Answers.
THINGS TO FORGET.
If you see a tall fellow ahead of a crowd,
A leader of men, marching fearless and proud,
And you know of a tale whose mere telling aloud
Would cause his proud head to in anguish be bowed,
It's a pretty good plan to forget it.
If you know of a skeleton hidden away
In a closet, and guarded, and kept from the day
In the dark; and whose showing, whose sudden display,
Would cause grief and sorrow and lifelong dismay,
It's a pretty good plan to forget it.
If you know of a thing that will darken the joy
Of a man or a woman, a girl or a boy,
That will wipe out a smile or the least way annoy
A fellow, or cause any gladness to cloy,
It's a pretty good plan to forget it.
Answers.
FRIENDS.
When a fellow's kind of wobbly and uncertain on his feet,
And has to work like sixty for to get both ends to meet—
When he's not of much account and has to take what he can get—
The people don't come flockin' to be friends of his, you bet!
They don't come sayin', "Old chap, I'm the only friend you've got,"
And "Remember that we're brothers," and that kind of tommyrot.
No, indeed!
And they don't get jealous of you when friends are what you need.
If a fellow's kind of lonesome and would like a friend or two
Just to come around and jolly him when things are lookin' blue;
If the shirt that he's wearin' is the only one he's got,
And he never showed the public that he's really on the spot,
They don't come crowdin' round him, nor stick out their hands and say,
"We're your friends, old man; we love you—we've the same blood anyway"—
No, indeed!
But they watch to give the boot to you when friends are what you need.
When things have got to comin' as a fellow wants 'em to,
When his pockets are all bulgin' and his clo's are fine and new;
When he steps out proud and lordly and ain't got a thing to fear,
There's a sudden change comes over folks that used to wink and sneer.
They come runnin' then to tell you that they're all your friends, and say
That they've always been dead anxious for to help you out some way—
Yes, indeed!
Friends are always mighty plentiful when friends ain't what you need.