Put all their good clothes on at once—strut ’round an’ show off so,
The folks that have to live with them get sick of it you know.”
Sho! don’t tell up such stuff as that about our Uncle Ned,
If you don’t mind your p’s and q’s I’ll tell him what you said.
But I found out that I was right—I’ll tell you how it came,
Truth upon Honor, we did play—it’s just a lovely game,
You ask the queerest questions and they answer out quite free,
And if they tell what isn’t true, it’s wicked, don’t you see?
Tom asked me was I awful mad (he can be dreadful mean)
When a great deal prettier hat than mine went by on Mabel Green?
I had to tell, but never mind, I paid him back again,
I made him own he copied sums from clever cousin Ben.
Aunt Jess she laughed, and Uncle Ned said ’twas a jolly game,
He changed his tune though pretty quick when round his own turn came.
“Now tell the truth,” I said to him—“not maybe or I guess—
Ain’t you just heaps and heaps in love with our dear Auntie Jess?
At first he scowled at Tom and me as mad as any hoe,
And Tom he laughed and said, “Own up! you used to be her beau.”
At this he looked and looked at her, and thought her nice I guess
For right out quick he said, “It’s true—I love your dear Aunt Jess.”
We clapped our hands. Now ’tis your turn to question Auntie here,
But if he didn’t—mean old thing—just whisper in her ear.
Said she, “This is a pretty game, which everyone should know.”
“I wish we’d played it, dear,” he said, “a long, long time ago.”
Then I winked hard at brother Tom, and he winked back at me,
And we sneaked off and left them there as jolly as could be.
I know a thing that I won’t tell—not to Tom anyway,
I’ll be a bridesmaid all so fine before next Xmas day.
Elspeth’s Daughter-in-law
I DON’T know what spell came over us,
That’s over father and me,
But two silly things we must have been
To let the boy have his way.
But Sammie was all the boy we had,
An’ he grew so big an’ tall—
We had no girl, I didn’t mind that,
For I don’t care for girls at all.