The Other Man?

* * * * *

THE KEY TO A LOCK.

["A lock of ----'s hair, set in a small gold-rimmed case, and said to
be an ancient family possession, was knocked down for forty pounds."]

Take yonder lock of tangled hair,
A silver seamed with sable,
Dim harbinger from dreamland fair
Of reverie and fable;

Yes, grandson mine, the treasure take,
A trinket loved, if little,
And wear it, darling, for my sake,
In yonder locket brittle;

Small, as my banker's balance, small
And faint--a touching token;
My luck, the lock, the locket, all
Seem, child, a trifle broken.

Investments, boy, are looking glum;
They flit and fade; in fine a
Not inconsiderable sum
Has gone to--Argentina.

Nay, chide me not; one day, refilled