POETS' CORNER.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 50, 23 June 1880, Page 4

POETS' CORNER.

BIL& GIBBON'S DELIVERANCE. '.; i By Amhus Mattiiisok. \ Never haord tell o' Bill Gibbon ? ! -■ Why yer've kmdor bin but of. existence ! I don't beljeve s^oineAm you'd SjSjnit I f If it -n&m'tt&r aiittle asgißtand*; i y I ain't <f over smart '4 nojrgnyself P ! Well, who said I was ?— what's it matter ! ToJoiow Bill Tras, I guess kindffljcute, ■'•! ' So let's have no more o' that chatter, ;■• • « What did he do ?" well— l'm darned !; If yer won't, -pretty soon, raise my dander! ; ■•.■ -.:■ ,-•.'•:* : .\ For yer ought to know Bill jusi as Veil \ As the geese onapbnd fenows the gander Wftl, there ! yer needn't get riled ! -= . ' Smooth your feathers back, st«ady*--I'll tell mates — . . / ; . • Tell yor one of hisftatsin the woods, A braver" deed jaever befell, mates 1 In Winconsin's big* forests, ene.day, •. We was iriukin' a clearin' in Fall time; And the thing as Bill (Kbbondone then, .1, for one", shall remeinber for all time. c A brbad-should'er'd coon was old Bill, ! ■ Witfrajwill.likeLhis muscles, of iron ;i . JLe'd a' tackled a buffalo bull, . .;' , And at elioppm'— well, warn't he aspry '■ " . 'un. ■■■'. ■:■'■'■'. ■■■'•.' ■ ' V''' It was choppip* as brought it about, boys, - For Bill liad begun ona«whopper, \ , A two hundro;l foot mighty pine, As was dooin'd to sure death by his chopper. >v : /; , ■'■ We'd all on us stopped ; work was done ; IJe'd iiiiich, "dog-gorn'd, if he wouldn!t-l-1.- • _ An' we quit him, all full of Our chaff. An' luughin' and sayin' he couldn't { ' He buried his are in the tree j W» set off for our cabin, us others. : •/•■" I'll kill him afoire:' eight !" he cries, "Him, and p'raps one or two of his On th* floor of his hut "afore eight " He layj and he told us all, gasping, How it happ'd— his voice broke, Hi» rough, big brown hand my own grasp-, ..;■ ;-\ -ing/v; V : V : '.^ ;:..-.--■;: '.. [■. Fast and strong fell his strokes on the tree,' It swaj'd, an' it cveak'd, an' it quiverld, Jt toppled, it fell!— then says he— ''■ As he spoke, why we all on us shiver'd— .''-I struck the last blow witli such force, Tha^th*tEeeinnm-s.aconcV,;was timber, Andi^U-tO^ • ; 'As the minute before I'd bin limber. - "■*• Swoop Upon me thft giant tree crash'd !i Fiercely fell on my right leg, and broke it! ■ ..- - : - ;■■■ ■ . - ■ -,'•' An'to.seem'dto-shr^ .'=. Eeverige;' justfas if it had spoke it. ; \ "Jfelp 1 I cried, but a long hour had gone Since I'd seen you boys homeward all '&$ ' oft, ■..;■-■■'* ■■ •;,.. ' ■ ••; .:' _-] K. And a bugle's voice wouldn't bin- heard ' -• In them thick woods and bushes a mile : V off. ■ ;V::^v; :^ ■ ■■' ■:■■■ "I couldn't lie, there all 6he night, ; . 80 I made up my mind in a second-—- • ■ ; . ' I know'd as the leg must come off, ' So^ifco do it' myself ! best, I recon'd. ."; "One stroke !: — -wjliat. was left of the leg , , Was freed from the tree and its branches j" A.nd what poor Bill Gibbon then said, : WhyjVthejthougijt-of it, ;now, itiy cheek " 'blanches. 1 ■ Jfy heart knocks aloud. at i JSYf ribs, O'hpu^l i aTn't'- l in c l;iie' leastways white, liver'd ! ; ; When. l think what he did on that night,! „, j By 'his righj t-I< hjyj^h^,-he was deliver'cC s[e tried with a pluck, all his own, •{ in(^'W^^> to i3 B l?a.Din ; 1-• Thmlgh^eireh move as h« made 011 the r,oftd' Was, we'd most on us think, just like' : it|tbj^j, >i ,,T . i-/f., ;;T - •'{ '."'' When he found as he couldn't get on, B«causihis tw;o legs Xvasfl'tjeqnal, ' A bold thought 'conies in f.o his head ■ As you'll see, when I tell youthe sequel.'i. word and "abloiy'iwTiS'with Bill, He'd act on a thought soon as catch it, ) His right leg was off,- his axe gleani'd,- /' Anfthe cutV#hls ; lief tfleg to match it. slgr^i^ sti\m^3fl|,tiQrhi3 hut, -•' "'* \'i:\ ■."'. JFgjflsa of liotj^uJßf we mixes ■ }, j "Overcome K^the.fej^ <ni<t£one pivi^speafe •^JLVMs^tdrnlimb's we splices and fixes! i 'f A^stout'cdnsliloOsnun !'' well, yes ! ; A hero, too, birth, bone, and breeding. ■ What's that you say, you out there, j "■ How he-did-furte-icoyainiTe bleeding i?*.. Oh, didn't I mention J blip's odd ! j ', ■, '-BsJut theni limbs us was*'- torn into rib-' bons;; Ti pi !•; Wai, yer *e6e,'didh't matter, to him, • ; Thev was w.obden-ie.js, mates, was Bill v ■" '€!abbbn 1 s^ j: j}:;-- >^;*^ .y.vf. ■ r "' [