No. II.—"LITTLE JACK HORNER."
LITTLE JACK HORNER,
He sat in the corner,
And cried for his "Mummy!" and "Nuss!"
For, while eating his cake,
He had got by mistake
In a horrid piratical 'bus.
Now, some ten minutes back,
You'd have seen little JACK
From an Aërated Bread Shop emerge,
And proceed down the Strand—
Slice of cake in his hand—
In a crumb-covered suit of blue serge.
To be perfectly frank,
He was bound for the Bank,
For it chanced to be dividend day,
And he jumped on the 'bus,
After reasoning thus—
In his logical juvenile way:—
"Here's a 'bus passing by,
And I cannot see why
I should weary my infantile feet;
I've a copper to spare,
And the authorised fare
Is a penny to Liverpool Street."
As the 'bus cantered on,
Little cake-eating JOHN
In the corner contentedly sat,
And with that one and this
(Whether Mister or Miss)
Had a meteorological chat.
Came a bolt from the blue
When, collecting his due,
The conductor remarked, "Though I thank
That young cake-eating gent
For the penny he's sent,
It's a tuppenny ride to the Bank!"
"You're a pirate!" sobbed JACK,
"And your colours are black!"
But he heard—as he struggled to speak—
The conductor observe,
With remarkable verve,
That he didn't want none of his cheek!
With a want of regard,
He demanded JACK's card.
And young HORNER was summoned next day,
When the poor little lad
Lost the battle, and had
All the costs in addition to pay.
Now the Moral is this:
Little Master and Miss,
Whom I'm writing these verses to please;
If your tiny feet ache,
Then a 'bus you may take,
But be sure it's an L.G.O.C.'s!