Roly-Poly's a man of business:
He canters to market on grandpa's cane,
Orders a breakfast of peppermint-candy,
And gallops his pony home again.
Roly-Poly's a man of pleasure:
Sorrow and care are for grown-up stupids:
Pictures and kisses, toys and caresses,
Fondling and fun, for dimpled Cupids.
After the sun has gone out of the south,
The night comes down on his eyelids slowly;
He topples asleep with his thumb in his mouth,—
What an iniquity, Roly-Poly!
OLIVE A. WADSWORTH.
ELSIE'S DUCKS.
Elsie was the daughter of poor parents, who lived on the borders of a lake. Once, when she was very ill with a fever, a good neighbor made her a present of three young ducks. Elsie was much pleased, and she soon began to get well.
Her mother would bring a large tub of water into the room where the little invalid lay; and the three ducks would swim about, and swallow the crumbs which Elsie threw to them.