A few errors in punctuation have been silently restored,otherwise the original spelling was retained.
PLET: A CHRISTMAS TALE OF THE WASATCH
PLET: A CHRISTMAS TALE OF THE WASATCH.
A tale from out my western life you say?
Something to while the Christmas Eve away;
And something, too, to suit this festal time,
With two old bachelors, long past their prime,
Who as they sip in solitude their wine,
Are filled with memories of Auld Lang Syne?
Well,—I grant it. Yet why did you add,
Something to suit the time? I shall be glad—
But was the last a tongue slip? Let it go.
Still, why I asked, the tale will clearly show.
As I proceed and still you care to hear,
You'll find it suits this night of all the year.
8Oh, yes! to fill your wish I'm full inclined,
I need but voice the thoughts within my mind,
And then the task's completed. All comes back
On every Christmas Eve, I never lack
Of food for thought. That time I'll ne'er forget
In future years, though distant may be set
My time for going. When my younger mate—
But why as writers say—anticipate?
You'll find the tale, perhaps, a trifle sad,
When every dictum says it should be glad.
And—hope the last will not astonish you—
Once in a while a little preachy, too.
And mixed with love, a subject—well, heigh, ho!
Something that we are not supposed to know.
PART FIRST.
I.
Crash! crash!! crash!!! A heavy, thunderous sound,
Re-echoed from the snow-clad mountains round.
Then shrieks and voices hoarse came through the night
And far below we saw the lantern's light,—
It was the slides again! Through misty damp,
We hastened downward to the stricken camp.
The Christmas Eve! Ill time had chosen Fate
To work her will and joy annihilate!
Women and children lay beneath that snow,
And many a bronzed cheek was touched with woe.
Think not those men who toil amid the hills
Lack generous fire that noble bosom fills.
12Their hearts are tender and th