PS 2359 
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A CALIFORNIA IDYL 
 
A CALIFORNIA IDYL 
 
 BY 
 
 ERNEST MCGAFFEY 
 
 53 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE CHANNING AUXILIARY 
 
 GEARY AND FRANKLIN STREETS 
 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 

 48185 
 
 USED BY PERMISSION OF 
 DODD. MEAD £ CO. • « 
 
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 6 c 
 
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 COPYRIGHT 1899 
 THE CHANNING AUXIUARY 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 DRAWN BY 
 
 W. H. BULL 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. California • " 
 
 n. Lichen on Live Oak ^* 
 
 IIL "A road-fanner dodged in the chaparral" J2 
 
 IV. California Lilac ^3 
 
 V, '*A black wasp droned by his sun-baked cell** 14 
 
 VI. Mimtiltis ^5 
 
 VII. ** While flat on a stone lay a Nile-grecn lizard " ...... 16 
 
 Vni. Sycamore Leaf ^^ 
 
 IX. ''And a wolf in the rift of a sycamore, sat gray as a monk 
 
 at the mission door ** ^° 
 
 X. Cactus Bloom *" 
 
 XI. "A sage-hen scratched 'mong the cactus spike** 20 
 
 Xn. "While steady as ever rose anvil-strike, came the rat-tat-tat 
 
 of a yellow hammer ** 22 
 
 Xm. Quail in the Brush 23 
 
 XIV. "And a shy quail lowered his crested head- to the rock-lined 
 
 sweep of a dry creek's bed ** 24 
 
 XV. "While a rattlesnake by the dusty trail, lay coiled in a mat 
 
 of mottled scale.*' white sage 26 
 
 XVI. Wild Oats 27 
 
 XVII. "Then the gray wolf sprang on the sage-hen there** ... 28 
 XVIII. "And the lizard snapped at the wasp and caught him.** 
 
 Wild Buckwheat ... 30 
 
 XIX. Sycamore Foliage 32 
 
A CALIFORNIA IDYL 
 
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 A road-runner dodged in 
 
 the chaparral 
 As a coin will slip from 
 
 the hand of a wizard, 
 

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 A black wasp droned by his 
 sun-baked cell, 
 
 13 
 
While flat on a stone lay a Nile- 
 green lizard, 
 
And a wolf in the rift of a sycamore 
 Sat gray as a monk at the mission door. 
 
A sage-hen scratched ^mong the cactus spike, 
 While high in the sky was the noon sun^s 
 glamour, 
 
While steady as ever rose anvil strike 
 Came the rat-tat-tat of a yellow hammer, 
 
And a shy quail lowered his crested head 
 To the rock-lined sweep of a dry creek^s bed. 
 

And out of the earth a tarantula crept 
 
 On his hairy legs to the road's white level, 
 
 With eyes where a demon's malice slept, 
 And the general air of an unchained devil, 
 
 While a rattlesnake by the dusty trail 
 
 Lay coiled in a mat of mottled scale. 
 
t*^ 
 
Then the gray wolf sprang 
 On the sage-hen there 
 

And the lizard snapped at the wasp and caught him, 
 While the spider fled to his sheltering lair 
 As though a shadowy foeman sought him, 
 
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And the road-runner slipped from the wayside brake 
 And struck his beak through the rattlesnake. 
 

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