Brownies: Their Book

<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</SPAN></span></p> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i108a.png" width-obs="406" height-obs="275" alt="Planning again" title="" /></div> <h2>THE BROWNIES' VOYAGE.</h2> <div class='center'> <table class="voyage-o" summary="voyage-o"> <tr><td align='left'><br/><br/><br/> <span style="margin-left: 11em;">ne night, a restless Brownie band</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 11em;">Resolved to leave their native strand,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">And visit islands fair and green,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">That in the distance might be seen.</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">In answer to a summons wide,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">The Brownies came from every side&mdash;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">A novel spectacle they made,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">All mustered in the forest shade.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">With working implements they came,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">Of every fashion, use, and name.</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">Said one, "How many times have we</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">Surveyed those islands in the sea,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">And longed for means to thither sail</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 9em;">And ramble over hill and vale!</span><br/> </td></tr> </table></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</SPAN></span></p> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="drawing and poem"> <tr><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i109a.png" width-obs="222" height-obs="222" alt="Carrying" title="" /> </td><td align='left'>That pleasure rare we may command,<br/> Without the aid of human hand.<br/> And ere the faintest streak of gray<br/> Has advertised the coming day,<br/> A sturdy craft, both tough and tall,<br/> With masts and halyards, shrouds and all,<br/> With sails to spread, and helm to guide,<br/> Completed from the ways shall glide.<br/> So exercise your mystic power<br/> And make the most of every hour!"<br/></td></tr> </table></div> <div class='poem'> With axes, hammers, saws, and rules,<br/> Dividers, squares, and boring tools,<br/> The active Brownies scattered 'round,<br/> And every one his labor found.<br/></div> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="drawing and poem"> <tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>Some fell to chopping down the trees,</div> And some to hewing ribs and knees;<br/> <div class='hang1'>While more the ponderous keelson made,</div> And fast the shapely hull was laid.<br/> Then over all they clambered soon,<br/> Like bees around their hive in June.<br/> <div class='hang1'>'T was hammer, hammer, here and there,</div> And rip and racket everywhere,<br/></td><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i109b.png" width-obs="398" height-obs="371" alt="Chopping down trees" title="" /> </td></tr> </table></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</SPAN></span></p> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and drawing"> <tr><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i110a.png" width-obs="166" height-obs="177" alt="hammering" title="" /> </td><td align='left'>While some were spiking planks and beams,<br/> The calkers stuffed the yawning seams,<br/> And poured the resin left and right,<br/> To make her stanch and water-tight.<br/> Some busily were bringing nails,<br/> And bolts of canvas for the sails,<br/> And coils of rope of every size<br/> To make the ratlines, shrouds, and guys.<br/></td></tr> </table></div> <div class='poem'> It mattered little whence it came,<br/> Or who a loss of stock might claim;<br/> Supply kept even with demand,<br/> Convenient to the rigger's hand.<br/> <br/> 'T was marvelous to see how fast<br/> The vessel was together cast;<br/></div> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and drawing"> <tr><td align='left'>Until, with all its rigs and stays,<br/> It sat prepared to leave the ways.<br/> It but remained to name it now,<br/> And break a bottle on the bow,<br/> To knock the wedges from the side,<br/> And from the keel, and let it slide.<br/></td><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i110b.png" width-obs="85" height-obs="125" alt="Christening" title="" /> </td></tr> </table></div> <div class='poem'> And when it rode upon the sea,<br/> The Brownies thronged the deck with glee,<br/> And veering 'round in proper style,<br/> They bore away for nearest isle.<br/></div> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and drawing"> <tr><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i110c.png" width-obs="177" height-obs="134" alt="Dropping the hammer" title="" /> </td><td align='left'>But those who will the ocean brave<br/> Should be prepared for wind and wave<br/> For storms will rise, as many know,<br/> When least we look for squall or blow<br/> And soon the sky was overcast,<br/> And waves were running high and fast;<br/></td></tr> </table></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</SPAN></span></p> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and drawings"> <tr><td align='right'><ANTIMG src="images/i111a.png" width-obs="110" height-obs="66" alt="Sitting down sad" title="" /> </td><td align='left'>Then some were sick and some were filled<br/> With fears that all their ardor chilled;<br/> But, as when dangers do assail<br/> The humankind, though some may quail,<br/> There will be found a few to face<br/> The danger, and redeem the race,&mdash;<br/></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>So, some brave Brownies nobly stood</div> <div class='hang1'>And manned the ship as best they could.</div> <div class='hang1'>Some staid on deck to sound for bars;</div> <div class='hang1'>Some went aloft to watch for stars;</div> <div class='hang1'>And some around the rudder hung,</div> <div class='hang1'>And here and there the vessel swung,</div> <div class='hang1'>While, others, strung on yard and mast,</div> <div class='hang1'>Kept shifting sails to suit the blast.</div> <br/> <div class='hang1'>At times, the bow was high in air,</div> <div class='hang1'>And next the stern was lifted there.</div> </td><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i111b.png" width-obs="403" height-obs="453" alt="working on the mast" title="" /> </td></tr> <tr><td align='right'><ANTIMG src="images/i111c.png" width-obs="158" height-obs="91" alt="over the yard arm" title="" /> </td><td align='left'>So thus it tumbled, tossed, and rolled,<br/> And shipped enough to fill the hold,<br/> Till more than once it seemed as though<br/> To feed the fish they all must go.<br/></td></tr> </table></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</SPAN></span></p> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and drawing"> <tr><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i112.png" width-obs="188" height-obs="478" alt="At sea" title="" /> </td><td align='left'>But still they bravely tacked and veered,<br/> And hauled, and reefed, and onward steered;<br/> While screaming birds around them wheeled,<br/> As if to say: "Your doom is sealed";<br/> And hungry gar and hopeful shark<br/> In shoals pursued the creaking bark,<br/> Still wondering how it braved a gale<br/> That might have made Columbus pale.<br/> <br/> The rugged island, near them now,<br/> Was looming on their starboard bow;<br/> But knowing not the proper way<br/> Of entering its sheltered bay,<br/> They simply kept their canvas spread,<br/> And steered the vessel straight ahead.<br/> The birds were distanced in the race;<br/> The gar and shark gave up the chase,<br/> And turning back, forsook the keel,<br/> And lost their chances of a meal.<br/></td></tr> </table></div> <div class='poem'><br/> For now the ship to ruin flew,<br/> As though it felt its work was through,<br/> And soon it stranded, "pitch and toss,"<br/> Upon the rocks, a total loss.<br/> The masts and spars went by the board&mdash;<br/> The hull was shivered like a gourd!<br/> But yet, on broken plank and rail,<br/> On splintered spars and bits of sail<br/> That strewed for miles the rugged strand,<br/> The Brownies safely reached the land.<br/></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i113.png" width-obs="417" height-obs="473" alt="Sailing" title="" /></div> <div class='poem'> Now, Brownies lack the power, 'tis said,<br/> Of making twice what once they've made;<br/> So all their efforts were in vain<br/> To build and launch the ship again;&mdash;<br/> And on that island, roaming 'round,<br/> That Brownie band for years was found.<br/></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />