Than whom none else I longed to see once more.
Admit then, brother, that my wonderment
Can hardly be surpassed by thy surprise.
The more as I behold the fair magician
To whom I owe my strange deliverance,
Beknown to thee, befriended, yea, related
Through ties whose sweetness thou alone canst prize.
Col. Wm. Travis.
Oh! had a stranger, had an enemy
Bestowed on me the service to restore
My brother from the very jaws of death,
I should have valued all that I possess
Upon this world a poor reward for him.
And now it is through—Elsie! thee, that I
Receive him back, through thee who own'st my all.
But tell me, pray, how lone and without aid
Thou hast accomplished this unheard-of venture.
Elsie.
Oh, Travis! why pronounce the fatal word,
Whereby unconsciously thou opest anew
The bleeding, aching wound, that scarce was sealed
By the oblivion of a moment's bliss?
Alas! as oft upon my gold-strung harp
My fingers touch a chord of highest joy—
I change one note, and, ah! the saddest tone
Conceivable strikes my astounded ear—
So close, so near lie side by side the strings
