Never Again
It was a pitiful mistake, an error sad and grim. I waited for the railway train; the light was low and dim. It came at last, and from a car there stepped a dainty dame, and, looking up and down the place, she straight unto me came. “Oh, Jack!” she cried, “oh, dear old Jack!” and kissed me as she spake; then looked again, and, frightened, cried, “Oh, what a bad mistake!” I said, “Forgive me, maiden fair, for I am not your Jack; and as regards the kiss you gave, I’ll straightway give it back.” And since that night I’ve often stood upon that platform dim, but only once in a man’s whole life do such things come to him.
A Kiss in the Rain
BY SAMUEL MINTURN PECK
One stormy morn I chanced to meet
A lassie in the town;
Her locks were like the ripened wheat,
Her laughing eyes were brown.
I watched her as she tripped along
Till madness filled my brain,
And then—and then—I know ’twas wrong—
I kissed her in the rain.
With raindrops shining on her cheek
Like dewdrops on a rose,
The little lassie strove to speak,
My boldness to oppose;
She strove in vain, and quivering,
Her fingers stole in mine;
And then the birds began to sing,
The sun began to shine.
Oh, let the clouds grow dark above,
My heart is light below;
’Tis always summer when we love,
However winds may blow;
And I’m as proud as any prince,
All honors I disdain:
She says I am her rain beau since
I kissed her in the rain.
What He Had Re(a)d
An Irishman, says “The Rochester Times,” recently went before Judge Stephens to be naturalized.
“Have you read the Declaration of Independence?” the Court asked.
“I hov not,” said Pat.
“Have you read the Constitution of the United States?”