Well, Stebbins never was scared by an order from a man whose credit was good as Cy’s was, so he opened the oysters and took them out, an’ the whole crowd followed to see a horse eat oysters. Then Cy picked out the best seat near the stove and dropped into it as if he had come to stay, as he had.
Pretty soon the crowd came back, and the storekeeper said: “Why, Cy, your hoss won’t eat them oysters.”
“Won’t he? Well, then, bring ’em here an’ I’ll eat ’em myself.”—From “The Sunny Side of the Street.” Published and copyrighted by Funk & Wagnalls Co., and used by their kind permission and that of the author.
AN OVERWORKED RECITER
Once there was a little boy whose name was Robert Reece,
And every Friday afternoon he had to say a piece,
So many poems thus he learned that soon he had a store
Of recitations in his head, and still kept learning more.
And now this is what happened: He was called upon one week,
And totally forgot the piece he was about to speak!