Emily Carter.
THE LITTLE DESERTER.
FREDERICK.
See him on the apple-tree,
Looking down so bold and free!
Now that he his wings can show us,
He pretends he does not know us.
Ah, you rogue! are you aware
How deserters often fare?
Come, be good, and I'll not chide:
See, the door is open wide.
BIRDIE.
Peep, peep, peep!
CLARA.
Were you not well treated by us?
Why, then, do you thus defy us?
Salad every morning early,
Crumbs of bread, and grains of barley,
Sugar, now and then a berry,
And in June a nice ripe cherry,—
These were yours; don't be ungrateful;
To desert us is too hateful.