I must tell you that Piggie now wears in her nose
A lovely brass ring,
Which is quite the right thing
For engaged little Piggies to wear, I suppose.”
The Wallypug and the Royal Microscopist both clapped their hands when Girlie had finished, but the Crow said in a scornful voice,—
“That’s a very old-fashioned kind of love story; they don’t write them like that at all, nowadays. This is how a modern love story goes”—and he took off his spectacles and held them in one claw while reciting the following verses:—
“A MODERN LOVE STORY.
“The Lady Betsy Mary Jayne Was very tall and somewhat plain. (Indeed, does anybody doubt it?) Sir Robert Richard Peter Prim Was also tall and rather slim (Well, please don’t make a fuss about it).