Explore "The Red Patrol" by Gilbert Parker on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
He stands in the porch of the World -- / (Why should the door be shut? ) / The grey wolf waits at his heel, / (Why is the window barred? ) / Wild is the trail from the Kimash Hills, / The blight has fallen on bush and tree, / The choking earth has swallowed the streams, / Hungry and cold is the Red Patrol- / (Why should the door be shut? ) / The Scarlet Hunter has come to bide -- / (Why is the window barred? )
He waits at the threshold stone -- / (Why should the key-hole rust? ) / The eagle broods at his side, / (Why should the blind be drawn? ) / Long has he watched and far has he called -- / The lonely sentinel of the North -- / "Who goes there? " to the wandering soul / Heavy of heart is the Red Patrol -- / (Why should the key-hole rust? ) / The Scarlet Hunter is sick for home, / (Why should the blind be drawn? )