What I Have Seen #3

I saw two youths: both were fair in the face, They had set out foot to foot in life's race; But one said to the other, 'I say now, my brother, You are going a little too slow; The world will look on, and say, 'See Josy John,' We must put on more style, now, you know.' So he tipped a plug hat on one side of his pate, And strutted along with a Jockey Club gait; And he carried a cane, and said, 'It is plain, I am too fine a fellow to toil. I can gamble and bet, and a good living get; But my hands are too pretty to soil. 'My friend in the rear, you are slow, I am fast; I am up with the times-I am first, you are last. So I guess I will leave you-aw, if it won't grieve you; I'll wait for you when I get through; Or, when up on the hill, I'll remem-bah you still, And-aw, mayhap I'll come and help you.' I saw him pass on with a strut through the street; Saw him stopped by a score of 'good boys' for a treat. While the calm 'Josy John' went quietly on, And kept his lips free from the bowl; Worked at whatever came, turned from sin and from shame, And wrote 'Purity,' 'Truth,' in his soul. I saw two men: one was fair to behold; The other, a drunken sot, bloated and bold. One stood on the mountain and drank of God's fountain, The other drank beer in the street. Yet both started alike; but one made a 'strike,' Which ended, you see, in defeat.