A Flight in Spring Part 13

Some of our young ladies were deeply interested in the sailor boys at war, and for their benefit this nonsense had wing:

There was a young lady named Harding, Whose sweetheart, the nation was guarding.

The rumor of war, Went to her heart's core For fear he'd be lost while bombarding.

These verses, too, have a maritime flavor:

There was a young lady of nerve, Who bet on the Naval Reserve.

She got a flat cap Like that of her chap, And said, "This our love will preserve."

We had lots of others, and ever so many good stories, but it is time to end. This last must suffice for the Nonsense Verses:

There was a young lady _en route_, Who wanted to go on a toot, So she jumped off the ca--ah When no one was ne--ah, And feasted on candy and fruit.

This was the favorite refrain of all, for its reckless suggestions, and the special intonations of its third and fourth lines. Its echoes would sound out in the most unexpected connections--

"So she jumped off the ca--ah When no one was ne--ah,"

and then would come a merry peal of laughter.

Sometimes the laughter even, would cease, and, we were all so free and unaffected, that siestas were taken, quite unceremoniously, when silence would settle down upon our party.

In such a quiet interval, one of our fair sleepers inspired the following lines, as she lay at rest, on the couch in the dining-room.

This is what the poet said:

TO ETHEL ASLEEP

Our car glides on with giddy speed, But Ethel feels no motion; Her soul and body take no heed, Wrapt still, in sleep's deep ocean.

And as I gaze on her sweet face, So placid, true and tender; The wish for her I fain would trace Is this--May Heaven defend her!

'Mid all the whirling cares of life, May peaceful rest come to her; And sleep, no matter what the strife, Be ever near to woo her.

With some such wish as this for all of us, I would like to close the record of this "Flight in Spring."

When spring, and summer, and autumn, and winter, will for us have forever fled away, then may we all find comfort, after life's wanderings are over, in this restful thought, as our great journey shall end:

"He giveth His beloved sleep."

But other thoughts also come to me, as I recall the splendid advantages of such a trip as our "Flight in Spring." It was a revelation, to pa.s.s from ocean to ocean, over our own broad land. It filled one's soul with enthusiasm, as one thought of the opportunities, the responsibilities, the duties, and the prospects of our citizens.h.i.+p.

It made me long that such "Flights in Spring," or in any season, might be more widely enjoyed, so that many more might realize the immense splendor and power of our great land.

For such purposes I would wish that there were inst.i.tuted "Pilgrimages of Patriotism," which would bring representative men, from ocean to ocean, from seash.o.r.e to centre, and from centre to seash.o.r.e, at stated and solemn periods; thus emphasizing the sense of national citizens.h.i.+p, and the splendid and indissoluble union of our States.

I have read that among the Zuni Indians it was a sacred law that some of their tribe should, each year, pour the waters of the Pacific into those of the Atlantic. The task was accomplished, despite of all difficulties, arising from tribal contests, or opposing forces. It was a symbol of union, touching as it was simple, and might again be revived among us, to emphasize the glorious bond of citizens.h.i.+p in this our land; a bond, which we felt continually, through our eight thousand miles of travel, in our "Flight in Spring."