| That was a game, the children shrieked And laughed until they cried; The Cat could never catch at all, However hard he tried. He chased them up, he chased them down, He chased them all about; He chased them round and round and round, Until his strength gave out. |
| They led him to a shady wood, To sniff the cooling breeze, And watch the poly-poddy frogs A-jumping in the trees. The frogs were shiny, fat and green; They sat about in rows, And held on to the branches by Their multifarious toes! |
| While there they sat, a cheerful shout Rang out across the sea; And Fishy-Winkle sighed and said: “I guess they’re calling me. “The tide is in, my time is up, I must go home again; My brothers six are beckoning me Across the rolling main.” |
| The children followed in his train As far as they could get, Until the water got too deep, And all their clothes too wet. “Be sure and come again,” they cried, “To play, some other day.” And Fishy waved a friendly hand, From very far away. |
| [CHAPTER III.] Mistress O’Hara has taken her stand, With rage in her heart and a stick in her hand; So fierce is her frown and so wild is her eye, That poor Yama-Guchi feels ready to die. |
