A DIVERTED TRAGEDY

Gracie wuz allus a careless tot;

But Gracie dearly loved her doll,

An' played wiv it on the winder-sill

'Way up-stairs, when she ought to not,

An' her muvver telled her so an' all;

But she won't mind what she say—till,

First thing she know, her dolly fall

Clean spang out o' the winder plumb

Into the street! An' here Grace come

Down-stairs, two at a time, ist wild

An' a-screamin', "Oh, my child! my child!"

Jule wuz a-bringin' their basket o' clo'es

Ist then into their hall down there,—

An' she ist stop' when Gracie bawl,

An' Jule she say "She ist declare

She's ist in time!" An' what you s'pose?

She sets her basket down in the hall,

An' wite on top o' the snowy clo'es

Wuz Gracie's dolly a-layin' there

An' ist ain't bu'st ner hurt a-tall!

Nen Gracie smiled—ist sobbed an' smiled—

An' cried, "My child! my precious child!"