| WELL, don’t you see this was the way of it: | |
| We bought the farm with what he inherited, | |
| And his brothers and sisters accused him of poisoning | |
| His father’s mind against the rest of them. | |
| And we never had any peace with our treasure. | 5 |
| The murrain took the cattle, and the crops failed. | |
| And lightning struck the granary. | |
| So we mortgaged the farm to keep going. | |
| And he grew silent and was worried all the time. | |
| Then some of the neighbors refused to speak to us, | 10 |
| And took sides with his brothers and sisters. | |
| And I had no place to turn, as one may say to himself, | |
| At an earlier time in life; “No matter, | |
| So and so is my friend, or I can shake this off | |
| With a little trip to Decatur.” | 15 |
| Then the dreadfulest smells infested the rooms. | |
| So I set fire to the beds and the old witch-house | |
| Went up in a roar of flame, | |
| As I danced in the yard with waving arms, | |
| While he wept like a freezing steer. | 20 |
