Long ere the quarter was a half, His neck stretched out, his ears laid back, He'll lose his hold-he sways and reels- "Stick on! stick on!" "Hould tight! hould tight!" "Cling round his neck, and don't let go That pace can't hold-there! steady! whoa!" The spectral lover of Lenore, His nostrils snorting foam and fire, And "Stop him! stop him?" is the cry. He's having out three heats in one! "Don't rush in front! he'll smash your brains; But follow up and grab the reins!" Old Hiram spoke. Dan Pfeiffer heard, Comes swinging in, with easy trot; "The time was two-too mighty fast!" The parson's horse had won the bet; If Brother Murray made the prayer!" And this is all I have to say The same that drew the one-horse shay. Moral for which this tale is told: ONE HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW.-CHAS. ROWLAND. A CENTENNIAL HYMN. When cannons peal their booming sounds, Re-echoing o'er the land, And waving flags on every breeze, From lake to ocean strand, Proclaim with one united voice Shall despots tear those sacred stars, And into fragments rend our land, Methinks ere this, from Vernon's shade, A rallying shout again might ring To save that land they once had saved, O God, who rules eternal years, THE OLD THIRTEEN.-CHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS. The curtain rises on a hundred years, A pageant of the olden time appears. To note and name each form that passes by. They, through those long dark winters, drear and dire, One guards the Charter Oak with lofty mien ; With face turned heavenward, steadfast and serene,- JIM WOLFE AND THE CATS.-MARK TWAIN. As related by old Simon Wheeler of Angel's Camp, Calaveras, County Cal. We was all boys, then, and didn't care for nothin' only heow to shirk school, an' keep up a revivin' state o' mischief all the time. This yer Jim Wolfe I was talkin' about, was the 'prentice, an' he was the best-hearted feller, he was, an' the most forgivin' an' onselfish, I ever see—well, there couldn't be a more bullier boy than what Jim was, take him heow you would; and sorry enough I was when I see him for the last time. Me an' Henry was allers pesterin' him, an' plasterin' hoss bills on his back, an' puttin' bumble-bees in his bed, and so on, an' sometimes we'd jist creowd in an' bunk with him, not'standin' his growlin', and then we'd let on to git mad an' fight acrost him, so as to keep him stirred up like. He was nineteen, he was, an' long, an' lank, an' bashful, an' we was fifteen an' sixteen, an' pretty tolerabul lazy an' wuthless. So, that night, you know, that my sister Mary gin the candy pullin', they started us off to bed airly, so as the comp'ny could have full swing, and we rung in on Jim tew have some fun. Wall, our winder looked out onter the ruff of the ell, an' about ten o'clock a couple of old tomcats got to rairin' an' chargin' reound on it, an' carryin' on jist like sin. There was four inches o' snow on the ruff, and it froze so that there was a right smart crust of ice on it, an' the moon was shinin' bright, an' we could see them cats jist like daylight. Fust they'd stand off, e-yow-yow-yow, jist the same as if they was a cussin' one another, you know, an' bow up their backs, an' bush up their tails, an' swell around, an’ spit, an' then all of a suddin the gray cat he'd snatch a handful of fur off the yaller cat's back, an' spin him around jist like a button on a barn-door. But the yaller cat was game, and he'd come an' clinch, an' the way they'd gouge, an' bite, an' howl, an' the way they'd make the fur fly, was peowerful. Wall, Jim he jist got disgusted with the row, and 'lowed he'd climb out there, an' shake 'm off'n that ruff. He hadn't reely no notion o' doin' it, likely, but we everlastingly dogged him, an' bullyragged him, an' 'lowed he'd allers bragged heow he wouldn't take a dare, an' so on, till bimeby he jist histed the winder, an' lo and behold you! he wentwent exactly as he was-nothin' on but his shirt. You ought to a seen him! You ought to seen him creepin' over that ice, an' diggin' his toe nails an' finger nails in, fur to keep him from slippin'; and, 'bove all, you ought to seen that shirt a flappin' in the wind, and them long ridicklous shanks of his'n a glistenin' in the moonlight. Them comp'ny folks was down there under the eaves, an' the whole squad of 'em under that ornery shed o' dead Wash'ton Bower vines-all settin' reound two dozzen sassers o' bilin' hot candy, which they'd sot in the snow to cool. And they was laughin' an' talkin' lively; but, bless you, they didn't know nothin' 'bout the panorammy that was goin' on over their heads. Wall, Jim, he jist went a sneakin' an' a sneakin' up unbeknowns to them tomcats-they was a swishin' their tails, and yow-yowin' an' threatnin' to clinch, you know, an' not payin' any attention-he went a sneakin' an' a sneakin' right up to the comb of the ruff, till he got 'in a foot an' a half of 'em, an' then all of a suddin he made a grab fur the yaller cat! But, by gosh, he missed fire, an' slipped his holt, an' his heels flew up, an' he flopped on his back, and shot off'n that ruff jist like a dart!--went a smashin' and a crashin' deown thro' them old rusty vines, and landid right in the dead centre of all them comp'ny people!-sot deown jist like a yearthquake in them two dozzen sassers of redhot candy, and let off a howl that was hark from the tomb! Them gals-wall, they left, you know. They see he warn't dressed for comp'ny, an' so they left-vamoosed. All done in a second; it was jist one little war-whoop and a whish of their dresses, and blame the one of 'em was in sight anywhere! Jim, he war a sight. He war gormed with the bilin' hot molasses candy clean deown to his heels, an' more busted sassers hangin' to him than if he was a Injun princess--an' he came a prancin' up stairs jist a whoopin' an' a cussin', an' |