Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1910-01-13

best rendering of it 1 ever heard.
Since that time l have many
times heard cowboys state that
Mr.. Nation composed it, but do
not know that to be true, and
think likely no one knows, unless
Mr.. Nation does, who did in fact
compose it.
THE DIM, NARROW TRAIL.
Last night as lay on the prairie,
Looking up at the stars in the sky,
l wondered If ever a COWBOY
Would go to that sweet by and by;
wondered if ever cowboy
Would go to that sweet by and by.
The trail to that fair mystic region
Is narrow and dim all the way,
While the road that leads to perdition
Is posted and blazed all the way;
While the road that leads to perdition
Is posted and blazed all the way.
They say there will be grand roundup,
Where cowboys like cattle must stand,
To be cut by the riders of judgment,
Who are posted and know every brand;
To be cut by the riders of judgment,
Who are posted and know every brand.
Perhaps there will be stray cowboy,
Unbranded by any one nigh,
Who'll be cut by the riders of judgment
And shipped to the sweet by and by;
Who'll be cut by the riders of judgment
And shipped to the sweet by and by.
I don't see why there'sso many
To be lost at that great final sale,
Who might have been rich and had plenty
Had they known of that great final sale
Who might have been rich and had plenty
Had they known of that great final sale.
Those who know it insist that
the person who composed the
words also composed the tune to
which it was sung. l can hardly
believe it to be that way. The
cowboys who could play a violin
well, and many of them could,
were in the habit of rendering a
tune after their own fashion, and
not infrequently improved it, at
least for their audience. Some
times one of them would play
something he had never heard
and which he could not always
repeat, or at least would not, and
which bore no resem blance to
l had heard. Usually
such a tune, if one calls it such,
had a subcurrent in it that seem
ed to me to express the loneli-
ness of their life as well as some
thing of hopeleness. The play
er seemed to dimlv realize that
he had missed out in life and I'M
dershot the mark. That was the
sort of tune this was sung to by
Mr.. Nation. l say he had never
heard the tune played. say it
because, when asked for name
the usual reply was that it wasn't
anything, only just harmony;
Just seemed to be in his arm. l
can't express this so that 1t con
Veys very clear idea of the mat
ter. Possibly if | was musician
[ could express it and could also
determine whether or not such
Improvisationswe tunes. lam
told that "Old Rosin the Bow"
will carry this song, but it does
not express the sentiment as did
the one Mr.. Nation used.
Frequently small punches Of
from three to twenty head of
horses would elude the vigilance
If the night guard in the dark
md set out to reach the home
The duty of following
md recovering these strays was
1ard and dangerous. 1t requir-
I'd a man of experience, good
possessing perseverance,
@ follow the truants through
several days of exposure and
1ard riding. This work often
ell upon Mr.. Harper, for be pos
'essed all the necessary qualifi-
;atiohs. One such ride will de-
scribe all of them, so far as gen.