As we leave the little cottage
Where so gaily we have frolicked.
Ah, the sadness of the parting,
Ah, the chaos of the packing,
Ah, the settlements unwilling
With the butcher and the grocer!
Ah, the desolated cottage,
Ah, the sad and doleful maidens,
Ah, the weeping, wailing maidens —
“There, there, Hester, stop!” cried Helen, reading over her shoulder. “Your machine has run down; it’s out of gear; the spindle is broken! Stop, I beg of you!”