I could do nothing shorter![131]
I could also colonize and do some agriculture,
And fix the flints of the natives,[132]
And help my countrymen to go in for their chances,
And make the King of the Musquitoes clean my boots,
And make him dance a reel for my enjoyment;
And I could come all sorts of gum games,[133]
Now mind I tell you.
The following are extracts from a very long parody which occurs in a curious book entitled “The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys,” by Richard Grant White. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884. An edition of this work was also published by Sampson, Low & Co., London.