It might reveal to
And well they gauged
When they their
For when the rich
The rogues could
—The miller never
For Brownies wield a
 man or beast;
what all could bear,
pudding did prepare;
repast was done,
neither fly nor run.
missed his flour,
mystic power;

Whate'er they take they can restore
In greater plenty than before.


THE BROWNIES TOBOGGANING
One evening, when the snow lay white
On level plain and mountain height, The Brownies
mustered, one
and all,
In answer to a special
call.



All clustered in a ring they stood
Within the shelter of the wood,
While earnest faces brighter grew
At thought of enterprises new.
Said one, "It seems that all the rage,
With human kind of every age,
Is on toboggans swift to slide
Down steepest hill or mountain side.
Our plans at once we must prepare,
And try, ourselves, that pleasure rare.
We might enough toboggans find
In town, perhaps, of every kind,
If some one chanced to know where they
Awaiting sale are stowed away."
Another spoke: "Within us lies
The power to make our own supplies;
We'll not depend on other hands
To satisfy these new demands;
The merchants' wares we'll let alone
And make toboggans of our own;
A lumber-yard some miles from here
Holds seasoned lumber all the year.
There pine and cedar may be found,
And oak and ash are piled around.
Some boards are thick and some are thin,
But all will bend like sheets of tin.
At once we'll hasten to the spot,
And, though a fence surrounds the lot,
We'll skirmish 'round and persevere,
And gain an entrance,—never fear."


This brought a smile to every face,
For Brownies love to climb and race,
And undertake such work as will
Bring into play their wondrous skill.
The pointers on the dial plate
Could hardly mark a later date,
Before they scampered o'er the miles
That brought them to the lumber piles,
And then they clambered, crept, and squeezed,
And gained admittance where they pleased;
For other ways than builders show
To scale a wall the Brownies know.
Some sought for birch, and some for pine,
And some for cedar, soft and fine.
With free selection well content
Soon under heavy loads they bent.
It chanced to be a windy night,
Which made their labor far from light,
But, though a heavy tax was laid
On strength and patience,
undismayed
They worked their way by
hook or crook,
And reached at last a
sheltered nook;