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126
POEMS BY CLARA A. MERRILL
To all who anxiously await
Time slowly wears away;
But at last—at last there came the eve
Ere the eventful day.
That night no sweet dreams came to him,
No sleep his pillow sought;
But listened he to every sound
With nerves most tensely wrought.

And ere the sun's first rays arose
To gild yon distant domes;
And shed their radiance upon
These fair North Buckfield homes
Arose he from his downy couch—
And with his gleaming spade
Proceeded he to carry out
The plans which he had made.

In silence marched he by Fred Heald's,
Slow, stealthy as a mouse;
With bated breath, on tiptoe went
Past Celia Dunham's house
Lest she or Fred should be awake
And chance to hear his step,—
And thus—with soft, and cat-like tread
He past the school house crept