254    LITERATURE   OF   LOUISIANA   TERRITORY.
unprejudiced as he might have been; nor was
his sense of honor always of the highest. But
Eugene Field was — Gene Field ! Bright, clever,
shrewd, a "good fellow"—his friends have
forgiven him much, and the world will forgive
him still more.
In the summer of 1902 we placed a tablet on
the front of house number 634 South Broadway,
St. Louis. The tablet informs the passer-by
that Eugene Field was " born in this house".
He must have been born twice, then, for a few
months later, his brother, Eoswell Field, pointed
out a house some four or five miles further north,
in which, he said Eugene was born. As that
was our first attempt, in St. Louis, to honor our
literary celebrities, we will no doubt be mor
accurate in future.
IN THE FIRELIGHT.
(From The Chicago News, 1885.)
The fire upon the hearth is low,
And there is stillness everywhere ;
Like troubled spirits here and there
Tbe firelight shadows fluttering go.
And as the shadows round me creep,
A childish treble breaks the gloom,
And softly from a further room
Comes: " Now I lay me down to s eep."
And, somehow, with that little prayer
And that sweet treble in my ears,
My thought goes back to distant years
And lingers with a dear one there :
And as I hear the child's amen,