The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-05-26
ARTEslA or TuLARE.


An old Scotch shepherd with tale
OF crofter strife. heartbroken wife;
A barefoot girl gad-eyed and pale;
a dog, . gun, buckhorn knife;
With garments torn, with face unshorn
And all his better life outworn.
But then his fond white flock Of sheep
Where still Tularc's wafcfE creep:
Fair, level water wiiloM.lined
The one loved stream IN All that land.
You should have seen 1t Wild and wind
Through unfenced seas Of loan and sand
Long years ago, with here and there
A pack Of wolves, q waiting bear.
When this stoutehearfed, lorn old man
Kept flock as only Scotchmcn cant
And how they loved Tulare's bank,
And planned TO buy, and build and rest,
The while his white flock fed and drank
Aye, he had thrift and Of the best.
And back, where no 1ch man laid hands,
Had bought and bought wide desert lands.
But sudden came the rich and strong
The old, old tale Of cruel wrong. -
. I'll have his lands" the rich man cried
His lands are broad as his Scotch brogue-
That's saying they are broad.and wide.
~ I'll have his landsl He calls me rogue.
Out, outl-away9sI will not spare
: One drop from that deep river there
And, banished so. they sadly turned.
The barefoot lass, the bent old man,
To where the barren desert burned
His dog, his gun, a water can;
His white flock bleating on before
All loath TO leave the watered shore;
His dog with dropping tail and ears;
His barefoot, tattered child In tears. Il
They found a rounded mound not far,=
They rose above the sage and sane,
Where one green willow, like star
In some dark night, stood lone and grand.
And here the can and gun were swung;
In grief MS when lorn Israel hung
Her harp on willow-tree and kept
Sad silence as she sat and wept
The dog crouched fretful at their feet;
The woolly fold crept close with fear,
And Ono meek lamb did blcat and bleat,
So pitiful, 80 sadly drear,
The girl crept from the bowed old man,
Reached up and took the water-can,
And gave 1t water while he slept,
The while she silent wept and wept.
Then came gaunt wolves-all sudden came
And sat in circle close belowl
The dog sprang up, his eyes afiame,
And all his frame did quiyer sol
Then like shot right down he sped,
She snatched the gun No more she wept,
But watched, the while the shepherd slept.
zz=7ss5z ss.sg5:sjz7
Then came the moon.ZVast peaks OF snow
Flashed silver from Sierra's height,
And lit the lonely scene below
AS IL with some unearthly light
A light that only made gloom
Mid silence, space and shoreless room.
Why, all that moonlit scene but seemed
Such as half-maddencd men have dreamed.
At last the sun burst like fame,
And shaggy wolves fed from the light,
Then wide-eyed, wondering rabbits came
And stood In circle left and right.
They stood so graceful trim and tall,
You might have guessed this was ball
Where dainty dancers, slim and neat
Stood waiting with impatient feet
The man was Weakened. Why, his fold
Had crept SO close ere break Of morn
That he reached out and there lay hold
OF his huge ram by one curled hornl
But then the dogl All, there were tearsl
He scarce had wept for years and years,
But now 1t seemed his heart would break
In sorrow for that dead brutes sake.
He said no word, but silent took
In his broad, heavy, honest hand
His long, strong, stcel.shod shepherds crool
Auu uiBBeu u uctp grave III the Sanu
But why so eager now? so wild,
He turns he catches up his child
my BARN, my BARN, my eyes are DIM,
But bide We, bide, and trust in Himl'F
Away he sped: and soon he brought
From some old camp long black rod
On his bent back. Then, as he wrought,
She thought Of Moses; prayed to God
That water for the thirsting flock
Might now as from the smitten rock,
And save her father-save him sane
There In that fearful desert plain.
He forced the black tube through the sod
Beneath the waving willow-tree
With giants strength Then, rs II God
Decreed, it sank sank swift and free
Sank sudden through the slime and sand,
Sank deep, slid swift, slid from his hand.
Then he sprang up, aghast and dazod
And piteous, as II sudden crazed
He caught his gum he madly wrenehed
The barrels out and thrust them down;
And then he fell, fell drenched, fell drenched
With foods that leaped as II to drowni
And oil Tularc came there to drink,
AS happy faced as you can think.
And hey The shepherd millionaire.
And she? "Artesa OF Tulare."
Joaquin Miller, In ST. Nicholas.