“‘Such stupid days!’ said Willie Green
With long and doleful face.
‘Suppose to-night the whirling globe
Should drop us into space:
Hooray! I’d ride the moon astride,
And, if a cloud sailed up,
Pretend it was a feather-bed,
And dive right in, kerplup!’
“‘What if the moon went in eclipse?’
Said little Johnny Brown;
‘Or if the clouds turned into rain
And sent you drizzling down?
Or if a thunder-bolt went off
And knocked you rather flat?’
“‘Now that’s the truth,’ said Willie Green,
‘I hadn’t thought of that!’
“But, ‘Earth’s so poky,’ still he mused;
‘It must be finer far
To play I Spy across the sky,
And skip from star to star.’
“‘Stars fall, sometimes,’ quoth Johnny Brown,
‘To where, nobody knows.’
“‘Oh, dearie me!’ cried Willie Green,
‘I only said Suppose!’”
Amos had a question to ask as the travelers turned to leave the January house.
“Don’t you keep any pets?” he said.
January grinned. “It would have to be a cold kind of pet,” he replied. “And I don’t like seals and walruses. The very animal that I want I can’t have: the alligator has always been my favorite.”
“The alligator?” echoed Amos and Ann.