Darius Green and His Flying Machine

The greatest invention under the sun!
"An' now," says Darius, "hooray fer some fun!”

9

"Twas the Fourth of July,
And the weather was dry,

And not a cloud was on all the sky,

Save a few light fleeces, which here and there,

Like foam on the ocean went floating by:

Just as lovely a morning as ever was seen
For a nice little trip in a flying-machine.

10

Thought cunning Darius: "Now I shan't go
Along 'ith the fellers to see the show.

I'll say I've got sich a terrible cough!

An' then, when the folks 'ave all gone off,
I'll hev full swing

For to try the thing,

An' practyse a leetle on the wing."

"Ain't goin' to see the celebration ?"
Says Brother Nate. "No; botheration!
I've got sich a cold-a toothache-I-
My gracious!-feel's though I should fly!"

But Darius said, "No!

Shouldn't wonder 'f yeou might see me, though,

'Long 'bout noon, ef I git red

O' this jumpin', thumpin' pain 'n my head."
For all the while to himself he said:-

61

One

=teeple;

on!

Darius Green and His Flying Machine

An' pay him fer tellin' us that yarn!"
"Agreed!" Through the orchard they creep back,
Along by the fences, behind the stack,

And one by one, through a hole in the wall,
In under the dusty barn they crawl,
Dressed in their Sunday garments all;
And a very astonishing sight was that,
When each in his cobwebbed coat and hat
Came up through the floor like an ancient rat.
And there they hid;

And Reuben slid

The fastenings back, and the door undid.
"Keep dark!" said he,

“While I squint an' see what the' is to see."

14

As knights of old put on their mail,

From head to foot

An iron suit,

Iron jacket and iron boot,

Iron breeches, and on the head

No hat, but an iron pot instead,

And under the chin the bail,

I believe they called the thing a helm;

And the lid they carried they called a shield;

And, thus accoutred, they took the field,

Sallying forth to overwhelm

The dragons and pagans that plagued the realm:

So this modern knight

Prepared for flight,

Put on his wings and strapped them tight;
Jointed and jaunty, strong and light;
Buckled them fast to shoulder and hip,-
Ten feet they measured from tip to tip!
And a helm had he, but that he wore,

63

ok One

gth.

t;

Darius Green and His Flying Machine

65

Dizzily down the abyss he wheels,

So fell Darius. Upon his crown,

In the midst of the barnyard, he came down,

In a wonderful whirl of tangled strings,
Broken braces and broken springs,
Broken tail and broken wings,
Shooting-stars, and various things!

Away with a bellow fled the calf,

And what was that? Did the gosling laugh?

'Tis a merry roar

From the old barn-door,

And he hears the voice of Jotham crying,

"Say, D'rius! how de yeou like flyin'?"

Slowly, ruefully, where he lay,

Darius just turned and looked that way,

As he stanched his sorrowful nose with his cuff.

"Wall, I like flyin' well enough,"

He said; "but the' ain't sich a thunderin' sight
O' fun in 't when ye come to light."

MORAL

I just have room.for the moral here:

And this is the moral,-Stick to your sphere.
Or if you insist, as you have the right,
On spreading your wings for a loftier flight,
The moral is,-Take care how you light.

HELPS TO STUDY
Notes and Questions

Who was Darius Green?
What gave his face a twisted

expression?

What did Darius Green believe
that men would soon be able to
do?

How did he reason this out?

Where had he read the story of
Dædalus and Icarus?

What did Darius determine to
use as material for his ma-
chine?
How did he prepare to carry out
his secret plans?