Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/286

 280 HOME FROM MEETING.

��HOME FROM MEETING.

&quot; V JAY, mother, I fear not; the good Lord can

IN keep us

Through this, the bright, clear Sabbath day ; Little Avis and I will be home from the meeting

Before the next twilight is gray.&quot;

&quot;But, Reuben, the Pequods are murdering peo ple!

Think of Deerfield and dark Bloody Brook !&quot; And the mother who loved him drew nearer to

Reuben, Though her limbs in their feebleness shook.

That winter had passed full of tumult and horror,

Two centuries back of our time ; For the Indian arrow had written its story

In the colony s record of crime.

There were stories of strange, lurid sights in th$ heavens,

When comets were sharp, shining swords, And pale, dancing lights of the mystic aurora

Presaged coming of Indian hordes.

&quot;Though a host should encamp round about me,&quot; said Reuben,

&quot;Though the redskins are out by the score, I will go on to meet with His worshipping people,

And pray my way up to the door.&quot;

�� �