The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1884-02-06
B0W WE FOUGHT fHE FiRE.
BY WILL CARLETON.

Twas ufOwBy nlBht on lOmpklnb hln'
The very leaves Of the trees lay still;
lhe wtrld wsr sltmb,rins. 0eean-deepI
Aud even the stars seemed hbn asletti
And wlnlied and blinked at the roofs below,
AZ S6SrniDg for morn, that they might go;
The streets as siolid ana still did lie
As they would have done u c'reets could die;
The sidewalks stretched as quietly prohs
A Y n foot they had never knwn;
Ana not / tc,tace within the town
Dnt looked as II 1t would fai" liza down,
Away in the west stackcn-cloud,
With white arms dropping and bare head
bowed.
Was leaning against 5t--'th drowry eye
The dark blue vclveting Of the shy
And that was the plight
Things were in hat night,
Before we were reused the foe 10 fight
The foe m greedy and grand and bright
That tlagubd old Deacon Tompkips
The Deacon us bh hls ftSl W'fos bed
His second wiic's pillow beneath ha heed
iIis third wito's cOyerl6t DER him VIDE,
iiis fo"-'h Wife slrpbefiflg hy his side.
The parson yisloncd hi5 H'ndaJ's text,
And what he should hnrl ut Satan noa.
The doctor u drowsy half-yigil kept,
Still studying, as he partly slept,
i'"' mon might glntton, and tope, and fly
In the face o. DCa'h, md still pot die;
Tie lawyer dreamed that his ehcnta 'rhshs
To club tOg ther, and then present,
Al proof that their faith had not grown dim,
small bright silver hatchet to him;
The .abOref shcli sutlnd slrmbcr knew,
Hc hadii't q dream the whole night through,
The ladic6 1rthmcd-bnt cant sas well
What tis they dream, FOR they hc7et tell;
In short, such general drowSy titnb
Had neer been known in that sleepy cline,
As on the night
OF camor and fright,
We were reused the ir,Rcherons foe TO fight
The TOE 70 grhtdy and grand, and bright,
And carrying stch m Appetite
That plagued cd beacon Tbmpkins
When all at once the old court-house bell
(Which had a voice like manihc'syelD
Cried out, as ii in its dim old sight
The Judgment day had come in the night.
Bang Nhohs whang bang clang dang bang
whang"
Ttp t'roro Old parcel OF metal sang;
Whcrcat, from !nanriUr, boNSCc, and shed,
Rose men and women IA from the dead,
In different stages of attire,
And shouted "Ihc town is all atire"
(Which came as near to being true
As some more leiruCly stories do.)
rho ~ Oh the bcatgn. 3 horse glare,
And everybody hIri,l ftiNei
And such lot of visitors ne
Had never before the luck to see,
The Deacon received these Guqsls OF night
la costume yo'y n!mrls and w'itci .
And after u drowsy, scared "Ahcm!" !"
He asked them what he could do for thine.
"Firo fire." they shouted ''your houses
aiirc !"
And then, with energy sudden and dire,
They rushed through Lhe flcnNiOn'- sOlitudes,
And helped the Deacon o move his goods.
And that was the sight
We had that night; 3d..
When reused 10y the peupe %i,o nav the lieh,
Atop of the residence, cuZy and white.
Shcrc lived old Deacon lompkins.
kh me the way that they rummag,d round!
An me tine s,@rtl'nr tAinps they found :
No one with fair idea of space
Would ever have thought that III one place
Were half the things tnat. with shout,
These ncighborly burglars hustled out.
Came articles that the Doacon's wives
Had ~ been ithcring all their lives;
Came liriiltute a''ch 20 one might pco
Didn't grow III the trtink of e7ttt tree,
A tall cock centuries Old, twas said
leaphd ont Of Il window. heels DER head;
A vtturai chair, NJ which. when now,
George Washington cat FOR pintIte br two;
A bcdstcad strong, as If in its lap
Old line might take his terminal nap;
Dishes, that In meals long agone
The DE con iAtlciN lail eaten oni
Clothes made of every cut and hue,
That couldn't remember when they were new;
A mirror, scathlesS many day,
Was promptly smashed IN the regular way;
Qld shoes enough, II properly thrown,
10 brlur FOOL lurk tu all c,c6turcs khOwh;
And children thirteen, mbrt ur lessj
In varying plenItudo of dlenb
Aud that was the sight
We had that night,
When reused, the ter ibe foe to fight,
Which blazcd aloft to moderate height,
And turned the cheeks of the tmii white,
Including Deacon Iompkins.
10 J where the engines, rechlng hot,
Dashed up TO the interesting spot.
Came Number Two "The City's Iope,"
Propelled by line Of men and rope;
And after them on sptcfu run,
''The Ocean Bows, or Numher One.
And soon the two induced to 'pay"
By hundred hands, were working away,
Until, to the Deacon's ilustcred sight.
Az he dance about in lia robe of white,
It seemed a. if, by the hand of Fate,
iIOuse-cleaning day WAS some two years late,
Aud with complete though late success,
Had Just arrived 10y the night express.
The ocean BlIlOwp' were ut high tide,
And flung their spray upon every tide;
The "City's Hope were IN perfect trim,
Preventing like an interim;
And al ok md Ladder Company came,
With hooks and poles and q long hard name
And with an icono elastic frown,
We're about to pull the whole thing down,
When some one raised the assuring shout,
at only the chimney a-hurnln' OutI
WhCrcat with ,cnsc of injured trust,
The crowd went home in complete disgust.
Scarce one of those who, with joyous shout
Assisted the Deacon i'll moving ont,
| Rcfraincd from the homcward-tlowing din,
| 10 help the Deacon at moving in
And that was the plight
In which, that night,
| They left the Deacon clad in white,
who felt he was hardly treat right
| And used ONE words. in the ilickering light,
Not orthodox in their porpolt quite
Poor, put out Deacon Tompkins!
--Hdrptr'S Weekly.