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26 chapters
WATCH YOURSELF GO BY
WATCH YOURSELF GO BY
Just stand aside and watch yourself go by; Think of yourself as "he" instead of "I." Note closely, as in other men you note, The bag-kneed trousers and the seedy coat. Pick the flaws; find fault; forget the man is you, And strive to make your estimate ring true; Confront yourself and look you in the eye— Just stand aside and watch yourself go by. Interpret all your motives just as though You looked on one whose aims you did not know. Let undisguised contempt surge through you when You see you sh
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CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER ONE
Trust no prayer or promise, Words are grains of sand; To keep your heart unbroken Hold your child in hand. "Al-f-u-r-d!" "Al-f-u-r-d!!" "Al-f-u-r-d!!!" The last syllable, drawn out the length of an expiring breath, was the first sound recorded on the memory of the First Born. Indeed, constant repetition of the word, day to day, so filled his brain cells with "Al-f-u-r-d" that it was years after he realized his given patronymic was Alfred. The Old Well "Al-f-u-r-d!" "Al-f-u-r-d!"—A woman's voice,
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CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER TWO
Trouble comes night and day, In this world unheedin', But there's light to find the way— That is all we're needin'. "Al-f-u-r-d-!" "Al-f-u-r-d!" Al-f-u-r-d!" Town life had not diminished the volume of Malinda Linn's voice. It was far-reaching as ever. Malinda was familiarly called "Lin"—in print the name looks unnatural and Chinese-like. Lin Linn was about the whole works in the family. Her duties were calling, seeking and changing the apparel of "Al-f-u-r-d", duties she discharged with a mixtur
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CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE
In the heydey of youth He was awfully green, As verdant in truth As you have ever seen; But he soon learned to know beans So it seems. "There's shorely sumthin' 'bout water that bewitches that boy," often remarked Lin. "I never seen the like of it. I'll bet anything he'll be a Baptis' preacher some day, jes' like Billy Hickman." There never was a boy reared in Brownsville whose heart does not beat a little faster, whose breath does not come a little quicker, whose cheeks do not turn a little red
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CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR
From the sweet-smelling Maryland meadows it crawled, Through the forest primeval, o'er hills granite-walled; On and up, up and on, till it conquered the crest Of the mountains—and wound away into the West. 'Twas the Highway of Hope! And the pilgrims who trod It were Lords of the Woodland and Sons of the Sod; And the hope of their hearts was to win an abode At the end—the far end of the National Road. Brownsville. Do you not know where it is located? Do not ask any human being who ever lived in B
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CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER FIVE
No wonder Cain went to the bad And left no cause to praise him; No neighbors, who had ever had Boys of their own, came telling Ad And Eve how they should raise him. "Al-f-u-r-d" learned with his first swimming lesson that kinship does not lend immunity; in fact, Lin asserted that Cousin Charley's kinship was only a cloak of deception. However, the more Cousin Charley teased the younger boy the greater "Al-f-u-r-d's" admiration and yearning for his companionship. Lin cautioned "Al-f-u-r-d" to shu
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CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SIX
Blessings on thee, little man, Barefoot boy with cheek of tan; "With thy turned-up pantaloons And thy merry, whistled tunes; With the sunshine on thy face Through thy torn brim's jaunty grace; Outward sunshine, inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy. Alfred's parents concluded it would be good for the boy to send him to the country for a time, freeing him from the influence of town boys. Therefore they sent him to Uncle Joe's, a prosperous farmer, a little inclined to take too much hard cid
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CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER SEVEN
Backward, turn backward, oh, time in your flight, Make me a child again, just for tonight. "Help is mighty skeerse an' ye got to take what ye kin git," was Lin's answer to the query of a neighbor as to why they had re-employed Cousin Charley after the confusion he had created in the family of Alfred. Cousin Charley was sent to the country on an errand that was supposed to consume a couple of hours. It was Circus day. The head of the family gave the boys sufficient money to pay their way from sid
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CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER EIGHT
Though the road be long and dreary, And the end be out of sight, Foot it bravely, strong or weary, Trust in God and do the right. The realities of life are continually changing. Persons can retain a hobby or an illusion for a time or for all time. An illusion may live in our minds, even become a part of our lives. Life is but thought. Pleasant illusions are, as a rule, weapons against meanness and littleness. Illusions, when based upon the sensible and material things of this life, are uplifting
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CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER NINE
Never mind the pain For gladness will outlive it. When your neighbor needs a smile Don't hesitate to give it. Then came sorrow into the life of Alfred. The father was ill for many months; war came with its blighting influences, bringing ruin to many, prosperity to a few. The father's family were Virginians, the mother's Marylanders. True to their traditions they believed in the people of the South, not favoring secession, however. In the white heat of continued controversy relatives became enemi
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EARLY CANDLE LIGHT Come One-Come All
EARLY CANDLE LIGHT Come One-Come All
Alfred as a Bill Poster Alfred not only set up and printed the bills announcing his first minstrel show but distributed them, tacking them up in conspicuous places. The first bill was tacked on Mart Claybaugh's blacksmith shop near the old Brubaker Tavern. Alfred then continued out the pike to Searight's Tavern. At Uncle Billy Hatfield's a great display was made on barn, blacksmith and harness shop. When Uncle Billy returned home and read the bill headed "Hatfield and Storey's Alabama Minstrels,
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
And I would learn to better show My gratitude for favors had, To see more of the good below And less of what I think is bad. To live not always in the day To come, and count the joys to be, But to remember, as I stray, The past and what is brought to me. Lured by that feeling which impels the criminal to visit the scene of his crime, Alfred began a pilgrimage to the little red school-house. Walking along the old pike the sound of a horse's hoofs beating a tattoo on the road reached his ears. He
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CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER TWELVE
A man may be defeated Half a score of times or more, His prospects may be darkened And his heart be bruised and sore; But let him smile triumphantly— And call Misfortune's bluff. For no man's ever conquered Till he says: "I've got enough?" Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish poet, says: "The life of every man is a fairy tale written by God's finger." Carlyle says: "No life of a man faithfully recorded but is a heroic poem." With all the advice and experience one can acquire or have thrust
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Do not believe all that you hear, For hot air men are hawking; And even keep a cautious ear When you, yourself, are talking. Brownsville, Pa. My Dear Son : I take my pen in hand to write you a few lines hoping that they may find you as well as we all are here. Mother reads your letters to us at dinner time. I hope you are living better. I never knew a genius that cared much about his eating, therefore, I do not suppose Palmer ever gave it a thought that you were suffering. He is a good fellow an
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Something each day—a smile, It is not much to give, But the little gifts of life Make sweet the days we live. The world appears different to different persons; to one it is dull, to another bright. Contentment has much to do with it. The pleasant and interesting happenings crowded into the life of one being may arouse envy in another. The man of genius, the man of imagination will note things in the every-day trend of human affairs that will enrich his memory, store it with wisdom. The man of du
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone; For this brave old earth must borrow its mirth, It has trouble enough of its own. The world does not require the same attainments from all; it is well it is so ordered. Some persons are well taught, some are ill taught, some are not taught at all. Some have naturally good dispositions and absorb learning readily. Some are deficient in mechanical ingenuity and yet can analyze difficult mental problems. It is no crime to fail in any p
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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Thank God for the man who is cheerful, In spite of life's troubles, I say; Who sings of a brighter tomorrow Because of the clouds today. Then came a letter—whatever you may be, your parents were probably more so about the same age; but the world is wiser now than then, the boy world at least. The writer had heard of Alfred and his wonderful talents; he was organizing a minstrel show and would like to negotiate with him. The new organization would be one of the most complete in the country; it wo
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CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Hang on! Cling on! No matter what they say. Push on! Work on! Things will come your way. "A person dunno till after they've fell intu a muddy ditch how meny roads they cud a took an' kept out uf hit. But after ye've fell in the mud a time ur tu an' then ye don't no enuf tu keep outen hit, ye ain't much; ye're only gettin' muddy an' not larnen eny sense, an' thar ain't much hope fur ye." This was Lin's answer to Alfred's declaration that he would never go out with another show unless it was first
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CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY
This world would be tiresome, we'd all get the blues, If all the folks in it held just the same views; So do your work to the best of your skill, Some people won't like it, but other folks will. Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French-Swiss philosopher, nearing the end of his days complained that in all his life he never knew rest or content for the reason he had never known a home. His mother died giving him birth, his father was a shiftless dancing master. Rousseau claimed his misfortunes began with h
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
We all fall down at times, Though we have nerve and grit; You're worth a bet, but don't forget— To lay down means to quit. "Columbus, Ohio, is a long ways out west and I don't hope tu ever git tu see you all agin but I hope you won't fergit me, kase I'll never fergit you. I'd go with you all but I'm 'bliged tu keep my promise. I hope my married life will turn out all right but you kan't never guess whar you're goin' tu land when yu sail on the sea of matermony. "They say the reason men don't pra
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
And far away—up yonder, in the window o' the blue, The dreamed-of angels listen to an echo glad and new— Thrilled to the Gates of Glory, and they say: "Heaven's love to you, Brother of the Light that makes the Morning!" "If John kin do better in Columbus, hit's yo're duty to go." Thus Linn advised the mother. Columbus was a big city but it was not home. The mother was discontented and longed for the old town back yonder. Alfred had promised to abandon his circus ambitions. He had just concluded
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
In the land of the sage and the cottonwood, The cactus plant and the sand, When you've just dropped in from the effete East There's a greeting that's simply grand; It's when some giant comes up to you, With a hand that weighs a ton, And cries as he smites you on the back; "Why, you derned old son of a gun!" Texas, quoting Col. Bailey of the Houston Post , "is a symphony, a vast hunk of mellifluence, an eternal melody of loveliness, a grand anthem of agglomerated and majestic beneficence. Texas i
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Into the city during the day, Back to the country at eventide, Courting the charm of the simple way, Casting the tumult of greed aside. "He is the happiest man who best appreciates his happiness. Happiness comes to him who does not seek it." "Well, you've got there. I was opposed to your goin' into the minstrel business. It's not good to argue agin anything a young man sets his mind on. I figured if you got knocked out, you'd be able to come back agin. I'd rather seed you in the circus business,
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It's curious what fuss folks makes 'bout boys that went away Years ago from home. There's young Bill Piper that used to keep recitin', Do you know what he's done? He's gone to actin', there's some that actually pay To go an' hear Bill talkin', public in a play. Why, he couldn't chop a cord o' hickory wood in a year; He may fool the folks out yonder, but he ain't no hero here. I am glad to have Uncle Tom visit us. He is a good man. It is true his calling made him very narrow when a younger man, b
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Not hurrying to, not turning from the goal. Not mourning for the things that disappear In the dim past, nor holding back in fear From what the future veils; but with a whole And happy heart, that pays the toll To you and age, and travels on with cheer. Uncle Madison, stage driver, soldier, planter, historian, a gentleman of the old school; versed in the classics and current events, most positive in his deductions. He fought every day and year of the Civil War for the cause of the South. He had l
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A GOOD INDIAN'S PRAYER.
A GOOD INDIAN'S PRAYER.
O Powers that be, make me sufficient to my own occasions. Teach me to know and to observe the Rules of the Game. Give to me to mind my own business at all times, and to lose no good opportunity of holding my tongue. Help me not to cry for the moon or over spilled milk. Grant me neither to proffer nor to welcome cheap praise; to distinguish sharply between sentiment and sentimentality, cleaving to the one and despising the other. When it is appointed for me to suffer, let me, so far as may humanl
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