The North Has Got Him. - Yukonism. I Tried To Refine That Neighbor Of Mine, Honest To God, I Did. I Grieved For His Fate, And Early And Late I Watched Over Him Like A Kid. I Gave Him Excuse, I Bore His Abuse In Every Way That I Could; I Swore To Prevail; I Camped On His Trail; I Plotted And Planned For His Good. By Day And By Night I Strove In Men'S Sight To Gather Him Into The Fold, With Precept And Prayer, With Hope And Despair, In Hunger And Hardship And Cold. I Followed Him Into Gehennas Of Sin, I Sat Where The Sirens Sit; In The Shade Of The Pole, For The Sake Of His Soul, I Strove With The Powers Of The Pit. I Shadowed Him Down To The Scrofulous Town; I Dragged Him From Dissolute Brawls; But I Killed The Galoot When He Started To Shoot Electricity Into My Walls. God Knows What I Did He Should Seek To Be Rid Of One Who Would Save Him From Shame. God Knows What I Bore That Night When He Swore And Bade Me Make Tracks From His Claim. I Started To Tell Of The Horrors Of Hell, When Sudden His Eyes Lit Like Coals; And "Chuck It," Says He, "Don't Persecute Me With Your Cant And Your Saving Of Souls." I'll Swear I Was Mild As I'd Be With A Child, But He Called Me The Son Of A Slut; And, Grabbing His Gun With A Leap And A Run, He Threatened My Face With The Butt. So What Could I Do (I Leave It To You)? With Curses He Harried Me Forth; Then He Was Alone, And I Was Alone, And Over Us Menaced The North. Our Cabins Were Near; I Could See, I Could Hear; But Between Us There Rippled The Creek; And All Summer Through, With A Rancor That Grew, He Would Pass Me And Never Would Speak. Then A Shuddery Breath Like The Coming Of Death Crept Down From The Peaks Far Away; The Water Was Still; The Twilight Was Chill; The Sky Was A Tatter Of Gray. Swift Came The Big Cold, And Opal And Gold The Lights Of The Witches Arose; The Frost-Tyrant Clinched, And The Valley Was Cinched By The Stark And Cadaverous Snows. The Trees Were Like Lace Where The Star-Beams Could Chase, Each Leaf Was A Jewel Agleam. The Soft White Hush Lapped The Northland And Wrapped Us Round In A Crystalline Dream; So Still I Could Hear Quite Loud In My Ear The Swish Of The Pinions Of Time; So Bright I Could See, As Plain As Could Be, The Wings Of God'S Angels Ashine. As I Read In The Book I Would Oftentimes Look To That Cabin Just Over The Creek. Ah Me, It Was Sad And Evil And Bad, Two Neighbors Who Never Would Speak! I Knew That Full Well Like A Devil In Hell He Was Hatching Out, Early And Late, A System To Bear Through The Frost-Spangled Air The Warm, Crimson Waves Of His Hate. I Only Could Peer And Shudder And Fear - 'Twas Ever So Ghastly And Still; But I Knew Over There In His Lonely Despair He Was Plotting Me Terrible Ill. I Knew That He Nursed A Malice Accurst, Like The Blast Of A Winnowing Flame; I Pleaded Aloud For A Shield, For A Shroud - Oh, God! Then Calamity Came. Mad! If I'm Mad Then You Too Are Mad; But It's All In The Point Of View. If You'd Looked At Them Things Gallivantin' On Wings, All Purple And Green And Blue; If You'd Noticed Them Twist, As They Mounted And Hissed Like Scorpions Dim In The Dark; If You'd Seen Them Rebound With A Horrible Sound, And Spitefully Spitting A Spark; If You'd Watched It With Dread, As It Hissed By Your Bed, That Thing With The Feelers That Crawls - You'd Have Settled The Brute That Attempted To Shoot Electricity Into Your Walls. Oh, Some They Were Blue, And They Slithered Right Through; They Were Silent And Squashy And Round; And Some They Were Green; They Were Wriggly And Lean; They Writhed With So Hateful A Sound. My Blood Seemed To Freeze; I Fell On My Knees; My Face Was A White Splash Of Dread. Oh, The Green And The Blue, They Were Gruesome To View; But The Worst Of Them All Were The Red. They Came Through The Door, They Came Through The Floor, They Came Through The Moss-Creviced Logs. They Were Savage And Dire; They Were Whiskered With Fire; They Bickered Like Malamute Dogs. They Ravined In Rings Like Iniquitous Things; They Gulped Down The Green And The Blue. I Crinkled With Fear WheNe'er They Drew Near, And Nearer And Nearer They Drew. And Then Came The Crown Of Horror'S Grim Crown, The Monster So Loathsomely Red. Each Eye Was A Pin That Shot Out And In, As, Squidlike, It Oozed To My Bed; So Softly It Crept With Feelers That Swept And Quivered Like Fine Copper Wire; Its Belly Was White With A Sulphurous Light, It Jaws Were A-Drooling With Fire. It Came And It Came; I Could Breathe Of Its Flame, But Never A Wink Could I Look. I Thrust In Its Maw The Fount Of The Law; I Fended It Off With The Book. I Was Weak - Oh, So Weak - But I Thrilled At Its Shriek, As Wildly It Fled In The Night; And Deathlike I Lay Till The Dawn Of The Day. (Was Ever So Welcome The Light?) I Loaded My Gun At The Rise Of The Sun; To His Cabin So Softly I Slunk. My Neighbor Was There In The Frost-Freighted Air, All Wrapped In A Robe In His Bunk. It Muffled His Moans; It Outlined His Bones, As Feebly He Twisted About; His Gums Were So Black, And His Lips Seemed To Crack, And His Teeth All Were Loosening Out. 'Twas A Death'S Head That Peered Through The Tangle Of Beard; 'Twas A Face I Will Never Forget; Sunk Eyes Full Of Woe, And They Troubled Me So With Their Pleadings And Anguish, And Yet As I Rested My Gaze In A Misty Amaze On The Scurvy-Degenerate Wreck, I Thought Of The Things With The Dragon-Fly Wings, Then Laid I My Gun On His Neck. He Gave Out A Cry That Was Faint As A Sigh, Like A Perishing Malamute, And He Says Unto Me, "I'm Converted," Says He; "For Christ'S Sake, Peter, Don't Shoot!" * * * * * They're Taking Me Out With An Escort About, And Under A Sergeant'S Care; I Am Humbled Indeed, For I'm 'Cuffed To A Swede That Thinks He's A Millionaire. But It's All Gospel True What I'm Telling To You - Up There Where The Shadow Falls - That I Settled Sam Noot When He Started To Shoot Electricity Into My Walls.