~ One Spur and the Arrow ~
Part 1: THE GATHERING
~ 1 ~
The sun rose over the mountains,
Bright rays beaming down,
To spread across the valleys
And over the rocky ground
~ 2 ~
This was wild, harsh country
Where seldom man had trod,
Where rain had barely touched its face
To damp the rock and sod.
~ 3 ~
But in this wild brown country,
Thriving on the blades
A wild horse called Arrow
Ruled king of all the trades
~ 4 ~
Fifteen tall hands he stood,
Of arching neck and withers
Blacker than the darkest night,
More swifter than the rivers.
~ 5 ~
Fine he was, and handsome,
And worth a pot of gold
In every town West of the line
His story was often told
~ 6 ~
Many had heard of the Arrow
In a hundred different towns
But it was on a station in the west
That the story came to ground
~ 7 ~
The station boasted stockmen,
Was the finest in the land
It had ten top rank riders,
With a dozen more on hand
~ 8 ~
The owner of the station,
As "One Spur" he was known.
Told all that he intended
To bring the Arrow home
~ 9 ~
He shipped his finest mount
To a town near Arrow's land
Took five stockmen with him
To ride the burning sand
~ 10 ~
Their mounts all had breeding
Sturdy, and were strong
Sure footed on the roughest range,
With seldom a hoof placed wrong
~ 11 ~
There was Jackson from the Bo Bo
With his powerful Arab gray
With Brother Ted; and Deacon,
With their horses black and bay
~ 12 ~
There was One Spur's top hand rider,
Lockley was his name,
He rode a pure bred chestnut
With a dancing glossy mane.
~ 13 ~
Last, and from the east
On a Pinto, mountain bred
Rode Shep, the boundary man
A lonely life he led.
~ 14 ~
The town attracted interest
As they groomed and fed their mounts,
From miles around people came
With laughter and joyous shouts
~ 15 ~
Then on a Monday morning
The first day of a noisy week
One Spur and his riders
Fixed their gear to peak,
~ 16 ~
They saddled their fine horses
They slung their kits and guns
Then mounted in the sunlight
For ahead lay many suns.
~ 17 ~
Watched by crowds of people
They rode slowly from the town
Out across old Haddley's plain,
Along the trail northward bound
~ 18 ~
One Spur smiled greetings
To the homesteaders by the way,
Luck was wished and silent minds
Envisaged an historic day
~ 19 ~
The cavalcade of riders
Left the town behind...
That soon the plains and hills,
Were part of life, and then
~ 20 ~
The things they knew were gone,
The cows, the milking field,
The home, the wife, the son,
The hot cooked homely meal
~ 21 ~
All day they rode in blazing sun,
Sweat turning dust to grime,
Brims pulled down to shade the eye
Against the austere shine
~ 22 ~
Night soon fell with shrouding cape
And a place was found to camp,
Down came saddle and bridle bit,
The fire glowed like a lamp.
~ 23 ~
Slumber came, the fire died
The breeze was soft and light
Soon the day would break the dark
The sun would be in sight
~ 24 ~
Soon it was, the sun on high
Found the fire burning
Tea thrown in the boiling pot
To quench their thirsty yearning.
~ 25 ~
Before the sun had risen up
Above the high terrain
One Spur and his mounted men
Were on the trail again
~ 26 ~
The heat beat down around them
The grey dust, rose in clouds
All about their stetsoned heads
The flies milled in crowds
~ 27 ~
Then Jackson reined his Arab in,
Leapt to the broken ground,
"The hoof mark by the gum tree!"
Was his only muttered sound
~ 28 ~
One Spur smiled, a knowing smile
He drew a lung of smoke,
Patting then his Blue grass mount
He cracked a funny joke.
~ 29 ~
Then Shep, sat upright on his horse,
Pointing across the plain,
His eyes grew wider as he gazed
Hands clutching stringy mane.
~ 30 ~
Magnificent in the morning sun
The Arrow broke his pawing stride,
Flicked his rump and tossed his head,
In regal valiant pride