Read IN THE AFTER-DAYS of Lin McLean, free online book, by Owen Wister, on ReadCentral.com.

      The black pines stand high up the hills,
      The white snow sifts their columns deep,
      While through the canyon’s riven cleft
      From there, beyond, the rose clouds sweep.

      Serene above their paling shapes
      One star hath wakened in the sky. 
      And here in the gray world below
      Over the sage the wind blows by;

      Rides through the cotton-woods’ ghost-ranks,
      And hums aloft a sturdy tune
      Among the river’s tawny bluffs,
      Untenanted as is the moon.

      Far ’neath the huge invading dusk
      Comes Silence awful through the plain;
      But yonder horseman’s heart is gay,
      And he goes singing might and main.

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