MADELEINE VERCHERES ***




Produced by Al Haines.




[Illustration: Cover]



[Illustration: "O ma ole canoe, wat's matter wit' you, an' w'y was you
be so slow?"]




                       [Illustration: Title page]



                              Phil-o-rum's
                                 Canoe

                                  and

                               Madeleine
                               Vercheres



                              Two Poems by

                                William
                                 Henry
                                Drummond

                             Author of "The
                            Habitant," etc.



                             Illustrated by

                               Frederick
                                Simpson
                                 Coburn




                          G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
                          NEW YORK AND LONDON
                        The Knickerbocker Press
                                  1898




                            COPYRIGHT, 1898
                                   BY
                          G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
                  Entered at Stationers' Hall, London



                   The Knickerbocker Press, New York



[Illustration: headpiece]




                          PHIL-O-RUM'S CANOE.


    "O ma ole canoe, wat's matter wit' you,
      an' w'y was you be so slow?
    Don't I work hard enough on de paddle, an'
      still you don't seem to go--
    No win' at all on de fronte side, an' current
      she don't be strong,
    Den w'y are you lak' lazy feller, too sleepy for
      move along?

    "I'member de tam, w'en you jomp de sam'
      as deer wit' de wolf behin',
    An' brochet on de top de water, you scare
      heem mos' off hees min':
    But fish don't care for you now at all, only jus'
      mebbe wink de eye,
    For he know it's easy git out de way, w'en
      you was a-passin' by"----

    I'm spikin' dis way, jus' de oder day, w'en I'm
      out wit' de ole canoe
    Crossin' de point w'ere I see, las' fall, wan very
      beeg caribou,
    Wen somebody say, "Phil-o-rum, mon vieux,
      wat's matter wit' you youse'f?"
    An' who do you s'pose was talkin'?  W'y de
      poor ole canoe shese'f.

    O yass, I'm scare w'en I'm sittin' dere, an'
      she's callin' ma nam' dat way.
    "Phil-o-rum Juneau, w'y you spik so moche,
      you're off on de head to-day:
    Can't be you forget, ole feller, you an' me
      we're not too young,
    An' if I'm lookin' so ole lak' you, I t'ink I
      will close ma tongue.

    "You should feel ashame, for you're alway
      blame, w'en it isn't ma fault at all,
    For I'm tryin' to do bes' I can for you on
      summer-tam, spring, an' fall.
    How offen you drown on de reever, if I'm
      not lookin' out for you
    W'en you're takin' too moche on de w'isky,
      some night comin' down de Soo.

    "De firse tam we go on de Wessone