After being admonished by his father, Dr. Ned Trescott, for damaging a peony while playing in his family's yard, young Jimmie Trescott visits his family's coachman, Henry Johnson. Henry, who is described as "a very handsome negro", "known to be a light, a weight, and an eminence in the suburb of the town", is friendly toward Jimmie. Later that evening Henry dresses smartly and saunters through town-inciting catcalls from friends and ridicule from the local white men-on his way to call on the young Bella Farragut, who is extremely taken with him.
That same evening, a large crowd gathers in the park to hear a band play. Suddenly, the nearby factory whistle blows to alert the townspeople of a fire in the second district of the town; men gather hose-carts and head toward the blaze that is quickly spreading throughout Dr. Trescott's house. Mrs. Trescott is saved by a neighbor, but cannot locate Jimmie, who is trapped inside. Henry appears from the crowd and rushes into the house in search of the boy, finding him unharmed in his bedroom. Unable to retreat the way he came, Henry carries Jimmie, wrapped in a blanket, to the doctor's laboratory and the hidden stairway that leads outside. He discovers the fire has blocked this way out as well and collapses beside Dr. Trescott's desk. A row of nearby jars shatters from the heat, spilling molten chemicals upon Henry's upturned face.
The Black Riders and Other Lines is a book of poetry written by American author Stephen Crane (1871-1900). It was first published in 1895 by Copeland & Day.
Black riders came from the sea.
Three little birds in a row
In the Desert
Yes, I have a thousand tongues
Once there came a man
God fashioned the ship of the world carefully
Mystic shadow, bending near me,
I looked here
I stood upon a high place,
Should the wide world roll away,
In a lonely place,
"And the sins of the fathers shall be"
If there is a witness to my little life,
There was a crimson clash of war.
"Tell brave deeds of war."
There were many who went in huddled procession
In heaven
A god in wrath
A learned man came to me once
There was, before me
Once I saw mountains angry
Places among the stars
I saw a man pursuing the horizon
Behold, the grave of a wicked man
There was set before me a mighty hill
A youth in apparel that glittered
"Truth," said a traveller
Behold, from the land of the farther suns
Supposing that I should have the courage
Many workmen
Two or three angels
There was one I met upon the road
I stood upon a highway
A man saw a ball of gold in the sky
I met a seer
On the horizon the peaks assembled
The ocean said to me once
The livid lightnings flashed in the clouds
And you love me
Love walked alone
I walked in a desert
There came whisperings in the winds
I was in the darkness
Tradition, thou art for suckling children
Many red devils ran from my heart
"Think as I think," said a man
Once there was a man
I stood musing in a black world
You say you are holy
A man went before a strange God
Why do you strive for greatness, fool?
Blustering God
"It was wrong to do this," said the angel
A man toiled on a burning road
A man feared that he might find an assassin
With eye and with gesture
The sage lectured brilliantly
Walking in the sky
Upon the road of my life
There was a man and a woman
There was a man who lived a life of fire
There was a great cathedral
Friend, your white beard sweeps the ground
Once, I knew a fine song
If I should cast off this tattered coat
God lay dead in heaven
A spirit sped
