And my family only dreams
And to the average plodder
I've missed it all it seems.
Still, I've never taken orders
And I've always liked the game,
And if life could be lived over,
Why,--I'd live it just the same.





IF

(_A Steal from Kipling_)

If you can hit the trail in zero weather
And laugh at frozen hand, or foot or face;
If you can eat your dogs, and still keep moving
And beat the rest, and hold the stampede's pace;
If you can stake and dig alone, unaided
And hold your ground, if needs be with a gun
And find the gold and have some lawyer steal it,
And lose, and start again, and call it fun.

If you can go a year on mouldy bacon
And fight the scurvy off with bayo beans;
If you can jump your socks and do your washing
And smile the while you patch your threadbare jeans;
If you can laugh when sordid hunger mocks you