NARCISSUS. 



"5 



ians, the bullets skipping and rebounding 

 among the rocks. 



" Devils and furies! " roared Bully, as 

 the bullets hissed about his head. ' They 

 all have rifles, and they are going to give us 

 a merry fight." 



" I think the weather do be gettin' rather 

 warrum for this sasun of the year," ejacu- 

 lated Denny, dodging down, and grasping 

 the top of his head with both hands, as a 

 shot plowed a deep furrow through his 

 tangled locks. Then he shouted at the top 

 of his voice: " If it be all the same to yez, 

 Captain, I wud prefer a cooler sphot." 



Tom Martin could not but smile at this 

 by-play, in spite of his excitement. His 

 smile was suddenly cut short by a shock 

 that threw him to the ground; at the same 

 time a fire seemed to burn into his breast. 



" Shot by ," he heard some one cry. 



Then he saw Good leap on a bowlder, 

 heard him give one wild yell, and shout 

 savagely: "Charge! boys, damnation! 

 Are we to be held back by a pack of cussed 

 Indians? " and amid a confusion of frenzied 

 yells, shots, curses and cheers, young Mar- 

 tin's mind became a blank. 



When he opened his eyes, it was in a 

 neatly-furnished room, with a soft breeze 

 blowing through an open window on him. 

 Edith Thornton was sitting close by. Be- 

 fore she noticed the young man's gaze, 

 Good walked noiselessly into the room. 



"Hello!" he cried, joyfully. "Opened 

 your eyes at last, have you? Well, I'm 

 mighty glad of it, for a bullet through the 

 lungs is no joke — and I felt responsible for 



you. Now, what report could I have made 

 to Miss Edith " 



That young lady interrupted him by an 

 impatient nod of her head: then after a few 

 words with Tom, she' shook her finger 

 warningly at the tall scout. 



' You promised to behave yourself," she 

 said, with mock severity, " and you must 

 remember not to talk nonsense." With 

 that she marched out of the room. 



The good fellow smiled pleasantly, at the 

 same time drawing a chair to the bedside 

 of the young man. 



At length, in response to an anxious 

 query, his dark eyes lighted up and he re- 

 plied, rubbing his hands with glee: 



" Ah it was a pretty fight, a good sharp 

 tussle. After you went down we charged 

 the cusses and it would have done your 

 heart good to have seen them leap out of 

 those rocks when they heard us yell. Sev- 

 eral of them tried snap shots at us, but they 

 were rattled after I gave that yell. 



" Bully got a shallow shot in the shoul- 

 der, but it only made him fuller of fight than 

 ever. We got 12 of them, and I suppose 

 marked some more. You got the worst shot 

 in the lot, and I tell you, for a while it 

 looked pretty blue for your chances. We 

 got you here at Thornton's, and you've 

 been well tended. Dr. Pratt came up from 

 Four Corners and took that lead out of 

 you in a twinkling. He showed mighty 

 good judgment, too, in selecting a nurse 

 for you," with which the young man fully 

 agreed, though he did not say so. 



NARCISSUS. 



S. A. WARNER. 



There wuz a feller, Narcissus, 



Narcissus, 

 Thought he wuz mighty conspic'ous; 

 Went tearin' aroun' 

 With a gun an' a houn' 

 A hunter wuz Mr. Narcissus, 



Narcissus. 



Echoer wuz sweet on Narcissus, 



Narcissus, 

 Made herself mighty offic'us; 

 An' kep' pinin' away 

 Fur day arter day 

 A-lovin' this feller, Narcissus, 



Narcissus. 



Narcissus wan't wantin' this Echoer, 



Miss Echoer, 

 He wan't a-reddy tew tek her; 

 Fur he wuz tew shy, 

 An' looked all-fired high; 

 Tew high fur his nabor, poor Echoer. 



Oh, Echoer! 



Wherever he'd go went this Echoer, 



Sis Echoer, 

 Her dad an' her mar cu'dn't check her. 

 She follered her ch'ice 

 Til nuthin' but v'ice 

 Wuz left of silly young Echoer, 



U-u-u-m — Echoer, 



