Читать книгу The Wit and Humor of America, Volume V - Marshall Pinckney Wilder - Страница 13

Bill looked happy as could be

One bright mornin'; an' says he:

"Folks has been a-tellin' me

Mollie's set her cap my way;

An' I'm goin' thar' to-day

With the license; so, ol' boy,

Might's well shake, an' wish me joy!

Never seen a woman yit

This here feller couldn't git!"

Now, it happened, that same day,

I'd been lookin' Mollie's way;—

Jest had saddled my ol' hoss

To go canterin' across

Parson Jones's pastur', an'

Ax her fer her heart an' han'!

So, when Bill had had his say

An' done set his weddin' day,

I lit out an' rid that way.

Mollie met me at the door:—

"Glad to see yer face once more!"

She—says she: "Come in—come in!"

("It's the best man now will win,"

Thinks I to myself.) Then she

Brung a rocker out fer me

On the cool piazza wide,

With her own chair right 'longside!

In about two hours I knowed

In that race I had the road!

Talked in sich a winnin' way

Got her whar' she named the day,

With her shiny head at rest

On my speckled Sunday vest!

An', whilst in that happy state,

Bill—he rid up to the gate.

Well, sir-ee!… He sot him down—

Cheapest lookin' chap in town!

(Knowed at once I'd set my traps!)

Talked 'bout weather, an' the craps,

An' a thousan' things; an' then—

Jest the lonesomest o' men—

Said he had so fur to ride,

Reckoned it wuz time to slide!

But I hollered out: "Ol' boy,

Might's well shake, an' wish me joy!

I hain't seen the woman yit

That this feller couldn't git!"