When the Old Man Has Nothin’ to Say

when thine accusers are also come." (.TO BE CONTINUED.) WHEN THE OLD MAN HAS NUTHIN' TO SAY. (A Farm Ballad, for the Improvement Era.) Someiimes, there's a bit of tarnation Starts up with the wind and the sun, An' ev'rything goes topsy-turvey, you know, An' nuthin' is properly done; The boys they has trouble a mi'kin', The gals has the dickens to pay; An' that is the mornin' for me to shet up, An' have nuthin' at all to say. 'Pears like thar is sumthin' a whiskin' All thru the cantankerous air, An' ev'ry one's feelins' is nettled and riled, An' almost a bustin' to swear; Wh;n natur's that way, thinks I, "Sted dy; The weather is narvous today, An' now is the time for] a close-shet mouth" — An' the ole man has nuthin' to say. Payson, Utah. 1 notice then, 'long about noontime, When I've helped all I can with the work, That one's feelin's git quiet and easylike, An' ev'ry one's growin' more chirk; The boys they get merry a whistlin', The gals get to singin' so gay; For the ole man's lamed a natural law— That's why he has nuthin' to say. So I b'lieve when the weather is ailin', An' ev'ry one's feelin's are riled, 'Tis a good thing to calculate early, my boy, 'Bout tempers, an' how they get spiled, So, keepin' myself cool an' steddy, One's narvousness passes away; That's why I carries a close-shet mouth, An' has nuthin' at all to say? Joseph L. Townsend.