The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-10-22
written for THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER.l
THE TRAMP's DREAM.
RY Q. Ep. KEsrLER, ooNooRD, N. Q.

eventide they smiled to welcome the
dews and the star beams. The zephyrs
were ladened with sweet aromas from
the fragrant wild woods, while the sill
yer tongued birds made all earth melo-
dious with their songs of rejoicings.
Man only was sad. The f)wers were
glad, the stars were merry, the breezes
were singing their love songs, the
brooks were murmuring sweet, low,
soft ditties Of joy, the larks sweet
cadence was heard near heavens gate,
while the nightingale sang 80 sadly, yet
80 sweetly. Man only was sad and
weary and worn. I was so tired Of
buffeting with life's waves, and, like a
tired child, 1 lay me down in a beauti-
full grove upon a bed of v~iolets, to rest.
Flowers are Gods angels to cheer
the weary of earth, that's why he
made them so plentiful and so cheap.
Though only a tramp, n can nave
flowers and stars and sunshine to re
mind us of things holy n immortal
They can't make a trust" on Gnese
things. o this weary, Work7a-oay
world Ia SO full Of tears and trials n
troubles and toilsl We get 50 tired OF
thinking, so tired of everything. We'd
love to lay our throbbing brows on
some soft pillow of to~rgettulness, ard
be at rest, just as the tender babe rests
upon It's mothers breast. But no;
man mus work and nan must mourn.
And then 1 fell asleep, and as 1 slept,
dreamed a dream, and called it
THE TRAMP's DREAM,
Methought 1 lay one evening "as the
curfew tolls the knell of parting day."
beside a field white with cotton. The
heavens we're all aglow with ten thou
sand stars of the evening.
Ever and anon 1 saw a star leave it's
place in the bright blue sky and gently
come like a fitting CLEAN of beauty,
and linger for a moment over the cot
ton, half way '5wixt earth and heaven,
and then like the lightning's fash it
ran, snatched up a boil of cotton and
sped back to it's bower in the sky.
Thus Venus and Jupiter and Saturn
and Mercury and all the bright lumi-
naries of the sky came, and each stole
a boil of cotton. After the stars had
come and gone, for an hour or more l
looked towards the sky and saw that
every star had a snowy white spot just
above it excepting ~one-only star
was cottonless. Hooked about the cot
ton field to see if there was not one boil
of cotton left for the star which stood
alone in its glory, but none were there
the bright peniz9ns of the sky had
stolen every boil. I felt sorry that all
the stars should have a bit of cotton
but one. Ne thought it might be the
wedding night for all the stars but
one. Thus 1 was dreaming when in
the twinkling of an eye, as l lay watch
ing this Iona star, I saw it leave its po
sition, fringed in a hazy mist of glory,
aud, like the others, come and linger
a while ov3r the field. Then, with the
speed of the light it came and fitted
hither and thither about the field, but
it could find no boil of cotton. IL stop
ped q moment as if in pensive thought,
and then began it's weary search for a
bic of cotton. But in vain was It's
search. Suddenly it came to the violet
bed where 1 was sleeping, and, after
kissing a score of lovely ~violets, me-
thought it touched with its magic wand
my cheeks and In a second !
was fitting by its side through
the armament in heaven. Across
the heights and mountains OF
mists and hazes we sped on lightning
wing By whirling stars, by singing
sphere, by meteors large and meteors
small, We made our way through the
heavens. Ne thought we rested for q
little while upon a promontory of eter-
nifty, bus not for very long. Thus we
few on ward and upward, until the
morning stars began to sing their glee
full songs land oh! now meIodious was
the sky, and then the lone, lovely
star that had caugh5 me up from my
lonely bed and had brought me here
reached it's native hom9 amid the sing
ing spheres.
Methought 1t was a land lying near
the great Sun of beauty and power,
After reaching home and rearinu
awhile and hearing its companions be.
ginning their songs, my star, as I'll call
it, also began its song, and never, no
never, had man ever heard half &c
sweet, so enrapturous, so beautiful mu
sic as my star made. And when it,
song was over I was 10 a new cline
Day dawned as it dawns in North Car
DINA, but 1 was In a new country, IN