OUT OF THE FIRE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1634, 23 December 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUT OF THE FIRE.

B\ Hi \n\ Jvkndali .

Hi- was young when he enteied that sphcic, V» heie' tlie pleasuies oi sin aie attained , And a de\ ll (aine i lose to lus cai, And wlnsptied, and tempted, and gamed On (.lie woild with (he < \cs oi a child He looked It w.is little he knew , And tlie sbaiks who weie aitci him »nuled With jo) at the plundei in view. B) i hanee he was suddenh placed \\ line hie is a fevei —a 11, line, And plausible lasculs made haste 'io iob him, and bung him to shame Fiom giecn cjuict ioiest-lands huilcd Into < it}, ha needed a guide ; But he hadn't a hicnd in the woild,, To thir.st the Mick tempte) aside lie had uione)—a ioituue indeed But mone) meant linn to him, Foi he iollowed a blood-sucking bittd Into dens ol iniquity—dun. At tables oi cauls and of dice, He wasted his means ; and lie Km w But the gl.ue and the glanioui ol \ ice In nights full of glittciingdew. Ah ! often he hngeied luteais, While morning walked o\ei the sea, And thought oi the beautilul )cais, When his mates weie the tonent and tiee. But evei Aelutophel stood, With shining Aholah between The spnits oi e\il and good ; And the past became Ijiightness unseen. One da) when the dunk smotheied thought, He met with a shaipei named Holt; And, maudlin and muddled, he bought A big, but an ill-looking colt. But a stable-lad whispeied, "Depend On my woid, theie is stull in iho Scud ; He will win a gieat i.ice in the end ; But Holt doesn't know he has blood." In a moment oi tumble supieme, When winned b) cieditois co.use, Hope Hashed on lus Ijcj.ii t like a beam — He thought of the boy and tlie hoise. And full oi line puipose, he said — " 1 will cast the toul de\il awa>, And lead the white hie that 1 leel in the light oi the happ) old day." Next morning he spoke to the youth ; And the boy nibbed Ins hands in his glee, And said—with his o)es Jull oi tiuth — "Just le.ne him, my mastei, with mo ! The colt must come out at his best; And when saddle aud nder aie up, He will make the fast Stai of the West, And the lest of them, move ioi ' The Cup.' " The Cup was the nee oi the ycai, And twent) giand hoi&es weie m. " The Scud," cued tlie "touts" with a sneei, " Is sine to be last m the ' spin ' " But ownei woiked hmd with the lad ; And pale was the sulleiei's iaec . The chance was the last that he had — He had ha/.auled all on the lace. The day of the meeting was daik With bittei wild wind-duven lam — " The Star lias come lit to the maik," Said the mob, " and he'll win it again !" The betting was busk, when the hoise Oi the season came out of his stall, A do<cen were backed on the couise, But The Scud wasn't mentioned at all. The Hag fell away in a loai, And the twenty went oil m a pack; But soon theie was seen to the loie, The mare with the purple and black. By BaiKei's she quickened tlie pace With a feather-weight close at hei side ; "In the ' straight, she'll be out of the lace," A cluster ot knowing one's cried. At the turn of the track, on the grey Young Jones took the running in hand ; But he " died" at the Corner away, And Pyramus led by the Stand. But out by the back of the course, The blood, unaccustomed to yield — The Star—the invincible hoise — Ban up and showed heels to the " field."

But the mare by Olympus, fiom Jane, Came on with a lush by the gate ; And the Send dashed along m the lain, And was locked with the Star in the straight. A thnndei ol cheers fi om nf.ir, Met the thtee coming sinotheied with mnd — " The tillj— the filly— the Star ! The chestnut— tlie (illy— the Scud !" With the St.iron Ins gntii in the sludge, The Scud undei whip at the post, Went Hashing by Stand and by Judge, Witli a boy on him whitci than ghost. Yea, thine, liimd clainoui and clieci, The colt, lull of coinage and strength, Pulled oil the gieat iace of the je.u, From the "ciack," by tiic hall ol a length ! And then', on that pioimnent day, The ownei fell back at the last, And shneied and tainted away— He had suileied so much in the Past. The strain had been liea\y indeed, And the woild for some moments seemed dim ; Hut past was the season of need— The Scud had A r on thou^amh foi him. * Suggested h) a ch.iptci m Lowj Oilth, by the late Marcus CLuke.