Oh yes, they did catch Anderson, early that afternoon
And carried him back to jail again, and tried and hung him soon.
Justice is justice! but I say, although they served him right,
I'm glad I harboured the murderer that stormy April night.
Some said I might have locked him up, and got the town reward;
But I couldn't have done it if I'd starved, and I do hope the Lord
Forgave it, if it was a sin; but I could never see
'Twas wrong to shelter a hunted man, trusting his life to me.
_From "Harper's Magazine." By special
permission of Harper & Brothers_.
GUILD'S SIGNAL.
BY BRET HARTE.
[William Guild was engineer of the train which plunged into Meadow
Brook, on the line of the Stonington and Providence Railroad. It was
his custom, as often as he passed his home, to whistle an "All's
well" to his wife. He was found, after the disaster, dead, with his
hand on the throttle-valve of his engine.]
Two low whistles, quaint and clear,
That was the signal the engineer--
That was the signal that Guild, 'tis said--
Gave to his wife at Providence,
As through the sleeping town, and thence,
Out in the night,
On to the light,
Down past the farms, lying white, he sped!
As a husband's greeting, scant, no doubt,
Yet to the woman looking out,
Watching and waiting, no serenade,
Love song, or midnight roundelay
Said what that whistle seemed to say:
"To my trust true,
So love to you!
Working or wailing, good night!" it said.
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