The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1919-11-14
n HOME, REVERIES

of dreams into which you strolled with that
babe on your lap! And the dancing Daftoes-
tiny creatures of your own creatlon-hdnt you
strip the rainbow of its glory and the blossoms
of their most gorgeous tints, IN orGer TO dress
them up for the "moonbeam dancer
You had to think fast, too, for chdrens I'M
patience reaches the climax when you stop to
study in the middle Of a wonderful adventure;
And once YOU were almost lost when he wanted
to know who played the music. But you caused
his little sides to shake by saying: 'O!d
Greene, the Bull Frog, who used a fiddle made
by stretching hairs from pussy cat tai over
the top of tiny gourd
1t was lust yesterday, wasn't it, that you
were entertaining the boy with your little queer
creatures in the purple woods? And adroltly
you steered an airship far away INTO the clouds,
while amazed he sat by your side. Among the
stars YOU rode like a flying meteor stopping
only an instant now and then to give the man
in the moon a chew of tobacco, or to chufn
some butter from the milky way.
At length the soft eyelids would grow heavy,
then close and you would change your wild,
unreasonable narrative into low hum, until
the velvety fingers that held tight and tighter
to yours in innocent faith, relaxed and by the
soft and peaceful breathing you knew your
baby was asleep.
Yes that was Yesterday; the fairies are far
away now and the old airship lies shattered
somewhere in the valley of Faded Fancy The
boy who mounted your lap each eventlde to
hear the stories is man today. Back from
the flaming battlefront he has come with real
tales as wonderful as those strange creatures
of imagination with which you entertained him
just little while ago.
He tells YOU of battle with the submarines
and how his eyes brighten when the thrill of
it comes back to him. Twas to our starboard,
dad, and we rushed upon the deck to catch
glimpse of the periscope The gunners were
busy and breathleSsly we awaited results, After
awhile a white line of bubbles was visible which
marked the course of torpedo that had missed
its mark Then a Yankee shot found the sneak
ing coward of the deep. Hurrah! We had
scored a victory, and gee, how beautiful the
American flag looked floating out there in the
yellow sunlight"
On and on he goes, that baby of yours
whose toes you used to gently twist as you
named them one by one like this, Little Pea,
Penny Rue, Mary Ossle, Rosy Whistle, and then
with a big twist-Great Gobble Gobblel You
shudder now as he relates his dangerous ex-
perences, Just as he did at your bear stories,
and when he tells about how close the bombs
from the Zeppelins fell, as he stood guard out
there in the night with only the stars and those
messengers of death overhead. something pulls
at you away down in your heart. 1t all seems
like dream-that boy, that baby you once
daddled on your knee-telling of wild and wick
ed war in which he participated, of strange
cities far over the sea, of the beauty of the
blue Mediterranean and the mighty Alps lift
ing their heads up to the first kiss of the stars
"But dad, tell you it was squally the night
we crossed the English channel. No stars were
visible, Egyptian darkness surrounded us, and
twas there they said the subs were lurking to