DARIUS GREEN.

IF ever there lived a Yankee lad,
Wise or otherwise, good or bad,
Who, seeing the birds fly, didn't jump
With flapping arms from stake or

stump,

Or, spreading the tail

Of his coat for a sail,

Upon their backs

Those wings of wax

He had read of in the old almanacs. Darius was clearly of the opinion That the air was also man's dominion, And that, with paddle or fin or pinion,

We soon or late Should navigate

And wonder why

He couldn't fly,

And flap and flutter and wish and

The thing looks simple enough to me; And if you doubt it,

Hear how Darius reasoned about it.

"The birds can fly,
An' why can't I?`
Must we give in,"

Says he with a grin,

"T the bluebird an' phoebe Are smarter'n we be?

Jest fold our hands an' see the swaller An' blackbird an' catbird beat us

holler?

To nummies that never can understand

The fust idee that's big an' grand.

They'd 'a'laft an' made fun

O' Creation itself afore 't was done!"
So he kept his secret from all the rest,
Safely buttoned within his vest;
And in the loft above the shed
Himself he locks, with thimble and
thread

And wax and hammer and buckles and screws,

And all such things as geniuses use;Two bats for patterns, curious fellows!

A charcoal-pot and a pair of bellows; An old hoop-skirt or two, as well as Some wire, and several old umbrellas; A carriage-cover, for tail and wings; A piece of harness; and straps and strings;

And a big strong box,

In which he locks

These and a hundred other things.

But vainly they mounted each other's backs,

And poked through knot-holes and pried through cracks; With wood from the pile and straw from the stacks

He plugged the knot-holes and calked the cracks;

And a bucket of water, which one would think

He had brought up into the loft to drink

When he chanced to be dry,

Stood always nigh,

For Darius was sly!

He

So day after day

stitched and tinkered and hammered away,

Till at last 'twas done, The greatest invention under the sun!

"An' now," says Darius, "hooray fer some fun!"

'Twas the Fourth of July,

And the weather was dry, And not a cloud was on all the sky, Save a few light fleeces, which here and there,

Half mist, half air, Like foam on the ocean went floating by:

Just as lovely a morning as ever was For a nice little trip in a flying-ma

seen

chine.

Thought cunning Darius: "Now I shan't go

Along 'ith the fellers to see the show. I'll say I've got sich a terrible cough! An' then, when the folks 'ave all gone off,

I'll hev full swing Fer to try the thing, An' practyse a leetle on the wing." "Ain't goin' to see the celebration?" Says Brother Nate. "No; botheration!

I've got sich a cold-a toothache-I

to spy

fly!"

Said Jotham, "Sho!

Guess ye better go."

But Darius said, “No!

Says Burke, "His toothache's all'n his eye!

He never'd miss a Fo'th-o'-July,

me, though,

'Long 'bout noon, ef I git red O' this jumpin', thumpin' pain 'n my head."

For all the while to himself he said:"I tell ye what!

I'll fly a few times around the lot, To see how 't seems, then soon's I've got

The hang o' the thing, ez likely's not, I'll astonish the nation,

An' all creation,

By flyin' over the celebration! Over their heads I'll sail like an eagle;

I'll balance myself on my wings like a sea-gull;

I'll dance on the chimbleys; I'll stan' on the steeple;

I'll flop up to winders an' scare the people!

I'll light on the libbe'ty-pole, an' crow;

An' I'll say to the gawpin' fools below,

'What world's this 'ere

That I've come so near?'

Fer I'll make 'em b'lieve I'm a chap f'm the moon;

An' I'll try a race 'ith their ol' balloon!"

He crept from his bed;

And, seeing the others were gone, he said,

"I'm a-gittin' over the cold'n my head."

And away he sped,

try."

Then Sol, the little one, spoke: "By

As knights of old put on their mail,—
From head to foot

An iron suit,
Iron jacket and iron boot,
Iron breeches, and on the head
No hat, but an iron pot instead,

And under the chin the bail,-
I believe they called the thing a helm:
And the lid they carried they called
a shield;

shed.

field,

Sallying forth to overwhelm

As a demon is hurled by an angel's

spear

Heels over head, to his proper sphere,

Heels over head, and head over heels,
Dizzily down the abyss he wheels,
So fell Darius. Upon his crown,
In the midst of the barn-yard he
came down,

In a wonderful whirl of tangled strings,

Broken braces and broken springs, Broken tail and broken wings, Shooting stars, and various things. Barn-yard litter of straw and chaff, And much that wasn't so sweet by half.

Away with a bellow fled the calf, And what was that? Did the gosling laugh?

him and begun:

crimes: