l.

II.

"A maiden stands upon the shore,
Where land and ocean meet,
And breakers cast their pearly gifts
In homage at her feet;
While through the causeway of the night
She gazes o'er the sea,
To where a stately frigate rides
In lonely majesty,
And waits the call,
The gallant boatswain's call.

III.

"'Oh! tarry not, my boatswain bold,'
Her parted lips would say;
But when the heart is vexed with doubt,
The soul can only pray;
And sorely doubtful is the maid,
Till on her ear there falls
The music of the merriest,
The clearest, best of calls--
A winding call,
Her faithful boatswain's call.

IV.

"A shining keel is on the sand,
The oars are laid aside,
And to the shore the sailor leaps
To greet his chosen bride;
His arms about her waist are thrown,
And through her rosy lips
He breathes a dainty boatswain's call,
Though not the call of ships;
But Cupid's call,
The boatswain Cupid's call.

V.

"And when the moon has drawn a path
Of light upon the sea,
A skiff is floating o'er the deep,
To where a frigate free
Is nestled in the ocean's breast,
With all her canvas furled;
Though ere the morn makes Hesper blush
Upon a waking world,
'Make sail, men, all!'
Will round the boatswain's call.

VI.

"A shadow follows in her wake,
And, through its depths is seen
The figure of a widowed wife
Upon the shore of green;
And ever as the tempest moans
Above the mocking wave,
A sound is wafted to her ears
From out a moving grave,--
A boatswain's call,
A ghostly boatswain's call."

At the termination of the last stave, Captain Villiam
Brown cleared his throat, and says he,--

"As our friend has commenced the services with melody,
I will proceed to keep the feeble intellecks of this
assemblage excited with a terrifying moral ghost tale
which the Dickens himself might grow pale under. It
was sent to me," says Villiam, majestically, "by a former
writer for the Track Society, and reflects much credit
upon the literary resources of the United States of
America."

Whereupon, Villiam took some sheets of paper from his
breast-pocket, my