Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1916 — LOOKING ON [ARTICLE]

LOOKING ON

(By Walt Mason.) I like to linger in the Shade, close to the pail of lemonade, and w atc'" the honest sons of toil get busy with the fertile soil. 1 like to see them shock the wheat, out in the blinding glare of heat, the great strong men who do not tire, and all their labors I admire. I wonder at the giant strength that they display, the whole day's length, and wish I had such thews as theirs—l’m soft from rid ing easy chairs—-I envy them the appetite which makes coarse fodder a delight, I envy them the sleep pro found they know when slumbertime comes round; 1 envy them, but do pot flee from my retreat beneath a tree. I often counsel other men tt get back to the soil again, to simnly live and labor hard, and work a\*v their surplus lard. But this soft place beneath a tree is plenty good enough for me. The men who toh with might and retain, who plow Hu globe and reap the grain, receive my earnest, ardent praise, and 1 embalm them in my lays; and I am happy in the shade, with my tall jug -of lemonade.