“Oh! Mamma!—come look at this queer looking bird—
An owl is perched up in our tree!—
Or is it a night-hawk just taking a rest—
What kind of a bird can it be?”
Miss Jennie came tripping along down the street,
In the hope of meeting her lover;—
Then he quietly let himself down from the tree
Before she had time to discover.
Then arm in arm they returned to the gate,—
And he blushed, as in silence stood he
And saw the white spectre, which drove him in fright
To the top of the crab-apple tree!
AS IT HAPPENED
As the circus train passed through the street
An Elephant caught the eye
Of a “rural duffer,” who remarked
As the creature lumbered by,—
While a wondering look stole o’er his phiz—
(No artist’s hand could paint it;)
“Wa-al neow, Maria,—I swan to man
That’s quite an insect, aint it?”
A city swell heard the remark,
And quickly turned his nose
Up, with an air that plainly said:
“Such horrid folks as those
May go their way—for they’ll pollute
The very atmosphere
With their uncouth ways and ignorance—
We can’t endure them here!”
———
The time rolled on,—and the city swell
Was brought to account one day
For the many bills and debts he owed—
He had not a cent to pay.
His creditors gobbled all his goods
And set them up for sale;
But the cash they brought did not suffice
So they marched him off to jail.—
———
The “duffer” shook his jolly sides
With a hearty, merry laugh;
And recalled the time when he “so shocked
The insipid city calf.”
“I pay my bills as I go along—
I owe no man,” said he;
“There’s no insect born that can compete
With a biped such as he!”
