I IF you don't know Doc SIFERS I'll jes' argy, here and now, You've bin a mighty little while about here, anyhow, 'Cause Doc he's rid these roads and woods -- er @3swum@1 'em, now and then -- And practised in this neighberhood sence hain't no tellin' when! II In radius o' fifteen mil'd, all p'ints o' compass round, No man er woman, chick er child, er team, on top o' ground, But knows @3him@1 -- yes, and got respects and likin' fer him, too, Fer all his so-to-speak dee-fects o' genius showin' through! III Some claims he's absent-minded; some has said they wuz afeard To take his powders when he come and dosed 'em out, and 'peared To have his mind on somepin' else -- like County Ditch, er some New way o' tannin' mussrat-pelts, er makin' butter come. IV He's cur'ous -- they hain't no mistake about it! -- but he's got Enough o' extry brains to make a @3jury@1 -- like as not. They's no @3describin'@1 Sifers, -- fer, when all is said and done, He's jes' @3hisse'f Doc Sifers@1 -- ner they hain't no other one! V Doc's allus sociable, polite, and 'greeable, you'll find -- Pervidin' ef you strike him right and nothin' on his mind, -- Like in some @3hurry,@1 when they've sent fer Sifers @3quick,@1 you see, To 'tend some sawmill-accident, er picnic jamboree; VI Er when the lightin' 's struck some harebrained harvest-hand; er in Some 'tempt o' suicidin' -- where they'd ort to try ag'in! I've @3knowed@1 Doc haul up from a trot and talk a' hour er two When railly he'd a-ort o' not a-stopped fer @3"Howdy-do!"@1 VII And then, I've met him 'long the road, @3a-lopin',@1 -- starin' straight Ahead, -- and yit he never knowed me when I hollered @3"Yate, Old Saddlebags!"@1 all hearty-like, er @3"Who you goin' to kill?"@1 And he'd say nothin' -- only hike on faster, starin' still! VIII I'd bin insulted, many a time, ef I jes' wuzn't shore Doc didn't mean a thing. And I'm not tetchy any more Sence that-air day, ef he'd a-jes' a-stopped to jaw with @3me,@1 They'd bin a little dorter less in my own fambily! IX Times @3now,@1 at home, when Sifers' name comes up, I jes' @3let on,@1 You know, 'at @3I@1 think Doc's to @3blame,@1 the way he's bin and gone And disapp'inted folks -- 'Ll-@3jee@1-mun-@3nee!@1 you'd ort to then Jes' hear my wife light into me -- @3"ongratefulest o' men!"@1 X 'Mongst @3all@1 the women -- mild er rough, splendiferous er plain, Er them @3with@1 sense, er not enough to come in out the rain, -- Jes' ever' shape and build and style o' women, fat er slim -- They all like Doc, and got a smile and pleasant word fer @3him!@1 XI Ner hain't no horse I've ever saw but what'll neigh and try To sidle up to him, and paw, and sense him, ear-and-eye: Then jes' a tetch o' Doc's old pa'm, to pat 'em, er to shove Along their nose -- and they're as ca'm as any cooin' dove! XII And same with @3dogs,@1 -- take any breed, er strain, er pedigree, Er racial caste 'at can't concede no use fer you er me, -- They'll putt all predju-dice aside in @3Doc's@1 case and go in Kahoots with him, as satisfied as he wuz kith-and-kin! XIII And Doc's a wonder, trainin' pets! -- He's got a chicken-hawk, In kind o' half-cage, where he sets out in the gyarden-walk, And got that wild bird trained so tame, he'll loose him, and he'll fly Clean to the woods! -- Doc calls his name -- and he'll come, by and by! XIV Same says no money down 'ud buy that bird o' Doc. -- Ner no Inducement to the @3bird,@1 says I, 'at @3he'd@1 let @3Sifers@1 go! And Doc @3he@1 say 'at @3he's@1 content -- long as a bird o' prey Kin 'bide @3him,@1 it's a @3compliment,@1 and takes it thataway. XV But, gittin' back to @3docterin'@1 -- all the sick and in distress, And old and pore, and weak and small, and lone and motherless, -- I jes' tell @3you@1 I 'preciate the man 'at's got the love To 'go ye forth and ministrate!" as Scriptur' tells us of. XVI @3Dull@1 times, Doc jes' @3mi@1anders round, in that old rig o' his: And hain't no tellin' where he's bound ner guessin' where he is; He'll drive, they tell, jes' thataway fer maybe six er eight Days at a stretch; and neighbers say he's bin clean round the State. XVII He picked a' old tramp up, one trip, 'bout eighty mil'd from here, And fetched him home and k-yored his hip, and kep' him 'bout a year; And feller said -- in all @3his@1 ja'nts round this terreschul ball 'At no man wuz a @3circumstance@1 to @3Doc!@1 -- he topped 'em all! -- XVIII Said, bark o' trees 's a' open book to Doc, and vines and moss He read like writin' -- with a look knowed ever' dot and cross: Said, stars at night wuz jes' as good's a compass: said, he s'pose You couldn't lose Doc in the woods the darkest night that blows! XIX Said, Doc'll tell you, purty clos't, by underbresh and plants, How fur off @3warter@1 is, -- and 'most perdict the sort o' chance You'll have o' findin' @3fish;@1 and how they're liable to @3bite,@1 And whether they're a-bitin' now, er only after night. XX And, whilse we're talkin' @3fish,@1 -- I mind they formed a fishin'-crowd (When folks @3could@1 fish 'thout gittin' @3fined,@1 and seinin' wuz allowed!) O' leadin' citizens, you know, to go and seine "Old Blue" -- But hadn't no big seine, and so -- w'y, what wuz they to do? . . . XXI And Doc he say he thought 'at @3he@1 could @3knit@1 a stitch or two -- "Bring the @3materials@1 to me -- 'at's all I'm astin' you!" And down he sets -- six weeks, i jing! and knits that seine plum done -- Made corks too, brails and ever'thing -- good as a boughten one! XXII Doc's @3public@1 sperit -- when the sick's not takin' @3all@1 his time And he's got @3some@1 fer politics -- is simple yit sublime: -- He'll @3talk@1 his @3principles@1 -- and they air @3honest;@1 -- but the sly Friend strikes him first, election-day, he'd 'commodate, er die! XXIII And yit, though Doc, as all men knows, is square straight up and down, That vote o' his is -- well, I s'pose -- the cheapest one in town; -- A fact 'at's sad to verify, as could be done on oath -- I've voted Doc myse'f -- @3And I was criminal fer both!@1 XXIV You kin corrupt the @3ballot-box@1 -- corrupt @3yourse'f,@1 as well -- Corrupt @3some@1 neighbers, -- but old Doc's as oncorruptible As Holy Writ. So putt a pin right there! -- Let @3Sifers@1 be, I jucks! he wouldn't vote ag'in' his own worst inimy! XXV When Cynthy Eubanks laid so low with fever, and Doc Glenn Told Euby Cynth 'ud haf to go -- they sends fer @3Sifers@1 then! . . . Doc sized the case: "She's starved," says he, "fer @3warter@1 -- yes, and @3meat!@1 The treatment 'at she'll git from @3me's@1 all she kin drink and eat!" XXVI He orders Euby then to split some wood, and take and build A fire in kitchen-stove, and git a young spring-chicken killed; And jes' whirled in and th'owed his hat and coat there on the bed, And warshed his hands and sailed in that-air kitchen, Euby said, XXVII And biled that chicken-broth, and got that dinner -- all complete And clean and crisp and good and hot as mortal ever eat! And Cynth and Euby both'll say 'at Doc'll git as good Meals-vittles up, jes' any day, as any @3woman@1 could! XXVIII Time Sister Abbick tuk so bad with striffen o' the lung, P'tracted Meetin', where she had jes' shouted, prayed, and sung All winter long, through snow and thaw, -- when Sifers come, says he: "No, M'lissy; don't poke out your raw and cloven tongue at me! -- XXIX "I know, without no symptoms but them @3injarubber-shoes@1 You promised me to never putt a fool-foot in ner use At purril o' your life!" he said. "And I won't save you @3now,@1 Onless -- here on your dyin' bed -- you consecrate your vow!" XXX Without a-claimin' @3any creed,@1 Doc's rail religious views Nobody knows -- ner got no @3need@1 o' knowin' whilse he choose To be heerd not of man, ner raise no loud, vain-glorious prayers In crowded marts, er public ways, er -- i jucks, @3any@1wheres! -- XXXI 'Less'n it @3is@1 away deep down in his own heart, at night, Facin' the storm, when all the town's a-sleepin' snug and tight -- Him splashin' hence from scenes o' pride and sloth and gilded show, To some pore sufferer's bedside o' anguish, don't you know! XXXII Er maybe dead o' @3winter@1 -- makes no odds to @3Doc,@1 -- he's got To face the weather ef it takes the hide off! 'cause he'll not @3Lie@1 out o' goin' and p'tend he's sick hisse'f -- like @3some@1 'At I could name 'at folks might send fer and they'd @3never@1 come! XXXIII Like pore Phin Hoover -- when he goes to that last dance o' his! That Chris'mus when his feet wuz froze -- and Doc saved all they is Left of 'em -- "'Nough," as Phin say now, "to @3track@1 me by, and be A adver@3tise@1ment, anyhow, o' what Doc's done fer me! -- XXXIV "When @3he@1 come -- knife-and-saw" -- Phin say, "I knowed, ef I'd the spunk, 'At Doc 'ud fix me up @3some@1 way, ef nothin' but my @3trunk@1 Wuz left, he'd fasten @3casters@1 in, and have me, spick-and-span, A-skootin' round the streets ag'in as spry as any man!" XXXV Doc sees a patient's @3got@1 to quit -- he'll ease him down serene As dozin' off to sleep, and yit not dope him with mor@3pheen@1. -- He won't tell @3what@1 -- jes' 'lows 'at he has "airnt the right to sing 'O grave, where is thy victery! O death, where is thy sting!'" XXXVI And, mind ye now! -- it's not in scoff and scorn, by long degree, 'At Doc gits things like that-un off: it's jes' his @3shority@1 And total faith in Life to Come, -- w'y, "from that @3Land o' Bliss,"@1 He says, "we'll haf to chuckle some, a-lookin' back at this!" XXXVII And, still in p'int, I mind, one @3night o' 'nitiation@1 at Some secert lodge, 'at Doc set right down on 'em, square and flat, When they mixed up some Scriptur' and wuz @3funnin'@1-like -- w'y, he Lit in 'em with a rep'imand 'at ripped 'em, A to Z! XXXVIII And onc't -- when gineral loafin'-place wuz old Shoe-Shop -- and all The gang 'ud git in there and brace their backs ag'inst the wall And @3settle@1 questions that had went onsettled long enough, -- Like "wuz no Heav'n -- ner no torment" -- @3jes' talkin' awful rough!@1 XXXIX There wuz Sloke Haines and old Ike Knight and Coonrod Simmes -- all three Ag'inst the Bible and the Light, and scoutin' Deity. @3"Science,"@1 says Ike, "it DIM@3onstrates@1 -- it takes nobody's word -- @3Scriptur'@1 er not, -- it @3'vestigates@1 ef sich things could occurred!" XL Well, Doc he heerd this, -- he'd drapped in a minute, fer to git A tore-off heel pegged on ag'in, -- and, as he stood on it And stomped and grinned, he says to Ike, "I s'pose now, purty soon Some lightin'-bug, indignant-like, 'll 'vestigate the moon! . . . XLI "No, Ike," says Doc, "this world hain't saw no brains like yourn and mine With sense enough to grasp a law 'at takes a brain divine. -- I've bared the thoughts of brains in doubt, and felt their finest pulse, -- And mortal brains jes' won't turn out omnipotent results!" XLII And Doc he's got respects to spare the @3rich@1 as well as @3pore@1 -- Says he, "I'd turn no @3millionnaire@1 onsheltered from my door." -- Says he, "What's wealth to him in quest o' @3honest@1 friends to back And love him fer @3hisse'f?@1 -- not jes' because he's made his jack!" XLIII And childern. -- @3Childern?@1 Lawzy-day! Doc @3worships@1 'em! -- You call Round at his house and @3ast@1 'em -- they're a-@3swarmin'@1 there -- that's all! -- They're in his @3Li@1b'ry -- in best room -- in kitchen -- fur and near, -- In office too, and, I p'sume, his operatin'-cheer! XLIV You know they's men 'at @3bees@1 won't sting? -- They's plaguy @3few,@1 -- But Doc He's one o' @3them@1. -- And same, i jing! with @3childern;@1 -- they jes' flock Round Sifers @3natchurl!@1 -- in his lap, and in his pockets, too, And in his old fur mitts and cap, and @3heart@1 as warm and true! XLV It's cur'ous, too, -- 'cause Doc hain't got no childern of his own -- 'Ceptin' the ones he's tuk and brought up, 'at's bin left alone And orphans when their father died, er mother, -- and Doc he Has he'pped their dyin' satisfied. -- "The child shall live with me XLVI "And Winniferd, my wife," he'd say, and stop right there, and cle'r His th'oat, and go on thinkin' way @3some@1 mother-hearts down here Can't never feel @3their own@1 babe's face a-pressin' 'em, ner make Their naked breasts a restin'-place fer any baby's sake. XLVII Doc's @3Li@1b'ry -- as he calls it, -- well, they's ha'f-a-dozen she'ves Jam-full o' books -- I couldn't tell @3how@1 many -- count yourse'ves! @3One whole she'f's@1 Works on Medicine! and most the rest's about First Settlement, and Indians in here, -- 'fore we driv 'em out. -- XLVIII And Plutarch's Lives -- and life also o' Dan'el Boone, and this- Here Mungo Park, and Adam Poe -- jes' all the @3lives@1 they is! And Doc's got all the @3novels@1 out, -- by Scott and Dickison And Cooper. -- And, I make no doubt, he's read 'em ever' one! XLIX Onc't, in his office, settin' there, with crowd o' eight er nine Old neighbers with the time to spare, and Doc a-feelin' fine, A man rid up from Rollins, jes' fer Doc to write him out Some blame' p'scription -- done, I guess, in minute, nigh about. -- L And @3I@1 says, "Doc, you 'pear so spry, jes' write me that recei't You have fer bein' @3happy@1 by, -- fer that 'ud shorely beat Your @3medicine!"@1 says I. -- And quick as @3s' cat!@1 Doc turned and writ And handed me: "Go he'p the sick, and putt your heart in it." LI And then, "A-talkin' furder 'bout that line o' thought," says he, "Ef we'll jes' do the work cut out and give' to you and me, We'll lack no joy, ner appetite, ner all we'd ort to eat, And sleep like childern ever' night -- as puore and ca'm and sweet." LII Doc @3has@1 bin 'cused o' @3offishness@1 and lack o' talkin' free And extry friendly; but he says, "I'm @3'feard@1 o' talk," says he, -- "I've got," he says, "a natchurl turn fer talkin' fit to kill. -- The best and hardest thing to learn is trick o' keepin' still." LIII Doc @3kin@1 smoke, and I s'pose he @3might@1 drink licker -- jes' fer fun. He says, @3"You@1 smoke, @3you@1 drink all right; but @3I@1 don't -- neether one" -- Says, "I @3like@1 whisky -- 'good old rye' -- but like it in its place, Like that-air warter in your eye, er nose there on your face." LIV Doc's bound to have his joke! The day he got that off on me I jes' had sold a load o' hay at "Scofield's Livery," And tolled Doc in the shed they kep' the hears't in, where I'd hid The stuff 'at got me "out o' step," as Sifers said it did. LV Doc hain't, to say, no @3"rollin' stone,"@1 and yit he hain't no hand Fer @3'cumulatin'@1. -- @3Home's@1 his own, and scrap o' farmin'-land -- Enough to keep him out the way when folks is tuk down sick The suddentest -- 'most any day they want him 'special quick. LVI And yit Doc loves his practise; ner don't, wilful, want to slight No call -- no matter who -- how fur away -- er day er night. -- He loves his work -- he loves his friends -- June, Winter, Fall, and Spring: His @3lovin'@1 -- facts is -- never ends; he loves jes' @3ever'@1thing. . . . LVII 'Cept -- @3keepin' books.@1 He never sets down no accounts. -- He hates, The worst of all, collectin' debts -- the worst, the more he waits. -- I've knowed him, when at last he @3had@1 to dun a man, to end By makin' him a loan -- and mad he hadn't more to lend. LVIII When Pence's Drug Store ust to be in full blast, they wuz some Doc's patients got things frekantly there, charged to @3him@1, i gum! -- Doc run a bill there, don't you know, and allus when he squared, He never questioned nothin', -- so he had his feelin's spared. LIX Now sich as that, I hold and claim, hain't @3'scusable@1 -- it's not @3Perfessional!@1 -- It's jes' a shame 'at Doc hisse'f hain't got No better @3business@1-sense! That's why lots 'd respect him more, And not give him the clean go-by fer @3other@1 doctors. Shore! LX This-here Doc @3Glenn@1, fer instance; er this little jack-leg @3Hall;@1 -- They're @3business@1 -- folks respects 'em fer their @3business@1 more'n all They ever knowed, er ever @3will,@1 'bout @3medicine.@1 -- Yit they Collect their money, k-yore er kill. -- They're @3business,@1 anyway! LXI You ast Jake Dunn: -- he's worked it out in @3figgers.@1 -- He kin show @3Stastistics@1 how Doc's airnt about @3three@1 fortunes in a row, -- Ever' ten-year' hand-runnin' straight -- @3three@1 of 'em -- @3thirty@1 year' 'At Jake kin count and 'lucidate o' Sifer's practise here. LXII Yit -- "Praise the Lord," says Doc, "we've got out little home!" says he -- "(It's railly @3Winniferd's@1, but what she owns, she sheers with me.) We' got our little gyarden-spot, and peach and apple trees, And stable, too, and chicken-lot, and eighteen hive' o' bees." LXIII @3You@1 call it anything you please, but it's @3witchcraft@1 -- the power 'At Sifers has o' handlin' bees! -- He'll watch 'em by the hour -- Mix right amongst 'em, mad and hot and swarmin'! -- yit they won't Sting @3him@1, er @3want@1 to -- @3'pear@1 to not, -- at least I know they @3don't@1. LXIV With @3me@1 and bees they's no @3p'tense@1 o' socialbility -- A dad-burn bee 'ud climb a fence to git a whack at @3me!@1 I s'pose no thing 'at's @3got@1 a sting is railly satisfied It's @3sharp@1 enough, ontel, i jing! he's honed it on my hide! LXV And Doc he's allus had a knack @3inventin'@1 things. -- Dee-vised A windlass wound its own se'f back as it run down: and s'prised Their new hired girl with @3clothes-line@1, too, and @3clothes-pins@1, all in @3one:@1 Purt' nigh all left fer @3her@1 to do wuz git her @3primpin'@1 done! LXVI And onc't, I mind, in airly Spring, and tappin' sugar trees, Doc made a dad-burn little thing to sharpen @3spiles@1 with -- these- Here wood'-spouts 'at the peth's punched out, and driv' in where they bore The auger-holes. He sharpened 'bout a @3million@1 spiles er more! LXVII And Doc's the first man ever swung a @3bucket@1 on a tree Instid o' @3troughs;@1 and first man brung @3grained@1 sugar -- so's 'at he Could use it fer his coffee, and fer cookin', don't you know. -- Folks come clean up from Pleasantland 'fore they'd @3believe@1 it, though! LXVIII And all Doc's stable-doors @3on@1locks and locks @3theirse'ves@1 -- and gates The same way; -- all rigged up like clocks, with pulleys, wheels, and weights, - - So, 's Doc says, "Drivin' @3out@1, er @3in@1, they'll @3open;@1 and they'll @3then,@1 All quiet-like, shet up ag'in like little gentlemen!" LXIX And Doc 'ud made a mighty good @3detective.@1 -- Neighbers all Will testify to @3that@1 -- er @3could,@1 ef they wuz legal call: His theories on any crime is worth your listenin' to. -- And he has hit 'em, many a time, long 'fore established true. LXX At this young druggist Wenfield Pence's trial fer his life, On @3primy faishy@1 evidence o' pizonin' his wife, @3Doc's@1 testimony saved and cle'red and 'quitted him and freed Him so's he never even 'peared cog-@3niz@1ant of the deed! LXXI The facts wuz -- Sifers testified, -- at inquest he had found The stummick showed the woman @3died@1 o' pizon, but had downed The dos't @3herse'f@1, -- because @3amount@1 and @3cost@1 o' drug imployed No @3druggist@1 would, on @3no@1 account, 'a' lavished and distroyed! LXXII Doc tracked a blame-don burglar down, and @3nailed@1 the scamp, to boot, But told him ef he'd leave the town he wouldn't prosecute. He traced him by a tied-up thumb-print in fresh putty, where Doc glazed it. Jes' @3that's@1 how he come to track him to his lair! LXXIII Doc's jes' a @3leetle@1 too inclined, @3some@1 thinks, to overlook The criminal and vicious kind we'd ort to bring to book And punish, 'thout no extry show o' @3sympathizin',@1 where @3They@1 hain't showed none fer @3us@1, you know. But he takes issue there: LXXIV Doc argies 'at "The Red-eyed Law," as @3he@1 says, "ort to learn To lay a mighty leenient paw on deeds o' sich concern As only the Good Bein' knows the wherefore of, and spreads His hands above accused and sows His mercies on their heads." LXXV Doc even holds 'at @3murder@1 hain't no crime we got a right To @3hang@1 a man fer -- claims it's @3taint@1 o' @3lunacy,@1 er @3quite.@1 -- 'Hold @3sich@1 a man responsibul fer murder," Doc says, -- "then, When @3he's@1 hung, where's the rope to pull them @3sound-mind@1 jurymen? LXXVI 'It's in a nutshell -- @3all@1 kin see," says Doc, -- "it's cle'r the @3Law's@1 As ap' to err as you er me, and kill without a cause: The man most innocent o' sin @3I've@1 saw, er @3'spect@1 to see, Wuz servin' a life-sentence in the penitentchury." LXXVII And Doc's a whole hand at a @3fire!@1 -- directin' how and where To set your ladders, low er higher, and what first duties air, -- Like formin' warter-bucket-line; and best man in the town To chop holes in old roofs, and mine defective chimblies down: LXXVIII Er durin' any public crowd, mass-meetin', er big day, Where ladies ortn't be allowed, as I've heerd Sifers say, -- When they's a suddent rush somewhere, it's Doc's voice, ca'm and cle'r, Says, "Fall back, men, and give her air! -- that's all she's faintin' fer." LXXIX The sorriest I ever feel fer Doc is when some show Er circus comes to town and he'll not git a chance to go. 'Cause he jes' natchurly @3de@1lights in circuses -- clean down From tumblers, in their spangled tights, to trick-mule and Old Clown. LXXX And ever'body @3knows@1 it, too, how Doc is, thataway! . . . I mind a circus onc't come through -- wuz there myse'f that day. -- Ring-master cracked his whip, you know, to start the ridin' -- when In runs Old Clown and hollers @3"Whoa!@1 -- Ladies and gentlemen LXXXI "Of this vast audience, I fain would make in@3qui@1ry cle'r, And learn, find out, and ascertain -- @3Is Doctor Sifers here?"@1 And when some fool-voice bellers down: "He is! He's settin' in Full view o' ye!" @3"Then,"@1 says the Clown, @3"the circus may begin!"@1 LXXXII Doc's got a @3temper;@1 but, he says, he's learnt it which is boss, Yit has to @3watch@1 it, more er less. . . . I never seen him cross But onc't, enough to make him swear; -- milch-cow stepped on his toe, And Doc ripped out @3"I doggies!"@1 -- There's the only case I know. LXXXIII Doc says that's what your temper's fer -- to hold back out o' view, And learn it never to occur on out ahead o' @3you.@1 -- @3"You@1 lead the way," says Sifers -- "git your @3temper@1 back in line -- And @3furdest@1 back the @3best,@1 ef it's as mean a one as mine!" LXXXIV He hates contentions -- can't abide a wrangle er dispute O' any kind; and he 'ull slide out of a crowd and skoot Up some back-alley 'fore he'll stand and listen to a furse When ary one's got upper-hand and t'other one's got worse. LXXXV Doc says: "I 'spise, when pore and weak and awk'ard talkers fails, To see it's them with hardest cheek and loudest mouth pervails. -- A' all-one-sided quarr'l 'll make me @3biassed,@1 mighty near, -- 'Cause ginerly the side I take's the one I never hear." LXXXVI What 'peals to Doc the most and best is "seein' folks @3agreed,@1 And takin' ekal interest and universal heed O' ever'body @3else's@1 words and idies -- same as we Wuz glad and chirpy as the birds -- jes' as we'd @3ort@1 to be!" LXXXVII And @3paterotic!@1 Like to git Doc started, full and fair, About the war, and why 't'uz fit, and what wuz 'complished there; "And who wuz @3wrong,"@1 says Doc, "er @3right,@1 't'uz waste o' blood and tears, All prophesied in @3Black@1 and @3White@1 fer years and years and years!" LXXXVIII And then he'll likely kind o' tetch on old John Brown, and dwell On what @3his@1 warnin's wuz; and ketch his breath and cough, and tell On down to Lincoln's death. And @3then@1 -- well, he jes' chokes and quits With "I must go now, gentlemen!" and grabs his hat, and @3gits!@1 LXXXIX Doc's own war-rickord wuzn't won so much in line o' fight As line o' work and nussin' done the wownded, day and night. -- His wuz the hand, through dark and dawn, 'at bound their wownds, and laid As soft as their own mother's on their forreds when they prayed. . . . XC His wuz the face they saw the first -- all dim, but smilin' bright, As they come to and knowed the worst, yit saw the old @3Red-White-And-Blue@1 where Doc had fixed it where they'd see it @3wavin'@1 still, Out through the open tent-flap there, er 'crost the winder-sill. XCI And some's a-limpin' round here yit -- a-waitin' Last Review, -- 'Ud give the pensions 'at they git, and pawn their crutches, too, To he'p Doc out, ef he wuz pressed financial' -- same as he Has @3allus@1 he'pped them when distressed -- ner never tuk a fee. XCII Doc never wuz much hand to pay attention to @3p'tense@1 And fuss-and-feathers and display in men o' prominence: "A railly @3great@1 man," Sifers 'lows, "is not the out'ard dressed -- All uniform, salutes and bows, and swellin' out his chest. XCIII "I @3met@1 a great man onc't," Doc says, "and shuk his hand," says he, "And @3he@1 come 'bout in @3one,@1 I guess, o' disapp'intin' @3me@1 -- He talked so common-like, and brought his mind so cle'r in view And simple-like, I purt' nigh thought, @3'I'm@1 best man o' the two!'" XCIV Yes-@3sir@1! Doc's got convictions and old-fashioned kind o' ways And idies 'bout this glorious Land o' Freedom; and he'll raise His hat clean off, no matter where, jes' ever' time he sees The Stars and Stripes a-floatin' there and flappin' in the breeze. XCV And tunes like old "Red-White-and-Blue" 'll fairly drive him wild, Played on the brass band, marchin' through the streets! Jes' like a child I've saw that man, his smile jes' set, all kind o' pale and white, Bareheaded, and his eyes all wet, yit dancin' with delight! XCVI And yit, that very man we see all trimbly, pale and wann, Give him a case o' @3surgery,@1 we'll see another man! -- @3We'll@1 do the trimblin' then, and @3we'll@1 git white around the gills -- He'll show us @3nerve@1 o' nerves, and he 'ull show us @3skill@1 o' skills! XCVII @3Then@1 you could toot your horns and beat your drums and bang your guns, And wave your flags and march the street, and charge, all Freedom's sons! -- And Sifers @3then,@1 I bet my hat, 'ud never flinch a hair, But, stiddy-handed, 'tend to that pore patient layin' there. XCVIII And Sifers' @3eye's@1 as stiddy as that hand o' his! -- He'll shoot A' old-style rifle, like he has, and smallest bore, to boot, With any fancy rifles made to-day, er expert shot 'At works at shootin' like a @3trade@1 -- and all @3some@1 of 'em's got! XCIX Let 'em go right out in the @3woods@1 with Doc, and leave their "traps" And blame' glass-balls and queensware-goods, and see how Sifers draps A squirrel out the tallest tree. -- And 'fore he fires he'll say Jes' where he'll hit him -- yes, sir-@3ee@1! And he's hit thataway! C Let 'em go out with him, i jucks! with fishin'-pole and gun, -- And ekal chances, fish and ducks, and take the @3rain,@1 er @3sun,@1 Jes' as it pours, er as it blinds the eyesight; @3then@1 I guess 'At they'd acknowledge, in their minds, their disadvantages. CI And yit @3he'd@1 be the last man out to flop his wings and crow Insultin'-like, and strut about above his fallen foe! -- No-@3sir@1! the hand 'at tuk the wind out o' their sails 'ud be The very first they grabbed, and grinned to feel sich sympathy. CII Doc gits off now and then and takes a huntin'-trip somewhere 'Bout Kankakee, up 'mongst the lakes -- sometimes'll drift round there In his canoe a week er two; then paddle clean on back By way o' old Wabash and Blue, with fish -- all he kin pack, -- CIII And wild ducks -- some with feathers on 'em yit, and stuffed with grass. And neighbers -- all knows he's bin @3gone@1 -- comes round and gits a bass -- A great big double-breasted "rock," er "black," er maybe @3pair@1 Half fills a' ordinary crock. . . . Doc's @3fish@1'll give out there CIV Long 'fore his @3ducks@1! -- But folks'll smile and blandish him, and make Him tell and @3tell@1 things! -- all the while enjoy 'em jes' fer sake O' pleasin' @3him;@1 and then turn in and la'nch him from the start A-tellin' all the things ag'in they railly know by heart. CV He's jes' a @3child,@1 's what Sifers is! And-sir, I'd ruther see That happy, childish face o' his, and puore simplicity, Than any shape er style er plan o' mortals otherwise -- With perfect faith in God and man a-shinin' in his eyes. TAMAM | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET - REALITIES: 1 by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS THE WIDOW AT WINDSOR by RUDYARD KIPLING CITY TREES by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY LONDON SURVEYED AND ILLUSTRATED by JOHANNEM ADAMUS LINES ON THE DEATH OF PHILIP MEADOWS by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |