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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1869, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia.
Vol. Ill—No. 33.
The Blacksmith’s Wifei
. iiit— ' has a figure trim and neat,
-And full of health and life,
With nimble hands and nimble feet,
?Thc blacksmith’s little wife.
Her hair is dark, her ej’es are blue,
And though her cheek is browned,
An anchorite would smile to view
A face so smooth and round.
All day she labors like the bee,
The blacksmith’s little wife,
While round her play herchildren three,
Bright haired and full of life.
And all day long her cheery song
Comes through the cottage door,
While tap, tap. her .gaiters rap
The neatly sanded floor,
Her swarthy husband, from the town
Comes home when day is done,
For kisses he must stoop way down,
Or she climb up to him,
He’s just the man that women crave
To shield them from “the wrong,”
For he’s as kind as he is brave.
As brave as he is strong.
“You’re tired out with work,” she says,
“ You lead a weary life.”
“No, no,” quoth he, “’tis Paradise,
With such a little wife.”
The gleeful fire with ardent rays,
Peeps shyly from the hearth,
The tea-pot blushes in the blaze,
The kettle shakes with mirth.
The sleek “grimalkin ” purrs and mews,
The dog whines at the door,
The pattering of little shoes
Is heard along the floor.
About the smith his children play,
When evening’s meal is through;]
They love to see his pipe of clay
Send forth its clouds of blue.
They clamber on his shoulder broad,
They eta nber on his knee.
While wife looks on with smile and nod.
And all are full of glee.
I’d sooner be this blacksmith bold,
With such a li tie wife.
Than have the wealth of yellow gold
That gilds an aimless life.
Augustus Comstock.
Lord Bacon beautifully said 1 “If a
man be gracious to strangers, it shows
lie is a citizen of the world, and that his
heart is no island cut off from the other
land, but a continent that joins it.”
MACON, GEORGIA, FEBRUARY 12, 1870.
A NARROW ESCAPE.
-
Mo used to be far more danger-
Ajfm. ous travelling in the West than
it is at present. Many a man
who put up at a log cabin over night,
never came out of it alive. Reckless
jS V\ ' MW ; U (J jjlP•:
men murdered their guests almost with
impunity. Mr. Audubon, the famous
naturalist, gives an account of his nar
row escape from such a death. He
stopped at a rude log cabin, where he
found only a woman and an Indian, whq
had just put out one eye by careless
ness with a bow and arrow. Mr. Au
dubon says :
- “ Feeling hungry, I inquired what
sort of fare I might expect. Such a
thing as a lied was not to be seen, but
many large, untanned buffalo hides lay
piled in a corner. I drew a time-piece
from my pocket, and told the woman
that it was late, and that I was fatigued.
She espied my watch, the richness of
which seemed to operate on her feel
ings with electric quickness. She told
me there was plenty of vomson and jerk
ed buffalo meat, and that on removing
the ashes I should find a cake. But my
watch had struck her fancy, and her cu
riosity had to be gratified by an imme
diate sight of it. I took off the gold
chain which secured it around my neck
and handed it to her. She was all ee
stacy, spoke of its beauty, asked me its
value, and put the chain round her
brawny neck, saying how happy the pos
Whole No. 137.
session of such a watch would make
her.”
Audubon thought of no danger, till
the Indian, by frequent and significant
signs, warned him. lie then, on some
plausible pretext, slipped out of the hut,
put a ball into each barrel of his gun,
and resolved to sell his life dearly. He
then came back, lay down on the
buffalo skins, and feigned sleep.
“A short time had elapsed, when
“ some voices were heard, and from
the corners of my eyes I saw two
athletic youths making their entrance,
bearing a dead stag on a pole. They
disposed of their burden, and asking
for whisky, helped themselves freely
to it. The mother bade them speak
less loudly, made mention of my
. watch, and took them to a corner
5 where a conversation took place, the
purport of which it required little
shrewdness in me to guess.
“The lads had eaten and drunk
themselves into such condition that
I already looked on them as hors de
\ combat ; and the frequent visits of the
- whisky bottle to the ugly mouth of
their dam I hoped would soon re
j duce her to a like state. Judge of
my astonishment when I saw that in
carnate fiend take a large carving
knife, and go to the grindstone to
‘ whet its edge. Her task finished,
she walked to her reeling sons, and
’ said :
“ ‘There, that'll soon settle him.
Boys, kill you—and then for the
watek’
“I turned, cocked my gun, touch
ed my d.;g, and lay ready to start up
and shoot the first who might attempt
my life. All was ready. The hag was
advancing slowly, probably contempla
ting the best way of despatching me,
while her sons should be engaged with
the Indian I was several times on the
eve of rising and shooting her on the
spot, but she was not to be punished
thus.
“ The door was suddenly opened and
there entered two stout travellers, each
with a long rifle on his shoulder. I