MAJOR BASSETT’S CHASE.

Text—“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight? —Deuteronomy XXXII, 29, 30

Glenraven’s Night Riders, five hundred strong, Had finished their riot of outrage and wrong, They had burned Latham’s warehouse, robbed Italy’s King (What defense in the courts will the criminals bring? Who will dare to defend base ingratitude’s sting?); They have scourged a Kentuckian’s back like a slave, ’Twas the brute deed of cowards, not the just or the brave, [A]McCool on his shoulders plied an overseer’s lashes By the light of two warehouses sinking in ashes. They have dragged helpless maidens from innocent bed, They have shot through the bedrooms of widows—with lead These black-handed anarchists of murder and arson Fired four volleys at a silver haired Methodist parson, And yelled in derision as their shots rang on air, “Denounce us again, Sir Priest—if you dare! Neither for you, nor your Church, nor your God do we care! They have done all that arson and force could achieve, And quaking like cowards the outlaws take leave, Unlike valiant soldiers after manly affray But like thieves from a hen-roost sneak quickly away. Out spoke Major Bassett: “The dogs had their day, And shooting’s a game at which two parties can play, They surprised us; the cowards have all skulked away. We’ll follow!” cried Bassett, and off with his mount Pursued—ten brave men and true were his count. There was clatter of hoofs down the old Cadiz road, ’Twas a clean pair of heels the Glenravenites showed. Alas, for the pluck of these minions of night, Black of mask and of heart, but their livers are white. “Ride fast!” shrieked the Night Riders’ chief, looking back, “A thousand giants from Hopkinsville press on our track! The Mayor has mustered all Company D, In humanity’s name can such outrages be? Now is your time to do Latham up brown And fire him and his followers out of the town! Damn his turnpikes, on which thirty thousand he spent! Damn the churches he aided—Hotel, Monument— (How grandly it towers o’er Confederate graves— Shall the sons of such heroes be Night Riders’ slaves?) Damn all such aristocrats, they shall know by the powers, That after they’ve made it their money is ours!” Hoboes, loafers and robbers, ride for your lives, On your crimes the Raven of Glen Raven thrives, And its horrible croak strikes fear to the land When it calls to the raid the Night Riders’ band. But who would have thought that the dogs would shoot back Real Krag-Jorgensen bullets? Alas and alack! His words were cut short by a volley of lead— There were loud shrieks of pain, in all quarters they fled; The shots of the bandits flew wide of their mark, As they galloped in terror away in the dark. Nor halted the maskers in their blood-sprinkled path To look back on three comrades writhing in death. Then Bassett assembled his God-fearing squad And bowing their heads devoutly thanked God That when Christian men band to battle for Right One Christian can put a thousand outlaws to flight. Honest men will always walk off with the cake, And that is where Moses made no mistake; And to the Last Judgment all honest men Will bow to the Decalogue traced by his pen; For God Himself writes in Mount Sinai’s brief By Moses His penman, Humanity’s chief, The Night Rider is coward, assassin, and thief. Hold fast to Moses! A squad of eleven Who join hands with Truth, are posted for Heaven, And the outlaws who ’gainst truth and honor rebel Must go to their place with the outlaws in Hell. So we’ll all shout huzza for Bassett and band, Till they banish the Night Riders out of the land. Forever shall God’s honest ministers preach Paul’s heaven-taught doctrine of order and law, As bold as John Baptist they shall stand in the breach To battle for Truth and keep villains in awe.