"Oh! I wanted Xerxes. Wait, Mammy. I have one!
"King David
Could not be savèd!"
"Good!" cried his mother. "That is the best yet. But we might branch out a little, I think, Willy. This condensed couplet is forcible, but not very graceful. How do you like this?
"Tiglath-pileser, Tiglath-pileser,
He tried to buy a lemon-squeezer;
But no such thing had e'er been seen,
So in a melancholy green,
Oh, very green, and very yellow,
He pined away and died, poor fellow!"
"That is splendid," said Willy, "but you took a little more than two minutes. My turn now!
"The great and mighty Alexander
Was bit to death by a salamander."
"Done to death is more poetic!" said his mother.
"Yes, but 'bit' is more savage. I like 'bit.' Your time's up, Mammy!"