Marshall Moreton

“ Stood in water to knees; ’twas in earnest a battle
For life, for the whole of the great bulk of hay
That the dancers had stacked had now floated away,
And the corn had all gone, leaving nothing to eat—
It was hard for the cattle to stand on their feet.
Some one cried, “O! look yonder—the barn is afloat!”
And sullen and black like a water-soaked boat,
They saw it sink low to its roof in the tide
Where the great hound had clambered in safety to ride.
They saw it sink low to its roof in the tide—
Where the great hound had climbed in safety to ride. ”

“ For the thoughtless to waltz through the house with a song
And leaving to carry a relic along,
Until nothing was left of the house that withstood
The perils that came with the eighty-four flood.
The tall trees are standing, still standing alone,
Where they whisper each other the nights they have known, [83]
And if they seem lonely without the old house,
Yet the birds in the evenings go there to carouse.
There they chatter and sing in their merriest lay,
And, like dancers, choose partners in much the same way ”

“ Then ev’ry one felt they had lost their last chance,
Whilst the “Oracle” stood like a man in a trance—
He had lost his fine book of dance-calls, with its verses,
Morose from his losses, in silence or curses,
He lamented the folly of building the raft,
For misfortune had struck with a swift, heavy shaft,
And his proud spirit broke when he saw that the flood
Had bespattered his coat with the yellow clay mud.
’Twas a humiliation, deserving compassion—
Most people lose heart when they go out of fashion. ”

“ Held fast to Malindy, as all lovers should;
Malindy lay quiet—but that’s understood—
The witling ran errands and acted real nice,
While Neoma was rubbing, and all gave advice,
Or all save the Cynic, who grinned ’round the place,
Till Malindy came to, when she hid her sweet face
In the bachelor’s arms, where they left her alone,
“Come away,” cried the Cynic, “at last she is won.”
There was no more dancing throughout the dark night,
So intently they longed for the coming of light,
For danger and darkness are frightfully mated
When danger approaches where darkness has waited. ”

“ And so far as we know, ’tis the best thing to do,
But the fall shakes our faith and we all but lose hope
When we think of the grave and the worm that devours
These bothersome bodies of ours.
Still, ’tis hard to stay drowned very long in a dream
When one is so restless in body and mind,
So we struggle and flounder from out of the stream
To awake in a cold, clammy sweat, and we find
That the trouble’s a banquet with music and flowers
In these bothersome bodies of ours.
[64]
He sang it as though it o’erflowed with his wit,
And the dancers were glad when he got through with it. ”

“ For quadrilles and the reels that they all loved so well;
And the lovers who danced—but there’s no use to dwell
Upon that, for all lovers are happy who dance
To the music and whirl with a dizzy side glance.
So the “Oracle” called from a platform to stand on,
And they danced to his rhymes with a heedless abandon,
While the waters were leaving an Island becrowned
With a house and a barn on an acre of ground. (The Oracle Calls.) ”

“ His voice will seem to soften.
There’s none can love like Harry Lee,
And none can be so merry,
And then his pleasing gallantry,
So witching and so airy.
Oh, have you seen sweet Harry Lee,
Who calls me “Little Fairy?”
In camp and field, he says, ’tis me
He’s coming home to marry.
[20]
Then the waltz! Ah the waltz! What ravishing pleasure
They felt in the waltz as they reveled its measure,
And how their blood surged with ecstatic sensation
As their dancing feet caught its enchanting creation
Till it bore them, as if, on a smooth gliding stream,
Enraptured away in a beautiful dream ”

“ Apast them she sped like a frightened white deer.
Ah! the tears of the sweet, pretty dancers would call
For a saint or dare-devil to rescue them all.
They could look to the hill to see daring men steer
With effort to reach them, and once they came near,
But were carried away by the rush of the tide.
And often again was it desperately tried
By many who valiantly fought with the wave,
And risked their own life, hoping others to save,
While ev’ry frail dancer stood near to the river,
Despairing at each unsuccessful endeavor. ”

“ In the house or the barn on the acre of ground.
’Twas at the great bend near the town of Dinwiddie
On the banks of the river Ohio, and giddy,
The gay, dizzy dance, like a far-away echo,
Seems laughing to me of a time long ago,
In the merry round waltz and the songs for the reels,
In the “Oracle’s” rhymes that were slicker than eels, [6]
And the snug little town whence the dancers had come
On the evening before to the old country home,
Is as fresh to my mind as the tall trees around
The frame house and the barn on the acre of ground. ”

“ We’ve been up to Twilley’s to dance to my rhyme, [81]
And water-bound there since we left the old town,
We have danced day and night, and the most the way down;
We grew tired of the place, and we thought we’d come home.
All the dancers are with us—they wanted to come.
As the stream was rough swimming and too deep to wade,
We concluded to come on the trip the house made.
How’s the folks at Dinwiddie? There’s no use to worry,
The flood will subside when it gets o’er its flurry. ”

“ And in the room there all the women are crying,
While all the men suffer a weakness as trying.
[62]
For their nerves were so racked by the roar of the river
That the men felt their danger more keenly than ever;
But one told a story and some tried to smile
With efforts to rally the others the while
From cowardly fearing; then some fell asleep
To awake with a start and upon the floor leap;
But Simon, the cynic, still looked with a sneer,
And ev’ry time Roland waked, grinned with a leer;
And assuming his swagger with impudent mocking,
He sang with a ribaldry meant to be shocking. SIMON’S SONG ”

“ To lead them down home to the acre of ground.
There the dancers were welcomed by Twilley soon after,
Where they filled all the rooms with a chatter and laughter.
Their sparkling bright eyes showed their fine healthy thriving,
And joyous and mirthful, their wits were soon striving, [10]
And many sly banters and rail’ries were given
To lovers, that were in turn back again driven,
For some of them loved to be told of their love,
Whilst others were shy and as mild as a dove,
And just as soft-cooing—to some there’s a pleasure
In hiding their love as the birds hide their treasure. ”

“ To places unknown in a wondering dream,
And we fall from a tower in a horrible fright,
Where we strangle and drown in a deep-rolling stream;
For our spirits may soar all alone to high towers,
But they fall with these bodies of ours. ”

“ The dancers all joined her with boisterous glee,
For they slyly had conned it the evening before;
And they made it the jolliest dance on the floor,
And though she protested, it all was in vain,
They began it all over and sang it again.
THE CHAPERON’S SONG
’Tis not because I couldn’t have,
For laws! I’ve had my chances;
Nor can I say I wouldn’t have,
If some had made advances.
But that’s the way it’s always been
In my experiences;
I never caught among the men
The proper person’s glances. ”

“ And if one should grow worse, there is no use denying
That the priest whom he scoffed at he wants when he’s dying;
In the absence of doctors or priests or of creeds,
We then turn to conjure with magical deeds.
’Twas the same with the dancers—they wanted to live,
And were ready to take what the faker could give.
’Twas a pitiful sight and a helpless appeal,
For the dancers’ dilemma was awful and real.
Though the stronger among them their fears would conceal,
Still, their actions would show the forebodings they’d feel. ”

“ I often indulge in the light recreation
Of keeping the river at just its right station,
So that floods at Dinwiddie occasion no worry—
I have them subside when they get o’er their flurry.”
’Twas a story oft told, though it hardly deceived,
That the “Oracle” could—which he doubtless believed—
Make the rising Ohio floods quickly subside
When he stretched forth his hand and commanded the tide. [15]
’Twas a great feat of magic, and if he seemed vain,
His pride was forgiven again and again,
For as often as flood-waters threatened the town,
It was well understood why the tide had gone down ”

“ So Simon, to comfort him, said, “Do not worry;
The flood will subside when it gets o’er its flurry.”
“And your rhymes,” said the wit, “They were mostly old rhymes;
They were fine, to be sure, but ’tis better at times
To write something new; on occasions like these
One should write on the spot of the thing that he sees.”
“For shame!” cried Neoma. She led him away
To help the poor “Oracle” scrub off the clay;
She rubbed him and scrubbed him and wheedled him ’round,
Till he said he was glad that he didn’t get drowned.
Now the house became flooded, and to the top floor
They were driven. ”

“ And all the men drank it to steady their nerve,
For Twilley had told them that wine would preserve
The courage of man where there’s danger to face,
And the women all ate, as they cried ’round the place.
[58]
For women eat more when they feel they’re in trouble,
And men not so much, but they drink about double.
True, ’tis better in flood times to keep duly sober,
Like Noah of old did—the flood was all over
When he was so drunken—for he understood
(After being forewarned) how to handle a flood,
While the dancers lacked wisdom to know what to do,
For the strange situation was awkward and new ”

“ And he worked for a while, but his fine dancing togs
Got bedraggled—he’d fallen asprawl in the flood,
Where he floundered around in the water and mud,
Till they grappled him out. Oh! it seemed such a shame!
He looked at his raiment, he spoke of his fame;
He declared he just knew he looked worse than the hound
That had gone with the barn from the acre of ground. ”

“ That the trusting old fiddler had rode away on,
And strange though it seemed, there was Dan in the boat
That had weathered the storms and was still there afloat.
Then the cheers of the dancers rang out to the shore,
And ev’ry eye swam with the tears that it bore.
The “Oracle” suddenly came to life, too,
As often ’tis found where there’s hope people do ”

“ Out into the world on the turbulent wave
To swim or to find there a watery grave;
And last came that motto, the “God Bless Our Home,”
Went floating away on the yellowish foam.
That grieved the poor Twilley. He didn’t care much
For pictures and albums or Bibles and such,
But that “God Bless Our Home” was the pride of his heart ”

“ When the dancing was over. “I’m always reflecting,”
Said Roland, quite proudly. “I think you’re expecting [24]
That some one will love you,” laughed shy Letha Lane,
“How sad it would be if she loved you in vain!”
“I should think it were sadder,” the great witling said,
“If loving bold Roland, bold Roland she’d wed.”
With a little small wit—a supposed repartee,
Thus every one went on their own merry way.
They gathered in groups, as you’ve seen dancers do,
Discussing a well-worn gossip or two ”

“ Smash! “Great Heavens!” asked Simon, “What can that all be?”
“Oh, nothing,” said Twilley, “except a huge tree
That is raking its length ’gainst the house as it passes
To break a few more of the front window glasses.”
[76]
Day and night they had kept the tired vigil while waiting,
And hoping the waters would soon be abating;
But nearer and nearer the high waters rose
A space at a time as a risin’ flood grows ”

“ Came a whispering voice. “Oh, we know it as well,”
Piped a dozen small voices. “You mean about Tim?”
“Oh, every one knows ’bout the Timorous him,
They say he’s in love with Celina.” “Oh, no,
Why Tim was in love with Jeannette, don’t you know?”
“Jeannette, who was married a few weeks ago?”
“Yes, he loved her, I’m sure, for Jeannette told me so.”
“She told us the same, so we know it as well,
But we’re glad that you told us. We never will tell.”
Then they would have a song from the dolorous Tim,
And it seemed there was nothing to do but for him [42]
To sing them a song that had broken his heart ”