
An Martha was great as woman( God bless her
for what she's done],
She swung the axe in the timber, under our
scorchin' sun;
An drew the plow in the turrow, as good as tie
best of men;
Came home an busted the house clean then
out to the field again.
We're we very lonesome?-Why no, we had
heaps TO do,
Cleanin' the land o. timber, plantin', and gath
erin, too;
An teaching the childer learnin', and readin,
the t.essed page,
Film their minds with virtue (then at tender
age).
But the neighbors came as the time went, an
happy was Martha and I,
An we'd many a "sleighn' party" in the days
that have flown by,
An then when the Parson came our hearts grew
sudden light
An the sky above dear Bloomville changed to
CHEEKY bright.
Come here to the window, Marcy ,thars Ransom,
Over thar in the acre clearin', goin' off with his
dog and gun.
Mark you the stride o. the lad, the fr.e swing of
the horny hand,
'g as the mountain grizzly-ah, his the best
n the land
o the sound O. the axe clang' It's Ru-
who deae the blow;
you'll see yonder towerin' beach lay
voice from the kitchen, tits Ger
eWeet,-
worlds compass a merrier maid
sessd'd meet
In we have the heartache, when God has
been 50 good,
We've alters been contented since this was SOL
itude,
We brought up our han'some children in ways
that are true an just,
I An in the bounty o. Heaven we allus put our
trust;
An when Martha and are gathered unto the
God we love,
We still win wstch our darlings out of the realms
But we are not skeered to leave 'em they IL never
go astfay,
AM when we do well meet 'em again on the
reckonin' day.
I'm wonderin' what's keepin' Martha, the sun
is cloudia, so
As judge of the weather,I could swear it's goin'
to snow.
It may be some neighbor's sick, that keeps her
away SO long,
/ reckon she'll soon be here-Martha is not SO
strong
AS when first we struck this pIace-shes worked
too much, by far.
What figures thar by the clearin' mile away
over thar.
Rupert has shouldered his axe and both are
headin' this way.
Why it's Marthai My Visions duller nor it has
been many q day.