{"id":178,"date":"2021-04-01T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/flintandfeather\/?post_type=chapter&p=178"},"modified":"2022-02-04T09:45:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T14:45:11","slug":"at-half-mast","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/chapter\/at-half-mast\/","title":{"raw":"At Half-Mast","rendered":"At Half-Mast"},"content":{"raw":"You didn\u2019t know Billy, did you? Well, Bill was one of the boys,\r\nThe greatest fellow you ever seen to racket an\u2019 raise a noise,\u2014\r\nAn\u2019 sing! say, you never heard singing \u2018nless you heard Billy sing.\r\nI used to say to him, \u201cBilly, that voice that you\u2019ve got there\u2019d bring\r\nA mighty sight more bank-notes to tuck away in your vest,\r\nIf only you\u2019d go on the concert stage instead of a-ranchin\u2019 West.\u201d\r\nAn\u2019 Billy he\u2019d jist go laughin\u2019, and say as I didn\u2019t know\r\nA robin\u2019s whistle in springtime from a barnyard rooster\u2019s crow.\r\nBut Billy could sing, an\u2019 I sometimes think that voice lives anyhow,\u2014\r\nThat perhaps Bill helps with the music in the place he\u2019s gone to now.\r\n\r\nThe last time that I seen him was the day he rode away;\r\nHe was goin\u2019 acrost the plain to catch the train for the East next day.\r\n\u2018Twas the only time I ever seen poor Bill that he didn\u2019t laugh\r\nOr sing, an\u2019 kick up a rumpus an\u2019 racket around, and chaff,\r\nFor he\u2019d got a letter from his folks that said for to hurry home,\r\nFor his mother was dyin\u2019 away down East an\u2019 she wanted Bill to come.\r\nSay, but the feller took it hard, but he saddled up right away,\r\nAn\u2019 started across the plains to take the train for the East, next day.\r\nSometimes I lie awake a-nights jist a-thinkin\u2019 of the rest,\r\nFor that was the great big blizzard day, when the wind come down from west,\r\nAn\u2019 the snow piled up like mountains an\u2019 we couldn\u2019t put foot outside,\r\nBut jist set into the shack an\u2019 talked of Bill on his lonely ride.\r\nWe talked of the laugh he threw us as he went at the break o\u2019 day,\r\nAn\u2019 we talked of the poor old woman dyin\u2019 a thousand mile away.\r\n\r\nWell, Dan O\u2019Connell an\u2019 I went out to search at the end of the week,\r\nFer all of us fellers thought a lot,\u2014a lot that we darsn\u2019t speak.\r\nWe\u2019d been up the trail about forty mile, an\u2019 was talkin\u2019 of turnin\u2019 back,\r\nBut Dan, well, he wouldn\u2019t give in, so we kep\u2019 right on to the railroad track.\r\nAs soon as we sighted them telegraph wires says Dan, \u201cSay, bless my soul!\r\nAin\u2019t that there Bill\u2019s red handkerchief tied half way up that pole?\u201d\r\nYes, sir, there she was, with her ends a-flippin\u2019 an\u2019 flyin\u2019 in the wind,\r\nAn\u2019 underneath was the envelope of Bill\u2019s letter tightly pinned.\r\n\u201cWhy, he must a-boarded the train right here,\u201d says Dan, but I kinder knew\r\nThat underneath them snowdrifts we would find a thing or two;\r\nFer he\u2019d writ on that there paper, \u201cBeen lost fer hours,\u2014all hope is past.\r\nYou\u2019ll find me, boys, where my handkerchief is flyin\u2019 at half-mast.\u201d","rendered":"

You didn\u2019t know Billy, did you? Well, Bill was one of the boys,
\nThe greatest fellow you ever seen to racket an\u2019 raise a noise,\u2014
\nAn\u2019 sing! say, you never heard singing \u2018nless you heard Billy sing.
\nI used to say to him, \u201cBilly, that voice that you\u2019ve got there\u2019d bring
\nA mighty sight more bank-notes to tuck away in your vest,
\nIf only you\u2019d go on the concert stage instead of a-ranchin\u2019 West.\u201d
\nAn\u2019 Billy he\u2019d jist go laughin\u2019, and say as I didn\u2019t know
\nA robin\u2019s whistle in springtime from a barnyard rooster\u2019s crow.
\nBut Billy could sing, an\u2019 I sometimes think that voice lives anyhow,\u2014
\nThat perhaps Bill helps with the music in the place he\u2019s gone to now.<\/p>\n

The last time that I seen him was the day he rode away;
\nHe was goin\u2019 acrost the plain to catch the train for the East next day.
\n\u2018Twas the only time I ever seen poor Bill that he didn\u2019t laugh
\nOr sing, an\u2019 kick up a rumpus an\u2019 racket around, and chaff,
\nFor he\u2019d got a letter from his folks that said for to hurry home,
\nFor his mother was dyin\u2019 away down East an\u2019 she wanted Bill to come.
\nSay, but the feller took it hard, but he saddled up right away,
\nAn\u2019 started across the plains to take the train for the East, next day.
\nSometimes I lie awake a-nights jist a-thinkin\u2019 of the rest,
\nFor that was the great big blizzard day, when the wind come down from west,
\nAn\u2019 the snow piled up like mountains an\u2019 we couldn\u2019t put foot outside,
\nBut jist set into the shack an\u2019 talked of Bill on his lonely ride.
\nWe talked of the laugh he threw us as he went at the break o\u2019 day,
\nAn\u2019 we talked of the poor old woman dyin\u2019 a thousand mile away.<\/p>\n

Well, Dan O\u2019Connell an\u2019 I went out to search at the end of the week,
\nFer all of us fellers thought a lot,\u2014a lot that we darsn\u2019t speak.
\nWe\u2019d been up the trail about forty mile, an\u2019 was talkin\u2019 of turnin\u2019 back,
\nBut Dan, well, he wouldn\u2019t give in, so we kep\u2019 right on to the railroad track.
\nAs soon as we sighted them telegraph wires says Dan, \u201cSay, bless my soul!
\nAin\u2019t that there Bill\u2019s red handkerchief tied half way up that pole?\u201d
\nYes, sir, there she was, with her ends a-flippin\u2019 an\u2019 flyin\u2019 in the wind,
\nAn\u2019 underneath was the envelope of Bill\u2019s letter tightly pinned.
\n\u201cWhy, he must a-boarded the train right here,\u201d says Dan, but I kinder knew
\nThat underneath them snowdrifts we would find a thing or two;
\nFer he\u2019d writ on that there paper, \u201cBeen lost fer hours,\u2014all hope is past.
\nYou\u2019ll find me, boys, where my handkerchief is flyin\u2019 at half-mast.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"menu_order":18,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-178","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":136,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/178\/revisions\/179"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/136"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/178\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}