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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=345930" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Old Bark Hut</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">In an old bark hut on a mountainside <br>In a spot that was lone and drear <br>A woman whose heart was aching sat <br>Watching from year to year. <br>A small boy, Jim, her only child, <br>Helped her to watch and wait, <br>But the time never came when they could go free, <br>Free from the bond of hate. <br>For McConnel was out on the mountainside <br>Living without a hope <br>And seeing nothing before him now <br>But death by a hangman’s rope. <br>Hated and chased by his fellow men, <br>To take him alive or dead, <br>An outlaw banned by the world was he <br>With five hundred pounds on his head. <br>A message had come that evening which said <br>“Now, Jim, you mustn’t wait, <br>If you want to save your father, or <br>By heaven, you’ll be too late. <br>“He’s out at Mackinnon’s Crossing, they say, <br>The track is rough, old man, <br>But if any here can do it—why <br>It’s you and old Darky can.” <br>And Jim knew well what the message meant, <br>As he brought his horse to the door! <br>While away through the gathering darkness came <br>The sound of the river’s roar. <br>But the brave little heart never faltered as <br>He stooped to kiss her good-bye <br>And said, “God bless you, Mother dear, <br>I’ll save Dad tonight or I’ll die.” <br>The old horse answered the touch of his hand <br>And galloped away from the door; <br>He seemed to know ‘twas a journey for life— <br>Well, he’d done such journey’s before. <br>Out from the firelight, and through the rails, <br>Out through the ghastly trees, <br>While all the time the warning roar <br>Of the river came back on the breeze; <br>Steadily down the mountainside <br>He rode, for his course was plain, <br>Though his heart was heavy, though not with fear, <br>But because of that brand of Cain. <br>The boy thinks over his mother’s last words: <br>“I’ll love him as long as I live! <br>He must have time for repentance on earth <br>But surely God will forgive.” <br>As he glanced back over his shoulder there <br>She stood by the light of the door <br>Trying to pierce the darkness in vain, <br>Thinking she’d see him no more. <br>Then as he looked she bowed her head <br>And slowly turned away, <br>And the boy knew that the noble wife <br>Had knelt by the bed to pray. <br>Mile after mile, hour after hour, <br>And then just ahead, shining and white, <br>Was the foam of Mackinnon’s Crossing— <br>What a jump for old Darky tonight! <br>And then Jim thinks of the long, lone years <br>And the hopes that are crushed and dead; <br>And a woman whose heart is as true as steel, <br>As rue as the day she was wed. <br>As she loved him then in the years gone by <br>When the future held promise in store, <br>So she loved him today when the future held <br>Naught but death by his country’s law. <br>Jim pressed his knees to the saddle flap <br>And tightened his hold on the rein; <br>They had jumped the river last summertime, <br>How he hoped they would do it again! <br>Then a voice rang out through the darkness there, <br>“Hold, now hold, stand still! <br>We know you, lad, it’s too late to run; <br>Hands up or we’ll shoot to kill!” <br>Then he knew that the police were around him, <br>In the darkness they moved to and fro; <br>For an instant he pulled on the bridle-rein, <br>But he’d promised his mother he’d go. <br>And he thought of the poor, sad woman alone, <br>Kneeling in prayer by the bed; <br>So he loosened the reins on old Darky’s neck <br>And rushed at the river ahead. <br>Then a volley rang out through the forest dark— <br>A fall in the roaring flood; <br>And the darkness hid from all human eyes <br>The form that was stained with blood. <br>The horse struggled hard, the waters rushed on; <br>He sank to rise no more. <br>But the boy fought the flood in silence, inch <br>By inch to the other shore. <br>Slowly and sadly, but bravely on, <br>Brushing away the tears; <br>He was leaving behind in the river’s flood <br>His friend and companion for years. <br>And all the time the blood trickled down, <br>O God! what a hot burning pain! <br>And he knew he was doing is duty clean <br>He would never come back again. <br>Staggering in through the yielding door <br>Into the cold dark room<br>Where his father lay, and the faint firelight<br>Showed through the ghostly gloom. <br>The bushranger sprang to his feet in alarm <br>And levelled the gun at his head <br>And his loud voice demanded, “Who are you? <br>Speak quick, or you are dead.” <br>And then a weak little voice made answer, <br>“It’s me; Mother sends you her love; <br>The police are back at the crossing now, <br>So clear out and meet Mother above.” <br>Then McConnel placed his gun by the wall <br>And knelt on the cold hard floor; <br>And somehow the tears came rushing down <br>As they never had before. <br>His arms went around the brave little lad, <br>He nursed his head on his breast; <br>He seemed to know that the end was nigh <br>And Jim would soon be at rest. <br>And the boy was speaking feebly at last, <br>“They shot me back at the creek, <br>And old Darky is dead and gone, Dad, <br>And oh, I’m so tired and weak.” <br>Then his voice fell away in a whisper soft, <br>So faint it could scarce be heard, <br>“Oh Dad,, clear out, they are coming fast; <br>Tell Mother, I kept my word.” <br>Quickly in silence the police gathered around, <br>They had captured the beast in his lair; <br>The outlaw sat with his boy in his arms, <br>He semed not to heed nor to care. <br>He was thinking now of the seed he had sown, <br>He was tasting its bitter fruit, <br>When the sergeant stepped to the door and said, <br>“McConnel, bail up or I’ll shoot.” <br>Then the sergeant placed a lamp by the door, <br>The rifles gleamed out in the light; <br>But the outlaw said, “Sergeant O’Drady, <br>Let’s have no more shooting tonight. <br>“You can take me now to the judgement seat <br>As God has taken this lad; <br>You’d die to take my life, you men— <br>He died to save his dad. <br>“I want you to help me dig his grave, <br>And perhaps you will say a prayer; <br>Then you can take me and hang me dead— <br>It’s my wife, or I wouldn’t care. <br>“Carefully now. . . Oh thank you, men, <br>Lay him as best you can; <br>The policeman is shown by his coat, of course; <br>But the tears—well, they show the man.” <br>Then the party went back to the old bark hut <br>As the sun was mounting the hill; <br>No smoke arose from the chimney cold <br>And all was silent and still. <br>The sergeant opened the creaky door, <br>And lifted his cap with a start, <br>…Ah, McConnel had broken the country’s laws <br>And broken a woman’s heart.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Anonymous+Oceania">Anonymous Oceania</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=345930" data-title="The Old Bark Hut de Anonymous Oceania" data-description="In an old bark hut on a mountainside 
In a spot that was lone and drear 
A woman whose heart was aching sat 
Watching from year to year. 
A small boy, Jim, her only child, 
Helped her to watch and wait, 
But the time never came when they could go ..."></div>
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