Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1888-01-28
THAT GENTLE BOSTON MAN.
An Idyl of Oregon.

~ x Il. = s. t 3
Two webfoot brothers loved a fair
& Young lady, rich and good to see;
And oh, her black abundant hairl
And oh, her wondrous witcheryi
Her father kept cattle farm:
These brothers kept her safe from harm:
From harm of cattle on the hill;
From thicknecked bulls loud believing
The live-long morning. loud and shr II,
And flashing sides like any thing;
From roaring bulls that tossed the sand
And paved the lilies from the land.
There came third young man. He came
From far and famous Boston town.
He was not handsome, was not game,
But he could cook "a gooseni ibrown
AS any man that set foot on
The sunlit shores OF Oregon.
This Boston man he taught the school,
Taught gentlenees and love Away;
Said love and kindness, as rule,
Would ultimately make it pay.
He was SO gentle, kind, that he
Could make amour and verb agree.
So when one day the brothers grew
All jealous and did strip to fight,
He gently stood between the two
And meekly told them twas not right.
:" have higher, better plan,''
Outspake this gentle, Boston man.
" My plan is this: Forget this fray
About that lily hand of hers:
Go take your guns and hunt all day 80
High up yon lofty hill of frs;
And while you hunt. my loving doves,
Why, will learn which one she loves"
The brothers sat the windy hill,
! Their hair shone yellow, like spun gold;
Their rifles crossed their laps, but still
They sat and sighed, and shook with cold.
Their hearts lay bleeding far below;
Above them cleaned white peaks OF snow.
Their hounds lay COUGHING, slim and neat;
Aspotted circle in the grass.
Their valley lay beneath their feet;
They heard the wide winged eagles pass;
The eagle cleft the clouds above,
Yet what could they but S gh and love?
" If could die. the elder sighed,
my dear young brother here might wed. 81
"Oh, would to Heaven I had diedr'
The younger sighed, with Bonded head.
Then each looked each full in the face
I And each sprang up and stood in place.
If could de-, the elder spake,
''Die by your hand, the world would say
Twas accident; and for her sake,
Dear brother, be it so, pray"
" Not thatr the younger nobly said;
. Then tossed his gun and turned his head;
i. And fifty PAGES back he paced,
And as he paced he drew the ball;
Then sudden stopped and wheeled and faced
His brother TO the death and fall.
Two shots ran wild upon the air,
But, 10, the two stood harmless there.
The eagle poised high in the air;
Far, far below the believing
OF builocl5S ceased, and everywhere
Vast silence sat all questioning.
The spotted hounds ran circling round,
Their red, wet noses 10 the ground
And now each brother came to know
! That each had drawn the deadly ball;
And for that fair girl far below
; Had sought in vain to silent fall
And then the two did gladly shake,
And thus the elder hravely spake:
"Now let US run right hastily
And tell the kind schoolmaster all;
YEA yea and if she choose not me,
But all on you her favors fall,
This valiant scene, till all life ends,
Dear brother, binds US best of friendsn
The hounds sped down spotted line,
The bulls in tall. abundant grass,
Shook back their horns from bloom and vine
And trunpeted to see them pass:
They were so fair, they loved so true,
They sought the kind schoolmaster out
AS swift as sweeps the light of morn;
They could but love, they could not doubt
This man so gentle, in horn.
They cried: ''NoW, whose the lily hand,
That lady's of this webfoot land?''
They bowed before that big-nos man,
That long-nosed man from Boston town;
They talked as only lovers can;
They talked, but he could only frown;
And still they talked, and still they plead;
1t was as pleading with the dead
AT last this Boston man did speak:
s Her father has q thousand ceows,
An hundred bulls, all fat and sleek:
He also had this ample heouse,'
The brothers eyes stuck out thereat
So far you ght have hung your hat
u liked the looks OF this big heouse-
My lovely boys. won't you come in7
Her father has thousand ceows.
He also has heap of tin.
The guirl? Oh yes, the guirl, you see
The gutrl just meow she married me-
joaquin Miller, in Pacific Rural Press.