THE DIFFERENCE.

With odds all against him, struggling to gain,

From fortune a name, with life to maintain,

Toiling in sunshine, toiling in rain,

Never waiting a blessing Heaven-sent,

Working and winning his way as he went —

Whether he starved, or sumptuously fared,

Nobody knew and nobody cared.

With success-crowned effort that fate had defied,

That wrought out from fortune what favor denied,

Standing aloof from the world in his pride;

The niche he has carved on fame's slippery wall

Friends are proclaiming with heraldry-call.

His Croesus-bright scepter has magical sway,

Yester's indifference solicits to-day.

His daring his triumph, how daily he fares,

Every one knows, and anxiously cares.