38. WILLIAM WILSON READ THE BIBLE.

And there beside the open grave

William Wilson spoke of Molly,

A woman grandly true and brave,

Worthy of their kind remembrance.

Gathered there her children

And her children's children's children

To the third great generation,

On the side of Ragged Mountain,

‘ Neath the branches of the oak trees,

When the autumn sun was slanting

Westward o'er the Tunxis River.

Aged by many years of labor,

William Wilson read the Bible,

Spoke of Molly's sweet devotion

To her husband and her children;

Prayed that God above reward her.

Then they bore her to the graveyard,

Left her there alone in silence,

With a field-stone for a marker.

Molly's life and work were ended.

Burdened by her father's anger,

She had struggled on unbroken,

Hidden in the gloomy forest,

On the side of Ragged Mountain

In the town of fair Barkhamsted.

Had she wed a wealthy suitor,

As her angry father ordered,

Lived among the rich and stately,

Long ago her name forgotten,

Hidden in the dusty records

Of the town beside the river,

By the mighty Central River;

Of her life no story written,

Or her legend in the valley

In the town of fair Barkhamsted.