The Voyageur and Other Poems | Page 5

William Henry Drummond

no not'ing, dere 's de sleigh
An' trotter waitin' too.
W'en t'orty year is nearly t'roo
An' devil 's not come back
'Course
Louis say, 'Wall! he forget
Or t'ink de tam 's not finish yet;
I 'll tak'
ma chance an' never fret,"
But dat 's w'ere he mak' mistak'.
For on a dark an' stormy night
W'en Louis is sittin' dere,
After he
fassen up de door
De devil come as he come before,
Lookin' de

sam' only leetle more,
For takin' heem--you know w'ere.
"Asseyez vous, sit down, ma frien',
Bad night be on de road;
You
come long way an' should be tire--
Jus' wait an' mebbe I feex de fire--

Tak' off your clothes for mak' dem drier,
Dey mus' be heavy load."
Dat 's how poor Louis Desjardins
Talk to de devil, sir--
Den say,
"Try leetle w'isky blanc,
Dey 're makin' it back on St. Laurent--
It 's
good for night dat 's cole an' raw,"
But devil never stir,
Until he smell de smell dat come
W'en Louis mak' it hot
Wit' sugar,
spice, an' ev'ryt'ing.
Enough to mak' a man's head sing--
For winter,
summer, fall an' spring--
It 's very bes' t'ing we got.
An' so de devil can't refuse
To try de w'isky blanc,
An' say, "I 'm
tryin' many drink,
An' dis is de fines' I don't t'ink,
De firse, ba
tonder! mak' me wink--
Hooraw, pour Canadaw!"
"Merci--non, non--I tak' no more,"
De devil say at las',
"For tam is
up wit' you, Louis,
So come along, ma frien', wit' me,
So many star
I 'm sure I see,
De storm she mus' be pas'."
"No hurry--wait a minute, please,"
Say Louis Desjardins,
"We 'll
have a smoke before we 're t'roo,
'T will never hurt mese'f or you

To try a pipe, or mebbe two,
Of tabac Canayen." [1]
"Wan pipe is all I want for me--
We 'll finish our smoke downstair,"

De devil say, an' it was enough,
For w'en he tak' de very firse puff

He holler out, "Maudit! w'at stuff!
Fresh air! fresh air!! fresh air!!!"
An' oh! he was never sick before
Till he smoke tabac Bruneau--

Can't walk or fly, but he want fresh air,
So Louis put heem on rockin'
chair
An' t'row heem off on de road out dere--

An' tole heem go
below.

An' he shut de door an' fill de place
Wit' tabac Canayen,
An' never
come out, an' dat 's a fac'--
But smoke away till hees face is black--

So dat 's w'y de devil don't come back
For Louis Desjardins.
An' dere he 's yet, an' dere he 'll stay--
So weech of de two 'll win

Can't say for dat--it 's kin' of a doubt,
For Louis, de pipe never leave
hees mout',
An' night or day can't ketch heem out,
An' devil 's too
scare go in.
[1] Canadian tobacco.
[Illustration: Border]
The Family Laramie
Hssh! look at ba-bee on de leetle blue chair,
W'at you t'ink he 's tryin'
to do?
Wit' pole on de han' lak de lumberman,
A-shovin' along
canoe.
Dere 's purty strong current behin' de stove,
W'ere it 's
passin' de chimley-stone,
But he 'll come roun' yet, if he don't upset,

So long he was lef' alone.
Dat 's way ev'ry boy on de house begin
No sooner he 's twelve mont'
ole;
He 'll play canoe up an' down de Soo
An' paddle an' push de
pole,
Den haul de log all about de place,
Till dey 're fillin' up mos'
de room,
An' say it 's all right, for de storm las' night
Was carry
away de boom.
Mebbe you see heem, de young loon bird,
Wit' half of de shell
hangin' on,
Tak' hees firse slide to de water side,
An' off on de lake
he 's gone.
Out of de cradle dey 're goin' sam' way
On reever an'
lake an' sea;
For born to de trade, dat 's how dey 're made,
De
familee Laramie.
An' de reever she 's lyin' so handy dere
On foot of de hill below,

Dancin' along an' singin' de song
As away to de sea she go,
No

wonder I never can lak dat song,
For soon it is comin', w'en
Dey 'll
lissen de call, leetle Pierre an' Paul,
An' w'ere will de moder be den?
She 'll sit by de shore w'en de evenin's come,
An' spik to de reever too:

"O reever, you know how dey love you so,
Since ever dey 're seein'
you,
For sake of dat love bring de leetle boy home
Once more to de
moder's knee."
An' mebbe de prayer I be makin' dere
Will help
bring dem back to me.
[Illustration: Border]
Yankee Families
You s'pose God love de Yankee
An' de Yankee woman too,
Lak he
love de folk at home on Canadaw?
I dunno--'cos if he do,
W'at 's de
reason he don't geev' dem familee
Is dere anybody hangin' roun' can
answer me
Wile I wait an' smoke dis pipe of good tabac?
An' now I 'll tole you somet'ing
Mebbe help you bimeby,
An' dere 's
no mistak' it 's w'at dey call sure sign--
W'en you miss de baby's cry

As you 're goin' mak' some visit on de State
Dat 's enough--you
need n't ax if de train 's on tam or late, You can bet you 're on
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