<p class="tit-song">THE HELL-BOUND TRAIN <span class="pagenum"><SPAN id="page345" name="page345"></SPAN>(p. 345)</span></p>
<p>A Texas cowboy lay down on a bar-room floor.<br/>
Having drunk so much he could drink no more;<br/>
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain<br/>
To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.</p>
<p>The engine with murderous blood was damp<br/>
And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;<br/>
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,<br/>
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.</p>
<p>The boiler was filled with lager beer<br/>
And the devil himself was the engineer;<br/>
The passengers were a most motley crew,—<br/>
Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew,</p>
<p>Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags,<br/>
Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,<br/>
Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white.<br/>
All chained together,—O God, what a sight!</p>
<p>While the train rushed on at an awful pace,<br/>
The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;<br/>
Wider and wider the country grew,<br/>
As faster and faster the engine flew.</p>
<p>Louder <span class="pagenum"><SPAN id="page346" name="page346"></SPAN>(p. 346)</span> and louder the thunder crashed<br/>
And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;<br/>
Hotter and hotter the air became<br/>
Till the clothes were burnt from each quivering frame.</p>
<p>And out of the distance there arose a yell,<br/>
"Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell!"<br/>
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain<br/>
And begged the devil to stop the train.</p>
<p>But he capered about and danced for glee<br/>
And laughed and joked at their misery.<br/>
"My faithful friends, you have done the work<br/>
And the devil never can a payday shirk.</p>
<p>"You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor;<br/>
The starving brother you've turned from the door,<br/>
You've laid up gold where the canker rust,<br/>
And have given free vent to your beastly lust.</p>
<p>"You've justice scorned, and corruption sown,<br/>
And trampled the laws of nature down.<br/>
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,<br/>
And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.</p>
<p>"You have paid full fare so I'll carry you through;<br/>
For it's only right you should have your due.<br/>
Why, the laborer always expects his hire,<br/>
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire.</p>
<p>"Where <span class="pagenum"><SPAN id="page347" name="page347"></SPAN>(p. 347)</span> your flesh will waste in the flames that roar,<br/>
And my imps torment you forever more."<br/>
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,<br/>
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high.</p>
<p>Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour<br/>
To be saved from his sin and the demon's power.<br/>
And his prayers and his vows were not in vain;<br/>
For he never rode the hell-bound train.</p>
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