How many lumps of sugar
Ought a little girl to use
To sweeten a cup of chocolate?
I can take just what I choose.
Five make it just like candy,
And four are most as good—
There’s no one to say I mustn’t,
Now I wonder if I should.
Three is what Nurse allows me,
So that would be surely right.
Uncle Jack takes two lumps always
And says it is “out of sight.”
Five, four, three, two—I wonder—
Or none, just like Papa?
Well, after all, I’ll take but one
And copy my dear Mama.
When Mother Goes Away
BY CLARA ODELL LYON