e on my charger all night, even by day will I not tarry;
lo! I have wagered my shekels on the steed with a shortened tail; who
will stake his gold on the bay?

'Great was COCK ROBIN, and JAMES BUCHANAN was not small, neither is
WIKOFF,

'But greater than all is HOLLINS,--who shall prevail against him?'

* * * * *

CHAPTER II.

In the days of war, even after the South had seceded,

When the arrows of the North were pointed, and the strong men had gone
forth unto battle;

When the ships had closed up the ports of the great cities, and their
marts were desolate;

When the damsels that had aforetime walked in fine linen and purple, and
precious stones, were clad in homespun and went to indigenous parties;
When the Mississippi was blockaded by the Preble and Vincennes, and many
more and several such;

Then HOLLINS got himself ready for battle: with great boasting and
mighty words did he gird on his armor,

Saying, 'Be not afraid, it is I who will unfold the terrors of my wrath;
the Yankees shall utterly wither away, their ships will I burn, and
their captains will I take captive, in a highly extra manner.

'Did I not burn Greytown? was it not I who made the niggers run? who
shall stand before me?'

Now they had made a thing which they called a steam-ram, an iron-covered
boat, like unto a serpent, even like unto the evil beast which crawleth
upon its belly, eating dirt, as do many of those who made it.

And all the South rejoiced over it, the voices of many editors were
uplifted,

According to the Revised Statutes,

Prophesying sure death and sudden ruin, on back action principles.

Yea, there were those who opined that the ram would suffice to destroy
the whole North, or at least its navy--there or thereabouts.

And they cried aloud that the rams of Jericho were nowhere, and that the
great ram of Derby, was but as a ramlet compared to this.

And the reporters of the _Crescent_ and _Bee_, and _Delta_, and
_Picayune_, and they of the kangaroon Creole French press, went to see
it,

And returned with their eyes greatly enlarged, so that they seemed as
those of the fish men take from a mile depth in the Gulf of Nice,--which
are excessively magnocular,--even as large as the round tower of
Copenhagen were their optics,

Declaring that on the face of the earth was no such marvel as the ram;
the wonderful wonder of wonders did it seem unto them; sharp death at
short notice o