Life’s Ways

Come down one morning, over the mountain
A better life to be found
Year after the war between the states
Things were tough all around
Found work on the Hinckley place
Short pay, a bed, and food to eat
Days were sweatin, hot and hard
No need counting sheep

She was young, but knew life’s ways
Had an age about her, knew life’s ways

First saw her working in the fields
Sparkled like diamonds in the sun
Her hair had the sheen of cornsilk
I completely came undone
I imagined kissing her lips
And her lips kissing mine
When that moment finally happened
Was then the ties did bind

Hinckley watched her all day long
Crept to her room one night
Been drinking, bound to have his way
Backed off, felt the steel of the knife
She could love a man so gentle
Be tender in his sight
But she could claw like a wildcat
A girl but a woman all right

Took me back to where she come from
She was a different clan
They took me to family like a brother
We sealed love with a simple wedding band