24 TOM BLAKE AND THE DAPPLED BROWN. 



But a crashing noise, and a piercing cry 



Fills every man's heart with tear ; 

 And the black smoke floats through the midnight sky 



As we pause for awhile to hear. 



We dragged him forth from beneath the wreck. 



A crushed and a mangled form. 

 We looked, and found there was still a speck 



Of life that survived the storm. 



But the speck was faint, and he breathed his last 

 In the yard, where we laid hirn down ; 



And the only words from his lips that passed 

 Were, "Thank God, I have saved the brown." 



And the good mare, too, when she saw him there — 



The man she had known so well — 

 Sniffed hard at the face and the matted hair, 



With a snort at the smoky smell. 



So now good-night ; look across the vale, 



The sun is behind the down. 

 That's all I know, 'tis a well-known tale, 



Tom Blake and the dappled brown. 



