But Rover makes his pantry
Right in that garden patch;
And all the hens and chickens
Think that's the place to scratch.
ANNA BURNHAM BRYANT.
MAMMA'S LITTLE HOUSEMAID
I am mamma's little housemaid, don't you see?
They couldn't get along so well if it were not for me;
For every Friday morning I take my little broom,
And sweep and sweep the pretty rugs that lie in mamma's room.
And then I sweep the door-steps off, and do not leave a crumb,
And wipe the dishes, too, and oh, it is the bestest fun!
And then, when mamma starts to bake, she says that maybe I
Can make all by my very self a cunning little pie.
When I am big enough for school I think I'll like to go,
But truly I would rather stay at home, you know,
And help my mamma do the work, and bake a little pie,
For mamma says all little girls, if they would only try,
Can help their mammas very much with willing hands and feet,
By sweeping rugs and door-steps and keeping porches neat.
So I am mamma's housemaid, and she pays me with a kiss,
And papa, when he comes at night, says, "Bless me, what is this!
How bright and clean the rugs do look!" And then I laugh and say
That my little broom and I work for mamma every day.
HARRIET CROCKER LEROY.
TOYS
Toys have a bedtime, too.
Oh, but it's really true!
This is what you should do,—
Just as the sun sinks low,
Off to bed make them go,
Laid in a tidy row.