Husband and wife -- Fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
"Jethniah," he reminisced, in the pause that followed their latest
effort, "d' ye mind the day we were fishin' the Racquette away below
Forked Lake, and ye made a little song all out of your own head and
sang it for me?"
"Does seem to me now," said Jethniah hesitating. McQuade was the best
of friends, but he was an inveterate joker and Jethniah was always a
little afraid of his humor when there was company. "But I can't just
think right now. What about it?" he inquired cautiously. He remembered
the little song very well. He had been humming it to himself ever since
that day last summer when he had sung it for McQuade, but he had never
had the hardihood to bring it out and teach it to people as his own
composition. Jethniah was a kindly man, and easily hurt; and in this
matter he had all of the fledgling author's fear of ridicule.
"Then it's me that remembers," said McQuade, triumphantly pulling
a wallet from his hip pocket. From the wallet he drew out a little
account book and found in it the page for which he looked. He handed
it, open, to Jethniah, saying:
"There it's for you now. I copied it fair that day an' told you it
ought to be in print. Let's hear it now, Jethniah, and we'll all learn
it and give it a rousin' send off. Sing up, man! Sing up!"
Mr. Gamblin took the little book and began adjusting his spectacles
to his kindling eyes. He was so proud and so pleased with McQuade's
graceful thought that his hand shook as he held the little book up to
the light of a lantern. Of course he knew the words by heart, but not
for worlds would he have foregone the heady delight of reading his own
work as it had been copied by some one who had thought well of it. It
was almost as good as if he had actually seen it in print.
Finally he turned to McQuade and looked up at him over the rims of the
spectacles. There was a misty dimness in the kindly, honest old eyes as
he silently thanked his friend.
"Sing up, man. Sing up--Or I'll howl it meself!" blustered McQuade.
Jethniah began to hum, and then to sing tentatively. But his enthusiasm
quickly mounted above his shyness, and grasping the tuning fork in a
stout hand he brought it down sharply on the table. Then taking the
fresh tone boldly and beating time with McQuade's little book in one
hand and the tuning fork in the other, he struck bravely into his
little song.
Sang Jethniah:
"Get up with the sun in the _morn_-ing,
Now _that's_ a beautiful thing.
Lie low in your bed till the _noon_-time,
Now _that's_ a beautiful thing.
"Work hard till the end like a _good_ man,
Now _that's_ a beautiful thing.
Come fishing and sing till the _sun_-down,
Now _that's_ a beautiful thing.
"Who picks out my work for the _Long_ Day,
Tell Him I want to do _both_ things.
Tell Him I want to do _both_ things."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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