LESSON 50 The ship on fireThere was joy in the ship, as she furrowed the foam;For fond hearts within her were dreaming of home.The young mother pressed fondly her babe to her breast,And sang a sweet song as she rocked it to rest;And the husband sat cheerily down by her side,And looked with delight in the face of his bride."Oh, happy!" said he, "when our roaming is o'er,We'll dwell in a cottage that stands by the shore!Already in fancy its roof I descry,And the smoke of its hearth curling up to the sky;Its garden so green, and its vine-covered wall,And the kind friends awaiting to welcome us all."Hark! hark! ―what was that? Hark! hark to the shout!"Fire! fire!"―then a tramp and a rush and a rout，And an uproar of voices arose in the air:And the mother knelt down; and the half-spoken prayerThat she offered to God in her agony wild,Was, "Father, have mercy! look down on my child!"
