In a way that words can't tell;
For it left a fire a-burning
Like a live and glowing coal,
That at length blazed into longing
Till I craved with all my soul
To be back, somehow, where you were,
And to hear you tell once more
That you loved me. That man-story
I had never heard before.


3

"Then I trailed back o'er the prairie,
Riding steady every night,
Picking out the wildest country
With my luck to guide me right.
When I'd see the hungry morning
Eat the stars up in the East,
I would hide in gulch or timber
Like a wild and hunted beast.
How I learned to love the darkness
As it spread its mighty arm,
Close around me, like a lover,
Fondly shielding me from harm!
And I knew the sweet caresses
Of the earth and sky above,
As the night's mysterious voices
Soothed me with their tale of love.