One on and one a-dangle i’ my hand,

And ombrifuge (Lord love you!), case o’ rain,

I flopp’d forth, ’sbuddikins! on my own ten toes

(I do assure you there be ten of them),

And went clump-clumping up hill and down dale

To find myself o’ the sudden i’ front o’ the boy.

But case I hadn’t ’em on me, could I ha’ bought

This sort-o’-kind-o’-what-you-might-call toy,

This pebble thing, o’ the boy-thing? Q. E. D.

That’s proven without aid from mumping Pope,