Soon the train and those within it Reached and passed a second station, And was speeding ever onward, When at once a shriek came ringing— ’Twas an utterance from the lady Who by tears had baffled justice; Loud she cried, “Where is my hero? Where, oh, where’s the handsome prisoner?” And the affable conductor Searched the train from clue to ear-ring, But they could not find the captive. He had clearly just evaded At the station just behind them, As the starry night came on. Then outspoke a man unnoted Hitherto: “I heard the fellow Say just now to the conductor, Ere we reached the second teapot, That he reckoned he must hook it This here time a little sooner, If he hoped to get his portion Of the hundred, since the last time He came awful nigh to lose it; For it might be anted off all ’Fore he got a chance to strike it, Ere the starry night came on.” And the Unknown thus continued: “They hev hed that gallows standin’ All the summer, and the people Mostly git ther livin’ from it, For they take ther turns in bein’ Mournful victims who hev stolen Every one a lovely mewel; And they always every evenin’ Hev the awful death-fire kindled, And the ghastly captive ready. It’s the fourth time I hev seen it, Comin’ through and never missed it; Only for a variation Now and then they hire a nigger For the people from New England, As the starry night comes on. “And they find that fire and gallows Just as good as a bonanza, For they got the Legislater Lately to incopperate it; And I hear the stock is risin’ Up like prairie smoke in autumn. Yes, in this world men diskiver Cur’ous ways to make a livin’, Ez you’ll find when you hev tried it For a year or so about here.” And the passengers in silence Mused upon this new experience, Most of all the fine young lady, As the dragon darted onward, And the starry night came on. ----- [11] Mule. THE PHILANTHROPIC CLUB I am the member of a club of reg’lar noble seeds, Whose object is to give rewards for philanthropic deeds. We root for magnanimity as spiders hunt for flies, So we lately held a meeting to award our annual prize. Then our President reported with great solemnity The case of Dayball Carter, a man in Tennessee, Who plunged into a burning store as if his doom had come, But emergéd with an infant—and a gallon jug of rum. But the club could nowise settle, admitting all the fact, If the baby or the liquor had inspired the noble act, For ’twas proved he kept the liquor while he let the infant go, So the case of Mr. Carter was adjourned _in dubio_. Then the Secretary read us, in very moving tones, The wondrous case of courage of General Pompey Jones, Who found a hydrophobic dog upon a neighbour’s farm, And roped his neck and led him off where he could do no harm.