The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-09-08

They had all gone somewhere. and pub
fishers set up . cIsmor for poems, POEMS
posms-thsy all wanted Whittisi's poems.
fGme At last had found him, bnt u could
m not lure him from his old, simple ways.
begged to write for IL, but he could not do
~ lie must have reason before he could
write pOsm. and he conld not promise
shat reason would arise. 30 he conld nos
engage. and hs mover did engage. TO write
poem. Many times he has said hs would
never write again.
MY literary work Ia DONE" and tuning
to ns. added, III were disposed to write
any more my physician would not let me-"
~ would bs bard to say where Mr.:
Whittier lived. he had houses sll up and
down the Msrrimao and up and down the
time. too-and owned q house there. JsdRe
Gate and family (ail ravsns) occupy the
house, and MIR. Whittier lived much Of the
time with them. His room and his study
were alwaya kept in readiness for him, for
he cams and went. according to his whim.
under the main part Of the house. A door
with glass panels opened from this porch
into Mr.. Whittisr's study. Here hs kept
his small store Of books, and here he wEots
the greater part Of his latter year poetry.
Sometimes he sat under the trees back o3
sA0 uouo0 0uO tuOUkut OUt ule VOVec9s E4O@
queptly he stood At the glass door looking
out. but seeing nothing save the Iicturss
that were forming In his IMAGINATION.
hut his bod was his best work bench. He
e light sleeper, and II you would sit BY
his door and listen Won would be likely in
the still Of the night hear him rsoitinR and
changing and repeating verses which on the
morrow would be put ON paper for the gen.
erations to read. Often. ZOO, when he was
not composing new verses he reoited his old
ones aloud in bed.
In his time Mr.. Whittier wrote many
'"private" poems. These are nearly ali
humorous. II he attended picnic or had
any kind Of outing with oonasnial spirits
he was pretty sure to write poem about IT,
playing on the humorous aspect of the in
cidents and Introducing the names and
peculiarties OF all the persons of the party.
Many such poems are in existence now
scattered about among his intimatss. but
them for publication.
The most successful of Mr.. Whittier's
works. from financial point of view
which 10 the view he never takes--is
''Snowbound," Until this was published
no had received very little money for his
for every copy of ''Snowbound" that was
sold, and under this rarely generous ar
rangement the poet received several thous-
and dollars. Since that time Mr.. Whittier
has received some high prices for his poems
so high. he says. that he could hardly
Of these was 81, ,OOO paid by the New York
Ledger for ninety-six lines, entitled '.The
Csptain's Well"
Tho poem which was written three years
ago, and may safely be set down az Mr..
Whittier's last one of great length, has an
interesting bit of local history for its theme.
In the last quarter of the eighteenth cen-3
tury Valentine BaRley. young man living
at Amesbury, went to sea and soon became
Capt. Bagley. When he was yet young his
vessel was wrecked in the Red sea and he
Was cast upon the shore of Arabia, where he
was seized and sold into slavery by the
Bedouins. After many years he escaped
and fed to the great Arabian desert, whore
he wandered until he nearly perished of
thirst. Then, for the first time in his life.
he thought OF prayer. As he supplicated
heaven for aid the picture of his home in
Amssbury rose before his mind. and, with
the finest regard for detail, he vowed that
bury he would dig we'll in a certain spot
by the roadside near bis home and dedicate
it to the Lord.
In time Capt. Bagley was rescued and
brought home. On the first morning after
his arrival he proceeded to dig In the des-
ignated spot. His neighbors asked whether
he was digging for gold and he said no. he
was digging for something moro precious
water. The spot had not bsen tried by a
water witch. aud they told him he would
probably not find spring there. but he
answered that shallow or deep he should
dig just there till he came to water.
Capt. BaRley died in 1889 at the age of
66, but the we'll still remains, though the
dscayed curb was taken down about ton
years ago. Mr.. Whittier was 81 years old
when the captain died and had known him
for manv years.
Capt. Baeley's tombstone still stands in
the burying ground on the hill. only
stones til ow from the we'll. Within the
snme enclosure is the Friends little half
acre. and in this lie the ashes Of Mr.. Whit
tiers dear ones-Uncle Moses, Aunt Mercy.
his father and mother, sisters Mary and
Lizzie and brother Franklin-and at the
westerly end of the row there is just room
for one moro mound to be made and one
more plain little headstone to be set No..
But he is to sleep there will live in the
hearts of a grateful people long after that
mound has sunk away and that simple lit
tie headstone has crumbled back to dust.