Little Romp
I am tired to death of keeping still
And being good all day.
I guess my mamma's company
Forgot to go away,
I've wished and wished they'd think of it,
And that they would get through;
But they must talk for ever first,
They almost always do.
I heard Tom calling to me once,
He's launched his boat, I know;
I wanted to get out and help,
But mamma's eyes said no.
The ladies talk such stuff to me,
It makes me sick to hear—
"How beautiful your hair curls!" or,
"How red your cheeks are, dear!"
I'd ten times rather run a race,
Then play my tunes and things;
I wouldn't swop my dogs and balls
For forty diamond rings.
I've got no 'finement, aunty says,
I 'spect she knows the best;
I don't need much to climb a tree,
Or hunt a squirrel's nest.
"Girls are like berries," papa says,
"Sweeter for running wild,"
But Aunt Melissa shakes her head,
And calls me "Horrid child!"
I'll always be a romp she knows—
But sure's my name is Sadie,
I'll fool 'em all some dreadful day,
By growing up a lady.
Hide and Seek
"We will have a game of hide and seek,
Now mind you do not look."
And Willie went and hid himself
In a dark and lonely nook.
Then the children went to find him;
They hunted all about.
It was a funny way in which
At last they found him out.
Just as they got where he was hid,
In his nose he felt a tickling
That made him sneeze, and so you see
They found him in a twinkling.

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Page 82—Play Land

Tired of Play
Tired of play! tired of play!
What hast thou done this livelong day?
The birds are silent, and so is the bee;
The sun is creeping up temple and tree;
The doves have flown to the sheltering eves
And the nests are dark with the drooping leaves.
Twilight gathers and day is done,
How hast thou spent it, restless one?
Playing? But what has thou done beside,
To tell thy mother at eventide?
What promise of morn is left unbroken?
What kind word to thy playmate spoken?
Whom hast thou pitied and whom forgiven,
How with thy faults has duty striven,
What hast thou learned by field and hill?
By greenwood path, and singing rill?
Well for thee if thou couldst tell,
A tale like this of a day spent well,
If thy kind hand has aided distress,
And thou pity hast felt for wretchedness;
If thou hast forgiven a brother's offence,
And grieved for thine own with penitence;
If every creature has won thy love
From the creeping worm to the brooding dove,
Then with joy and peace on the bed of rest,
Thou wilt sleep as on thy mother's breast.
Sea-side Play
Two little boys, all neat and clean,
Came down upon the shore:
They did not know old Ocean's ways—
They'd ne'er seen him before.
So quietly they sat them down,
To build a fort of sand;
Their backs were turned to the sea,
Their faces toward the land.
They had just built a famous fort—
The handkerchief flag was spread—
When up there came a stealthy wave,
And turned them heels over head.
After School Hours
School is closed and tasks are done,
Flowers are laughing in the sun;
Like the songsters in the air,
Happy children, banish care!