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Little Rose.
She comes with fairy footsteps
Softly their echoes fall—
And her shadow plays like Summer shado
Across the garden wall.
The golden light is dancing bright
’Mid the mazes of her hair,
And her fair young locks are waving free
To the wooing of the air.
Like a sportful fawn sho boundeth
So gleefully along;
Asa wild young bird she caroleth
The burden of a song,
The Summer flowers are clustering thick
Around her dancing feet,
And on her cheek the Summer breeze
Is breathing soft and sweet.
The very sunbeams seem to linger
Above the holy head,
And the wild flowers at her coming
Their richest fragrance shed.
And oh! how lovely light and fragrance
Mingle in the life within ;
Oh! how fondly do they nestle
Round the soul that knows no sin.
She comes—the spirit of our childhood—
A thing of mortal birth,
Yet bearing still the breath of heaven,
To redeem her from the earth.
She comes in bright-robed innocence,
Unsoiled by blot or blight,
And passeth by our wayward path,
A gleam of angel light.
Oh ! blessed things are children!
The gifts of heavenly love;
They stand betwixt our world-hearts
And better things above ;
They link us with the spirit-world
By purity and truth,
And keep our hearts still fresh and young
With the presence of their youth.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
MAROONER’S ISLAND ;
OR,
Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children.
BY REV. F. R. GOULDING,
Author of “ The Young Marooners.”
CHAPTER Till.
FISHING FOR SHEEPHEAD —A CHASE BY
WATER.
much obliged to you
for your interesting story,”
4 said Hr. Gordon to Simp
son, when he had conclu
person aboard unites with me in
saying so.” He stopped and look
sig'J ed around. Tomkins nodded his
** approval as cordially as could
have been expected from one of his stiff
habits while on duty, and from the men
there came a general murmur of assent.
The swarthy face of the narrator almost
revealed a blush of pleasure on learning
that his rough rehearsal had met with
such unexpected favor, and he stammer
ed out—
“I hadn’t an idee that I’d a had so
much to say, or that any body would
a-cared to a-heern it.”
“Your story has interested us all,” said
the Doctor. “In truth,” he continued,
BTJRKE’S WEEKLY.
“every person has an interesting history,
if it is only told aright; and the secret ot
making it so consists in presenting in as
few words as possible those portions
which may prove instructive or enter
taining. I trust that, after the good ex
ample set us by Simpson, no one will hes
itate to do his part, and I propose that
we call for a story from someone every
But who is to come next?”
That point had been already settled,
for, during the recital of.Simpson’s story,
Jones had exchanged words with several
of the men, and now, on a sly wink from
him, they all cried out,
“Thompson! Thompson!”
“Mr. Thompson,” said Dr. Gordon in a
serio-comic tone, assumed as best suiting
the temper of the man, “the company
express the desire that their next enter
tainment shall be furnished by a son of
‘the Green Isle.’ It is their hope and
expectation that you will honor them by
your response to-morrow about this time,
unless it is called for sooner.”
“ The honor of ould Ireland will not let
me say, Hay,” replied Thompson, “and
our friend, Backwoods,” (nodding to
wards Simpson,) “has done so much bet
ter than he expected, or than we either,
that I must say I feel encouraged.”
“ You had better say discouraged,”
Jones added, in a teasing spirit, “for
what can you bring us from the bogs of
Ireland to compare with what has been
given us by the Georgia cracker .” *
To this taunt Thompson retorted by
some allusion to “pitch, t’yar and tur
pentine,” these being the staple products
of Jones’ native State, North Carolina,
and “ t’yar ” being the corrupt pronun
ciation by the uneducated of that State
for the word “tar.”
This friendly pass of arms was soon in
terrupted by Dr. Gordon saying to Jones,
“ Do give us some little account of your
fishing excursion this morning; particu
larly that part of it,” he added with a
smile, “which occurred after you had
passed the locked horns of the deer.”
Jones’ eyes twinkled at this allusion,
but he perfectly commanded his counten
ance, and went on to say,
“We fished as we ordinarily do from
shore. Here is my fishing tackle.”
He drew from his bosom a line of great
strength but of delicate proportions,
* The term “cracker” is a derisive epithet that has
been applied, from time immemorial, by dwellers upon
the seaboard of Georgia to the rough denizens of the
piney-woods, and afterwards to all other backwoodsmen.
Its origin is obscure; but it probably originated with the
early Scotch settlers, in whose dialect a “cracker” is a
person who talks boastingly; this kind of talk being very
natural to the sturdy sons of the forest, to avoid being
overborne by the pretentious refinements of the city.
wrapped into an oval mass by obliquo
crossings, around a nicely-trimmed stick.
It was forty or fifty yards long, and was
armed at its lower extremity with two
strongly built hooks, each of which was
attached by a sncll of more delicate line,
so as to hang about a hand’s breadth
apart from each other, and from the
sinker, which last was a wedge of lead
several ounces in weight, attached to the
extremity of the lino.
“You know,” said he, “that for sheep
head we fish in about four feet water,
next the bottom, and that on this shallow
shore you must throw your hook ten or
fifteen yards before it finds depth enough.
The fish, however, are very plentiful, and
you do not have to wait long for a bite;
indeed, I hooked my first fish, (the same
you ate for breakfast this morning,) be
fore the lead reached bottom.”
“ You seem to have had no net or other
convenience for catching shrimp; I should
like to know what you used for bait?”
Dr. Gordon inquired.
“0, as for bait,” Jones replied, “you
need not be very particular, for however
shy sheephead may be elsewhere, they
are so tame here, and so plentiful, that
people say you may walk along shore any
morning and kick out enough for break
fast. But I did not rely upon kicking
them out. I used bait, the best to be had,
barring the shrimps, and that was black
fiddlers* and clams. I filled my pocket
with fiddlers after breaking off their legs
and claws, and the clams I broke open
and cut into pieces suitable for bait. The
bait Was not the best, to be sure, but good
enough to bring the two strings of fish
you saw this morning. We were fishing
not over half an hour.”
Dr. Gordon was so much pleased with
the intelligence and skill of the man that
he said :
“ If Sergeant Tomkins approve, I here
by appoint Mr. Jones fishing master for
the rest of the excursion.”
Tomkins readily consented, and Jones
looked as if he had gained a pleasant
point for himself and for the men,
The barge continued all day its steady
cruise along the coast, turning its bow
shorewards whenever there was a possi
bility''of the lost boat being concealed be
hind any of the points of marsh or beach
that marked the frequently occurring
creeks and inlets.
About the middle of the afternoon they
witnessed quite an interesting chase. I' l
one of those intervals of perfect stillness
* Fiddlers are a small species of crab, seldom an inch
long, having one large and one small claw, and burrow
ing in the muddy sand of our salt-water beaches.