James Whitcomb Riley - "A Noted Traveler" lyrics

Even in such a scene of senseless play The children were surprised one summer-day By a strange man who called across the fence, Inquiring for their father's residence; And, being answered that this was the place, Opened the gate, and with a radiant face, Came in and sat down with them in the shade And waited--till the absent father made His noon appearance, with a warmth and zest That told he had no ordinary guest In this man whose low-spoken name he knew At once, demurring as the stranger drew A stuffy notebook out and turned and set A big fat finger on a page and let The writing thereon testify instead Of further speech. And as the father read All silently, the curious children took Exacting inventory both of book And man:--He wore a long-napped white fur-hat Pulled firmly on his head, and under that Rather long silvery hair, or iron-gray-- For he was not an old man,--anyway, Not beyond sixty. And he wore a pair Of square-framed spectacles--or rather there Were two more than a pair,--the extra two Flared at the corners, at the eyes' side-view, In as redundant vision as the eyes Of gra**hoppers or bees or dragonflies. Later the children heard the father say He was "A Noted Traveler," and would stay Some days with them--In which time host and guest Discussed, alone, in deepest interest, Some vague, mysterious matter that defied The wistful children, loitering outside The spare-room door. There Bud acquired a quite New list of big words--such as "Disunite," And "Shibboleth," and "Aristocracy," And "Juggernaut," and "Squatter Sovereignty," And "Anti-slavery," "Emancipate," "Irrepressible conflict," and "The Great Battle of Armageddon"--obviously A pamphlet brought from Washington, D. C., And spread among such friends as might occur Of like views with "The Noted Traveler."