p. 12 | The Barefoot Trail by Edwin L. Sabin

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 31, 1906

The Barefoot Trail

By Edwin L. Sabin

Out of the dear front gate it ran, Into the sun and dew and tan; Traversed the dusty, peaceful street Arched by maples, in mem’ry sweet; Crossed the pasture with clover lush; Entered the copse, where trilled the thrush; Rambled, loitered, and played — and then Turned to mother and home again.

Street and pasture and hill and vale — Such was the course of the Barefoot Trail; Pausing and veering for this and that — Now for a game of one-old-cat, Now for a rollicking butterfly, Now for a nest hung just too high, Now for a brookside haunt — and then Back to mother and home again.

Never a sun for this trail too hot, Never a nook that knew it not; Twisting and turning from scene to scene, It checkered the realm of the gold and green. Passenger — courier boyhood, slim; Passport — whistle and tattered brim; Province — to beckon afar, and then To lead to mother and home again.

Many a secret and many a tale Ours who followed the Barefoot Trail; Wonders witnessed and marvels heard; Kinship, of squirrel and hare and bird, The shortest route to the swimming-hole, The finny spoil of the swaying pole, Care-free triumphs and joys — and then, Best — the “mother and home again.”

— Edwin L. Sabin.