Oklahoma Sunshine Part 15

Pretty Good World.

Pretty good world, If you know how to use it, Pretty good life If you never abuse it; Jog along, brother, Through pleasure and sorrow; All will be lovely With sunshine tomorrow!

There are many patent ways to keep young these days, but we have observed that they all fail after a woman pa.s.ses forty-five.

Don't estimate your engine power too high. Many a man with a $5,000 education is too small for a 30-cent job.

We Sat and Talked of Other Days.

I.

We sat and talked of other days,--two old and wrinkled men,-- Beyond the dreams of boyish hours and all we fancied then,-- And as we talked our hearts grew warm, and down the noiseless night We romped again with golden feet and hearts of pure delight.

II.

The dreams we dreamed when life was young and all the world was new Came back again from vanished ways with raptures smiling through, And all the high resolves of heart and all the deeds of hand Returned equipped with robe and crown and showed the Promised Land!

III.

We sat and talked of other days,--the days that went away,-- Of child-hood's dreamy hours of joy and child-hood's heart of play; And as we talked of other days, forgetting weal or woe, The boys and girls came back again across the Long Ago.

IV.

We knew this life of men and things with all its griefs and glees Is not a dream of pleasures sweet or lilt of lullabies; And yet despite the shadows deep that o'er the sunshine fall, 'Tis always worth the living and its songs are all in all.

V.

We sat and talked of other days! O, days that died unfelt, Where innocence was crowned with love and all the virtues dwelt; And in our hearts we sadly knew, whate'er the sages say, That Heaven romps with us no more since those days went away!

Caught on the Fly.

Finding fault is not hard work, but it is a great waste of valuable time.

"Food for thought" is a popular and necessary brand, but the hungry man entirely overlooks it on the bill of fare.

If you would have a soft berth in this world, you must first run the full-feathered goose down and then do the plucking by your own main strength.

The World All Right.

Don't sing of a bright world That waits "over there,"

But warble of this world And banish your care; Beyond the dark valley Sweet heaven may be, But the world is all right And it's all here for me!

It has a few shadows And something of tears, But they only make brighter The beautiful years; And this world is so jolly Whatever may grieve That I'm not in a hurry To pull up and leave!

The Kingbolt Philosopher.

"I've noticed," said Uncle Ezra Mudge, "thet many en many a time it ain't knowin' how to git up thet makes a success of a man so much ez knowin' how to git down. Sooner er later a tumble comes rollin' along fer the best of fellers, en before he knows what's a-comin' he's clear down at the bottom of the pile. The feller thet kin git up a-laffin'

under sich peculierr sarc.u.mstances is the feller thet wins out en is on top when Gabriel goes to tootin' of his horn; but the feller thet mopes aroun' en talks erbout whut he hez bin instid of tellin' whut he's a-goin' ter be is kivered over in the sc.r.a.p-heap, world without end, ferever en ever, Amen!" And the old man knocked the ashes from his Missouri meerschaum and ambled into the kitchen where the long green hung.

G.o.d Give Us Change!

G.o.d give us change! The days are long With labors hard that make us weary, And o'er the gladness of each song There floats a cadence somewhat dreary; We'd like to loaf awhile, for--say-- Some five or ten sweet years, or twenty, And chase the dull cares all away; G.o.d give us change and give us plenty!

G.o.d give us change! The dull days flow With quietude that palls a little; Just anything to make it go And heat the steam up in the kettle; No matter how the fortunes kind In dull monotony prove pleasant, We'd rather mix things up and find A stirring scramble of the present!

We do not ask for all the gifts To fall upon us in a tumble; A very few where life's boat drifts Will keep us happy through the jumble; We only ask the mirth of men,-- Where'er we be we'll always love it, And if the big bills vanish, then G.o.d give us change and plenty of it!

"The Sooners."

The "Sooners" may have their faults, but as a general propositions they are to be preferred to the "laters." Every good thing that has blest mankind since Adam had his celebrated adventure with green goods in the Garden of Eden, has been discovered, invented, dug out or dug up, by a "sooner." He has always been a dare-devil whose courage was so prominent as to attract the envy and malice of every "later" that whittled dry-goods boxes into splinters and used his time to cuss "the government." G.o.d bless the whole "sooner" tribe, say I, from Adam down to General Kuroki!

The home lights! The home lights!

How they blaze and burn Through the darkness of the shadows Everywhere we turn!

What if stormy weather gather On the hills we roam, We shall refuge find forever In the lights of home!