26. BUILT NEW CABINS IN THE FOREST.

The Tunxis, as it rolled along,

Saw new cabins on the hill-side,

And heard the children's twilight song,

Ere they closed their eyes in slumber.

Two of Molly Barber's children

Dug new cellars on the hill-side,

‘ Neath the pine trees ever sighing,

Built new cabins in the forest —

Tiger lilies grew beside them.

Fragrance from the purple lilacs

Floated through the air at spring-time.

Ever busy were the people,

On the hill-side in the cabins

And along the winding river.

Oft they hunted through the forest

For the rabbit and the squirrel.

Oft they labored by the river

Building swift canoes for sailing.

Often in the shallow water,

Spearing eels and trout and suckers,

Food for hungry, growing children,

In the cabins in the village —

Light House children, more descendants,

Children playing on the hill-side,

Children playing by the river,

Children swimming in the river,

In the pleasant days of summer.

Children playing by the cabins,

“Bar-wa-see” they said at sunset,

To the sun beyond the hill-top,

Western hill across the river.

To the moon, “Nu-garti-an-a”

As it rose o'er Ragged Mountain.

Thus they spoke in Indian accents.

Oft the children sang at twilight,

Sang in accents soft and plaintive,

Ere they closed their eyes in slumber,

Sang a prayer that Molly taught them,

Sang it softly in the twilight —

“Evil spirits are around us,

Keep us, Lord, all through the darkness.

By the stream a loon is calling,

Keep us, Lord, all through the darkness.

On the hill a fox is barking,

Keep us, Lord, all through the darkness.

In the village while we're sleeping,

Keep us, Lord, all through the darkness.

Da-wa-hee-gen, da wa-hee-gen.”