OLD NED

Darkness over took the fire and I started off to bed
My saddle on a log and my blanket on the ground
In the glow of a cigarette I saw the face of Old Ned
With a bottle in his hand he was sitting in the dark.

I walked over to the log where he set all alone
I said evening, he never said a word, he just frowned
Mind if I sit down? He looked up, It don't matter if I do
He offered me his bottle and I didn't turn it down.


Then out of nowhere he started talking about his past
He was telling me about things that I didn't need to know
When he was a slave as a boy, and had to grow up fast
How the Master had sold his mother like some old horse.


He told me how he got his limp when beaten with a cane
How they had threw him in the kitchen to learn to cook
How the Master liked his biscuits cooked just right
Mammy Ann had told him all about the Good Book.


How the blue bellies had taken him under their wing
They taught him how to doctor, and be a trooper
How he fought in the Indian campaign one spring
How he learned to read, with a Bible in his hand.


He said its almost daylight and I've hungry men to feed.
He gave me an extra piece of bacon accented with a frown.
I knew that some where in the dark night I had found a friend.
Never again was said a word, in silence our friendship bound.


---RJ

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yes, they were one of the most important around on a drive. they would put the front of the wagon tword the north star so they would know which wa to go in the morning