Rider On An Orphan Train

Once I rode an orphan train And my brother did the same They split us up in Missouri James was five and I was three He got taken by some pair But for me they did not care We were brave and did not cry When they made us say goodbye That was the last I saw of him Before some family took me in But I swore I'd run away And find my brother James someday I went back when I was grown To find our old Children's Home And I asked for to see my file Of when I was an orphan child It's sad, they say, there's been a flood File washed away in Missouri mud Sometimes life is a stone wall You either climb, or else you fall In every town, on every street All the faces that I meet And I wonder, could this one be My brother James come back to me Though I don't know where he's gone I have searched my whole life long Now I roam from town to town But there's no orphan lost-and-found Sometimes I dream a pleasant sight My brother James and I unite Remembering our last goodbye No longer brave, we start to cry I hope he lives a life of ease And all his days a soft, warm breeze May he sit upon a throne And may he never sleep alone Once I rode an orphan train And my brother did the same They split us up in Missouri James was five and I was three