396

WHEN BILL "GOES OVER THE
RANGE."

(DRAWING)
Dedicated to Hon. William F. Cody
("Buffalo Bill") by His Friend,

WILLIAM ALBERT LEWIS.

Water'll below in the Rio Grande
When Bill goes over the Range;
Grass'll grow rank in No-Man's-Land
When Hill goes over the Range;
And sturdy hearts of the days of yore,
When the trail was bard and trials sore,
Will melt like ice in the Appledore,
When Bill goes over the Range.

Snow will fall in the Bison Pass
When Bill goes over the Range;
And breezes die in the prairie grass
When Bill goes over the Range.

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The sands will drift on the desert white,
Where's not a sound by day nor night,
Nor wing nor shadow takes its Light,
When Bill goes over the Range.

No clatter of hoofs on the stony trail
When Bill goes over the Range;
No rattle of sabers, cold and pale,
When Bill goes over the Range.
The night will fondle a weeping day,

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When spurs and saddle abandoned lay,
The horses will wail a lonely heigh,
When Bill goes over the Range.

Death takes his rifle and holds it low
When Bill goes over the Range;
Takes steady aim and fires slow
When Bill goes over the Range.
The sound will echo from cliff to glade,
The smoke will fade in the hemlock's shade,
A brave life s debt will be fully paid
When Bill goes over the Range.

Then turn your saddles' stirrups back
When Bill goes over the Range;
Your horses lead by a bridle slack
When Bill goes over the Range.
And sound the drum for a bivouac old,
For Sheridan's scout on his marches cold,
When courage, grit and endurance told,
For Bill's gone over the Range.

Light a fire on Signal Ground
When Bill goes over the Range;
Above his breast on grassy mound,
When Bill goes over the Range.
The Red Men filing away at night,
The stars alone to record the sight,
Will both remember the Custer fight,
And Bill gone over the Range.

The breeze will rest on the cedar's branch
When Bill goes over the Range;

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The sun set low on a vacant ranche
When Bill goes over the Range.
The woodland's requiem, deep and slow,
And the prairie's dirges sweet and low,
Will sweetly join, that the world may know
That Bill's gone over the Range.

The trail will vanısh in gathering snow
When Bill goes over the Range;
The gale in mournful sobs will blow
When Bill goes over the Range.
The lights will fade in the herdsmen's town,
When death has frozen the locks of brown,
And tears will flow from the Rockies down
When Bill goes over the Range.

*In the parlance of the prairie and the mountains
the term over the range" means when a person
dies.

†Mr. Lewis is a well-known resident of Baltimore
and a long-time friend of Colonel Cody.