irp is her only note;
Braggart and prince of braggarts is he,
Pouring boasts from his little throat:
"Bobolink, Bobolink,
Spink, spank, spink,
Never was I afraid of man,
Catch me, cowardly knaves, if you can.
Chee, chee, chee."
5. Six white eggs on a bed of hay,
Flecked with purple, a pretty sight!
There as the mother sits all day,
Robert is singing with all his might:
"Bobolink, bobolink,
Spink, spank, spink,
Nice good wife that never goes out,
Keeping house while I frolic about.
Chee, chee, chee."
6. Soon as the little ones chip the shell,
Six wide mouths are open for food;
Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well,
Gathering seeds for the hungry brood..
"Bobolink, bobolink,
Spink, spank, spink,
This new life is likely to be
Hard for a gay young fellow like me.
Chee, chee, chee."
7. Robert of Lincoln at length is made
Sober with work, and silent with care;
Off is his holiday garment laid,
Half forgotten that merry air:
"Bobolink, bobolink,
Spink, spank, spink,
Nobody knows but my mate and I
Where our nest and our nestlings lie.
Chee, chee, chee."
8. Summer wanes; the children are grown;
Fun and frolic no more he knows;
Robert of Lincoln's a humdrum crone;
Off he flies, and we sing as he goes:
"Bobolink, bobolink,
Spink, spank, spink,
When you can pipe that merry old strain,
Robert of Lincoln, come back again.
Chee, chee, chee."
--William Cullen Bryan.
XLI. REBELLION IN MASSACHUSETTS STATE PRISON.
1. A more impressive exhibition of moral courage, opposed to the wildest
ferocity under the most appalling circumstances, was never seen than that
which was witnessed by the officers of our state prison; in the rebellion
which occurred some years since.
2. Three convicts had been sentenced, under the rules of the prison, to be
whipped in the yard, and, by some effort of one of the other prisoners, a
door had been opened at midday communicating with the great dining hall
and, through the warden's lodge, with the street.
3. The dining hall was long, dark, and damp, from its situation near the
surface of the ground; and in this all the prisoners assembled, with clubs
and such other tools as they could seize in passing through th
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