En Avant. 243 



II. 



For ns this night the fair Gate City throws 



Her portals wide; she spreads her fruits and flowers 



For stranger guests, escaping from the snows; 

 She makes her sunshine and her blessing ours. 



III. 



N From borders far the gardener is here, 



The man who prunes, whose trees bring daily duty ; 

 Your Lone Star meets him with a feast and cheer ; 

 Her mistletoe is his from hands of beauty. 



IV. 



Not ingrate we; not cjuick to taste and go ; 



Not idly at your feast our sense regaling ; 

 But bearing with us to the overflow 



A cup filled ever from a source unfailing. 



V. 



And this we seek in other days from you — 



Some look cast backward from the far hereafter- 

 Some thought for us, as ours for you" is true, 



Of this fair night of welcome, dance and laughter. 



A'l. 



Oh, men and women of this southern land, 



Oh, sons and daughters who have smiled and spoken. 



Receive our hearts, in trust, with parting hand. 

 And be your peace a day-dream never broken. 



The night journey of the 13th brought us to Fort Worth. By the court- 

 esy of the weather clerk we had enjoyed sunshine and balmy air during 

 our afternoon in Denison. Of this, however, we took a sudden leave, and by 

 the time of our arrival at Fort Worth had plunged into what may be called 

 a spell. The city was spattered with rain and mud, but, under cover of the 

 dismal morning, it was easy to see that the place was one of great enterprise 

 and progress. From a manufacturing and commercial point of view it is 

 likely that Fort Worth leads all the Texan cities. It is substantially built, 

 with broad streets and some attention to sidewalks. At Fort Worth the 

 Society had no reception. Some preparations had been made for a consid- 

 erable stop and a drive about the city, but certain delays of the train, the 

 intolerable splutter of the rain-storm, and other untoward circumstances, 

 defeated the project. So, for some hours, the inost venturesome of the ex- 

 cursionists beat about the principal streets, while the timid were glad to 

 remain in their Pullmans, reflecting on Noah's flood. 



It should be said that the country which we had traversed thus far from 

 Kansas City to Fort Worth is almost continuously beautiful and fertile. The 



