I know not, my wee one, how came you to know
  Which way to my heart was the right way to go;
  Unless in your purity, soul-clean and clear,
  God whispers his messages into your ear. 
  You have now had my song, let me end with a prayer
  That your life may be always sweet, happy, and fair;
  That your joys may be many, and absent your woes,
  O dear little lady who gave me the rose!

THE RIVALS

  ‘T was three an’ thirty year ago,
  When I was ruther young, you know,
  I had my last an’ only fight
  About a gal one summer night. 
  ‘T was me an’ Zekel Johnson; Zeke
  ‘N’ me ‘d be’n spattin’ ’bout a week,
  Each of us tryin’ his best to show
  That he was Liza Jones’s beau. 
  We could n’t neither prove the thing,
  Fur she was fur too sharp to fling
  One over fur the other one
  An’ by so doin’ stop the fun
  That we chaps did n’t have the sense
  To see she got at our expense,
  But that’s the way a feller does,
  Fur boys is fools an’ allus was. 
  An’ when they’s females in the game
  I reckon men’s about the same. 
  Well, Zeke an’ me went on that way
  An’ fussed an’ quarrelled day by day;
  While Liza, mindin’ not the fuss,
  Jest kep’ a-goin’ with both of us,
  Tell we pore chaps, that’s Zeke an’ me,
  Was jest plum mad with jealousy. 
  Well, fur a time we kep’ our places,
  An’ only showed by frownin’ faces
  An’ looks ‘at well our meanin’ boded
  How full o’ fight we both was loaded. 
  At last it come, the thing broke out,
  An’ this is how it come about. 
  One night (’t was fair, you’ll all agree)
  I got Eliza’s company,
  An’ leavin’ Zekel in the lurch,
  Went trottin’ off with her to church. 
  An’ jest as we had took our seat
  (Eliza lookin’ fair an’ sweet),
  Why, I jest could n’t help but grin
  When Zekel come a-bouncin’ in
  As furious as the law allows. 
  He ’d jest be’n up to Liza’s house,
  To find her gone, then come to church
  To have this end put to his search. 
  I guess I laffed that meetin’ through,
  An’ not a mortal word I knew
  Of what the preacher preached er read
  Er what the choir sung er said. 
  Fur every time I ’d turn my head
  I could n’t skeercely help but see
  ’At Zekel had his eye on me. 
  An’ he ‘ud sort o’ turn an’ twist
  An’ grind his teeth an’ shake his fist. 
  I laughed, fur la! the hull church seen us,
  An’ knowed that suthin’ was between us. 
  Well, meetin’ out, we started hum,
  I sorter feelin’ what would come. 
  We ’d jest got out, when up stepped Zeke,
  An’ said, “Scuse me, I ’d like to speak
  To you a minute.”  “Cert,” said I—­
  A-nudgin’ Liza on the sly
  An’ laughin’ in my sleeve with glee,
  I asked her, please, to pardon me. 
  We walked away a step er two,