result of senility, and that he may have been gathered peacefully to his
fathers in a green old age. I have even had doubts of his existence, and
have sometimes thought that he was providentially and mysteriously
offered to fill the void I have before alluded to. In that hope I have
written these pages.




THE DEACON'S MASTERPIECE

OR, THE WONDERFUL "ONE-HOSS SHAY"

_A Logical Story_

BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES


Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
That was built in such a logical way
It ran a hundred years to a day,
And then, of a sudden, it--ah, but stay,
I'll tell you what happened without delay,
Scaring the parson into fits,
Frightening people out of their wits,--
Have you ever heard of that, I say?

Seventeen hundred and fifty-five.
_Georgius Secundus_ was then alive,--
Snuffy old drone from the German hive.