As I walked in the Wayside Tavern
The smell of drink was in the air
I threw my money on the counter
This pretty maid was standing there

My thoughts they drifted so far from me
As I looked upon her lovely face
I knew she was my kind of woman
No one could ever take her place

I said when working hours are over
I would just love to take you home
She said young man that is a pleasure
And soon we found ourselves alone

And then our arms went around each other
I felt a knife stick in her back
She turned and saw her lover running
And said his name was Barnum Jack

She did not know her lover followed
She did not know he was around
Until the fate of death had struck her
And now she sleeps beneath the ground

I sit alone tonight in prison
My thoughts are of the one so fair
That I met that night in the Wayside Tavern
When the smell of drink was in the air