SECRETS
I know a man that's big and tall,
With glasses on his nose,
And canes and shiny hats and all
Such grown-up things as those;
But we have secrets I won't tell!
Here in the nursery,
Before they ring the dinner-bells
He's just a boy like me.
He comes home from the office, where
They think he's just a man
The same as they are, with his hair
All slick and spick and span.
Oh, don't I make it in a mess!
It makes us scream for joy.
"Sh—sh!" he says, "they mustn't guess
I'm nothing but a boy!"
And sometimes when the doorbell rings,
The girl knocks at the door.
"An' is the doctor in?" she sings,
A dozen times or more.
"Good-by, old man!" he says. "That bell
Means business. Here's your toy!"
And off he goes. I'll never tell
He's nothing but a boy.
