"When I got your invitation I danced a jig of delight," went on
Songbird. "I just couldn't help it. Then I sat down and wrote—"
"A piece of poetry about it thirty five stanzas long," finished Tom.
"No, Tom, there are only six verses. You see I couldn't help it—I was so chuck full of enthusiasm. The poem begins like this:
"'Twas a peaceful, summer night,
When all the stars were shining bright,
There came a rap on our house door
Which made me leap from bed to floor.
To me had come a telegram
From my old chums, Dick, Tom and Sam
Asking if I had a notion
To sail with them upon the ocean.
To skim along on waters blue—"
"And then and there get seasick, too," finished Tom. "Don't forget to put in about the seasickness, Songbird—it always goes with a voyage, you know."
"Seasick!" snorted the would-be poet. "Who ever heard of seasickness in a poem? The next line is this:
"And see so many sights quite new,
To rest in quiet day by day
And watch the fishes at their play."
"That's the first verse. The second begins—"
"Save it, Songbird, until we're on the yacht," interrupted Sam. "We'll have more time to listen then."
"All right," answered the would-be poet cheerfully. "I want to fix up some of the lines anyhow. I've got 'harm' to rhyme with 'storm' and it doesn't quite suit me."