At Noey's House

At Noey's house - when they arrived with him -     How snug seemed everything, and neat and trim:     The little picket-fence, and little gate -     It's little pulley, and its little weight, -     All glib as clock-work, as it clicked behind     Them, on the little red brick pathway, lined     With little paint-keg-vases and teapots     Of wee moss-blossoms and forgetmenots:     And in the windows, either side the door,     Were ranged as many little boxes more     Of like old-fashioned larkspurs, pinks and moss     And fern and phlox; while up and down across     Them rioted the morning-glory-vines     On taut-set cotton-strings, whose snowy lines     Whipt in and out and under the bright green     Like basting-threads; and, here and there between,     A showy, shiny hollyhock would flare     Its pink among the white and purple there. -     And still behind the vines, the children saw     A strange, bleached, wistful face that seemed to draw     A vague, indefinite sympathy. A face     It was of some newcomer to the place. -     In explanation, Noey, briefly, said     That it was "Jason," as he turned and led     The little fellows 'round the house to show     Them his menagerie of pets. And so     For quite a time the face of the strange guest     Was partially forgotten, as they pressed     About the squirrel-cage and rousted both     The lazy inmates out, though wholly loath     To whirl the wheel for them. - And then with awe     They walked 'round Noey's big pet owl, and saw     Him film his great, clear, liquid eyes and stare     And turn and turn and turn his head 'round there     The same way they kept circling - as though he     Could turn it one way thus eternally.     Behind the kitchen, then, with special pride     Noey stirred up a terrapin inside     The rain-barrel where he lived, with three or four     Little mud-turtles of a size not more     In neat circumference than the tiny toy     Dumb-watches worn by every little boy.     Then, back of the old shop, beneath the tree     Of "rusty-coats," as Noey called them, he     Next took the boys, to show his favorite new     Pet 'coon - pulled rather coyly into view     Up through a square hole in the bottom of     An old inverted tub he bent above,     Yanking a little chain, with "Hey! you, sir!     Here's comp'ny come to see you, Bolivur!"     Explanatory, he went on to say,     "I named him 'Bolivur' jes thisaway, -     He looks so round and ovalish and fat,     'Peared like no other name 'ud fit but that."     Here Noey's father called and sent him on     Some errand. "Wait," he said - "I won't be gone     A half a' hour. - Take Bud, and go on in     Where Jason is, tel I git back agin."     Whoever Jason was, they found him there     Still at the front-room window. - By his chair     Leaned a new pair of crutches; and from one     Knee down, a leg was bandaged. - "Jason done     That-air with one o' these-'ere tools we call     A 'shin-hoe' - but a foot-adz mostly all     Hardware-store-keepers calls 'em." - (Noey made     This explanation later.)         Jason paid     But little notice to the boys as they     Came in the room: - An idle volume lay     Upon his lap - the only book in sight -     And Johnty read the title, - "Light, More Light,     There's Danger in the Dark," - though first and best -     In fact, the whole of Jason's interest     Seemed centered on a little dog - one pet     Of Noey's all uncelebrated yet -     Though Jason, certainly, avowed his worth,     And niched him over all the pets on earth -     As the observant Johnty would relate     The Jason-episode, and imitate     The all-enthusiastic speech and air     Of Noey's kinsman and his tribute there: -