a-sighing in the prairie grass,
Who's that a-calling?
Or wild birds singing overhead as they pass.

Who's that a-calling?
Making heart and pulse to beat.

No, no, it wasn't earthly sound I heard,
Who's that a-calling?
It was no sigh of breeze or song of bird,
Who's that a-calling?
For the tone I heard was softer far than these,
that a-calling?
'Twas loved ones' voices from far off across the seas
_Deveen._

SONG OF THE CATTLE TRAIL

THE dust hangs thick upon the trail
And the horns and the hoofs are clashing,
While off at the side through the chaparral
The men and the strays go crashing;
But in right good cheer the cowboy sings,
For the work of the fall is ending,
And then it's ride for the old home ranch
Where a maid love's light is tending.

Then it's crack! crack! crack!
On the beef steer's back,
And it's run, you slow-foot devil;
For I'm soon to turn back where through the black
Love's lamp gleams along the level.

He's trailed them far o'er the trackless range,
Has this knight of the saddle leather;
He has risked his life in the mad stampede,
And has breasted all kinds of weather.
But now is the end of the trail in sight,
And the hours on wings are sliding;
For it's back to the home and the only girl
When the foreman O K's the option.

Then it's quirt! quirt! quirt!
And it's run or git hurt,
You hang-back, bawling critter.
For a man who's in love with a turtle dove
Ain't got no time to fritter.
_Anonymous._

A COWBOY'S SON

WHAR y'u from, little stranger, little boy?
Y'u was ridin' a cloud on that star-strewn plain,
But y'u fell from the skies like a drop of rain
To this world of sorrow and long, long pain.
Will y'u care fo' yo' mothah, little boy?

When y'u grows, little varmint, little boy,
Y'u'll be ridin' a hoss by yo' fathah's side
With yo' gun and yo' spurs and yo' howstrong pride.
Will y'u think of yo' home when the world rolls wide?
Will y'u wish for yo' mothah, little boy?

When y'u love in yo' manhood, little boy,--
When y'u dream of a girl who is angel fair,--
When the stars are her eyes and the wind is her hair,--
When the sun is her smile and y