"NOW, DOLLY, DEAR, I'M GOING AWAY."
THE LITTLE MOTHER.
Now, Dolly, dear, I'm going away,
And want you to be good all day.
Don't lose your shoes nor soil your dress,
Nor get your hair all in a mess;
But lie quite still, and up I'll come
To kiss you, soon as I get home.
I'd take you, dear, but then, you know,
It's wax Sabina's turn to go.
She's sick, I'm 'fraid. Her eyes don't work;
They open worse, the more I jerk;
She used to be so straight and stout,
But now her sawdust's running out.
Her kid is out of order, dear.
My papa says she's out of gear.
That's dreadful, isn't it? But then
The air may make her well again.
So, Dolly, won't you stay alone,
And be real good while I am gone?
Good-by, my precious! Yes, I'll come
And kiss you, soon as I get home.
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AMONG THE ANIMALS.
One rainy morning,
Just for a lark,
I jumped and stamped
On my new Noah's Ark:
I crushed an elephant,
Smashed a gnu,
And snapped a camel
Clean in two;
I finished the wolf
Without half tryin',
And wild hyena,
And roaring lion;
I knocked down Ham,
And Japhet, too,
And cracked the leg
Of the kangaroo;
I finished, beside,
Two pigs and a donkey,
A polar bear,
Opossum, and monkey;
Also the lions,
Tigers, and cats,
And dromedaries,
And tiny rats—
There wasn't a thing
That didn't feel,
Sooner or later,
The weight o' my heel;
I felt as grand
As grand could be—
But oh the whipping
My mammy gave me!
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