XV

JUNIORS

PRIOR TO MISS BELLE'S APPEARANCE

WHAT makes you come here fer, Mister,

So much to our house?—Say?

Come to see our big sister!

An' Charley he says 'at you kissed her

An' he ketched you, thuther day!—
Didn' you, Charley?-But we p❜omised Belle
And crossed our heart to never to tell-
'Cause she gived us some o' them-er
Chawk'lut-drops 'at you bringed to her!

Charley he's my little b'uther-
An' we has a-mostest fun,
Don't we, Charley?-Our Muther,
Whenever we whips one-anuther,

Tries to whip us-an' we run—
Don't we, Charley?-An' nen, bime-by,
Nen she gives us cake-an' pie-
Don't she, Charley?-when we come in
An' p'omise never to do it agin!

He's named Charley.-I'm Willie-
An' I'm got the purtiest name!
But Uncle Bob he calls me "Billy".
Don't he, Charley?-'Nour filly

We named "Billy," the same

Ist like me! An' our Ma said

'At "Bob put foolishnuss into our head!"— Didn' she, Charley?-An' she don't know

Much about boys!-'Cause Bob said so!

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Baby's a funniest feller!

Naint no hair on his headIs they, Charley? It's meller Wite up there! An' ef Belle er

Us ask wuz we that way, Ma said,— "Yes; an' yer Pa's head wuz soft as that, An' it's that way yet!"-An' Pa grabs his hat An' says, "Yes, childern, she's right about Pa'Cause that's the reason he married yer Ma!"

An' our Ma says 'at "Belle couldn'

Ketch nothin 'at all but ist "bows!"
An' Pa says 'at "you're soft as puddun!".
An Uncle Bob says "you're a good-un—
'Cause he can tell by yer nose!"—
Didn' he, Charley? And when Belle'll play
In the poller on th' pianer, some day,
Bob makes up funny songs about you,
Till she gits mad-like he wants her to!

Our sister Fanny, she's 'leven

Years old. 'At's mucher 'an IAin't it, Charley? . . . I'm seven!But our sister Fanny's in Heaven! Nere's where you go ef you die!— Don't you, Charley? Nen you has wings— Ist like Fanny!-an' purtiest things!Don't you, Charley? An' nen you can flyIst fly-an' ever'thing! . . . Wisht I'd die! James Whitcomb Riley.

THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL

THERE was a little girl,

And she had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good

She was very, very good,

And when she was bad she was horrid.

The Naughty Darkey Boy

One day she went upstairs,

When her parents, unawares,

In the kitchen were occupied with meals And she stood upon her head

In her little trundle-bed,

And then began hooraying with her heels.

Her mother heard the noise,

And she thought it was the boys

A-playing at a combat in the attic;

But when she climbed the stair,

And found Jemima there,

She took and she did spank her most emphatic.

THE NAUGHTY DARKEY BOY

THERE was a cruel darkey boy,

Who sat upon the shore,

A catching little fishes by

The dozen and the score.

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Unknown.

And as they squirmed and wriggled there,

He shouted loud with glee,

"You surely cannot want to live,

You're little-er dan me."

Just then with a malicious leer,
And a capacious smile,
Before him from the water deep
There rose a crocodile.

He eyed the little darkey boy,
Then heaved a blubbering sigh,
And said, "You cannot want to live,
You're little-er than I."

The fishes squirm and wriggle still,

Beside that sandy shore,
The cruel little darkey boy,

Was never heard of more.

Unknown.

DUTCH LULLABY

WYNKEN, Blynken, and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe,

Sailed on a river of misty light

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish? The old moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we,"
Said Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sung a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew;

The little stars were the herring-fish
That lived in the beautiful sea.

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish,
But never afeard are we!"

So cried the stars to the fishermen three,

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.

All night long their nets they threw

For the fish in the twinkling foam,

Then down from the sky came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home:

The Dinkey-Bird

'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed

As if it could not be;

And some folk thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed Of sailing that beautiful sea;

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken,
Blynken,

And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed;

So shut your eyes while Mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock on the misty sea

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three,

Wynken,

Blynken,
And Nod.

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Eugene Field.

THE DINKEY-BIRD

IN an ocean, 'way out yonder
(As all sapient people know),
Is the land of Wonder-Wander,
Whither children love to go;
It's their playing, romping, swinging,
That give great joy to me

While the Dinkey-Bird goes singing

In the Amfalula-tree!

There the gum-drops grow like cherries,
And taffy's thick as peas,-

Caramels you pick like berries

When, and where, and how you please