1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



233 



Tht SOUi.'o SONG. 



A captive in restricted cell confined, 

 My spirit soars despite prim walls and bare 

 And sin>;eth when it sees the mystic stars, 

 Aud when soft moonbeams, kind, aslant have 



shinod, 

 As though my cloistered soul they had divined, 



When cooling zephyrs herald day in east, 

 And bird throats answer uial:e from tree and 



vine 

 To deeper song my soul doth e'er incline 

 And longs at j:;atins to assist as priest, 

 Alas, I may not join the vocal feast 1 



Rich clustered jev/els pass my thought in train, 

 Which lose their order ere they reach my 



tongue ; 

 Only tlutr shadowed form by me is sung. 

 Conceived in pleasure, told, alas, in pain. 

 As some wild bird is captured, but when slain' 



Not alway in a prison vrall of clay 

 Shall I my poor restricted song Ueplore; 

 Beyond the paths ethereal clouds explore. 

 When sunset leaves ajar its opal door, 

 I'll sing, unfettered, at the dawn of day. 



—Arthur Howard Hall. 



WINNING THE WIDDEE 



"It grieves me all fired copious, " ob- 

 served Uncle Cy Clay, gravely contem- 

 plating the quarter section of pancake 

 poised on the end of his fork, "f see 

 th' flirtatious carryin's on o' this yere 

 yaller hieaded schoolmarm an Doc Ev- 

 erett, more especial as she is al- 

 ready spoke for by Jimmy Duval, an 

 doc is kuowed t' be th' only husban an 

 father of a' interestin leetle fambly of 

 's own, back in loway. But, then — 

 well, well, they's no 'couutin f 'r th' ac- 

 tions of th' female sect, more like ef 

 they happ'ns t' be o' th' flirtatious v'ri- 

 ety, an they most all be. 



"Ir'member one female inp'ticl'ar, " 

 he continued after sending a large swal- 

 low of hot coflee in the wake of the de- 

 parted piece of pancake — "I r'member 

 one th't Vvos sho' 'nough scand'lous 

 'sample o' v>hat cur'us notions th' sect 

 will take an th' ouaccountable things 

 they all 'II do. 



" 'Twas back in Wyoming, in '67 — 

 time o' th' Sweetwater 'xcitem'nt, ye 

 know. Will, me im my t\vo pardners 

 'd be'n miniu out yere in Califomy 

 awhile, an was doiu well 'nough, but 

 jest's soon's th' rush come along it was 

 'np stakes' with us, same's a lot o' oth- 

 er fnni niinprs. a.n oft' we cops t' r.h' 



Sweetwater country, ole Bill Heatwole 

 an me an Ben — Ben Haskins, he was 

 th' youngest o' us, an chockful o' th' 

 ole Harry's ever any boy you ever seen. 

 But white? That boy was white, he 

 sho' was, ef ever a white man lived. Ef 

 'e hadn't 'e 'a' be'n yere now, more'n 

 likely. 



"At Sweetwater, th' Widder Buck 

 kep' a boardin house, an we all boards 

 with'er, an we fed high too. But, say, 

 that widder was th' purtiest leetle crea- 

 ture ye ever seen. Wa'n't more'n 24 'r 

 25, an had rosy cheeks an eyes th't 'd just 

 set y'r heart a-thunipiu — black's any 

 coal an brights di'm'uds. Well, she 

 did sho' drive th' boys crazy, an they 

 wa'n't hardly one o' 'em th't wa'n't 

 wild t' be th' landlord o' th't there 

 bean joint. Th' wust o' it all was th't 

 they wa'n't none o' 'em but what, one 

 time 'r 'uother, was dead sure he was 

 goin t' s'ceed th 'lamented Buck, which 

 was gone b'fore 'bout three years back 

 — f 'r ef they ever was a sho' 'nough 

 flirt, 'twas th't same Widder Buck. 

 She'd take up an smile sweet 't ev'ry 

 new man th't showed up, outell she had 

 'im on th' string good an hard. Then 

 f'r th' next. 



"But w'en our Ben jumps in an be- 

 gins makin lo\-e in real ser'us shape, we 

 all begins to calculate th't th' blocmin 

 widder is sho' ketched a lot, an reckons 

 they's goin t' be some splicin did in 

 that there camp b'fore Chris'mas — w'en 

 all of a suddint, along comes a lawyer 

 chap hailin from Salt Lake an puts up 

 't th' Hotel de Widder Buck, thereby 

 cau.siu H hull loto' gi'ief in camp, 'cause 

 he hops in immediate an begins makin 

 love t' th' landlady, her makin no 

 'bjections as anybody knowed of. 



■"Yere's where Ben makes a dead 

 wrong ijlay ; f'r, 'nsteud of stickin to 'is 

 guns, 'e right off makes a jeidous break 

 'r two, caufiin a row wi' th' widder, 

 quite natural. Then off gees Ben an 

 hires out t' th' gove'mn'ntf'r a scout — 

 'bout that time th' U. P. road was bein 

 built, an th' Ogalalla Sioux was makin 

 'emselves real onpleasant, chargiu round 

 an liftin section ban's' h!\ir an sech 

 like playful leetle tricks. So, 's I says, 

 Ben gees off in a huff' an leaves th' run- 

 nin t' this yere Salt Lake maverick as 

 calls 'isself 'Jedge' Sherman an pnts 

 an a hull lot o' boggns airs an talks 

 book Euclish. Sav. it icst made us sick 



