ck!"
And when it said "Tick-
Atty--tick-atty--tock,"
He said it said "Sick-
Atty--sick-atty--sock!"
And he tried to _see_ then,
But the light was too dim,
Yet he _heard_ it again--
And't was _talking_ to him!

And then it said "Sick-
Atty--sick-atty--sick
You poor little Dick-
Atty--Dick-atty--dock!
Have you got the hick-
Atties? Hi! send for Doc
To hurry up quick
Atty--quick-atty--quock,
And heat a hot brick-
Atty--brick-atty--brock,

[Illustration]

And rikle-ty wrap it
And clickle-ty clap it
Against his cold feet-
Al-ty--weep-aty--eepaty--
_There_ he goes, slapit-
Ty--slippaty--sleepaty!"

* * * * *

FOOL-YOUNGENS

Me an' Bert an' Minnie-Belle
Knows a joke, an' we won't tell!
No, we don't--'cause we don't know
_Why_ we got to laughin' so;
But we got to laughin' so,
"We ist kep' a-laughin'.

Wind wuz blowin' in the tree--
An' wuz only ist us three
Playin' there; an' ever' one
Ketched each other, like we done,
Squintin' up there at the sun
Like we wuz a-laughin'.

Nothin' funny anyway;
But I laughed, an' so did they--
An' we all three laughed, an' nen
Squint' our eyes an' laugh' again:
Ner we didn't ist _p'ten'_--
We wuz _shore-'nough_ laughin'.

* * * * *

[Illustration: "SQUINT' OUR EYES AN' LAUGH' AGAIN"]

* * * * *

"We ist laugh' an' laugh', tel Bert
Say he _can't_ quit an' it hurt.
Nen I _howl_, an' Minnie-Belle
She tear up the grass a spell
An' ist stop her yeers an' _yell_
Like she'd _die_ a-laughin'.

Never sich fool-youngens yit!
Nothin' funny,--not a bit!--
But we laugh' so; tel we whoop'
Purt'-nigh like we have the croup--
All so hoarse we'd wheeze an' whoop
An' ist _choke_ a-laughin'.

* * * * *

THE KATYDIDS

Sometimes I keep
From going to sleep,
To hear the katydids "cheep-cheep!"
And think they say
Their prayers that way;
But _katydids_ don't have to _pray_!

[Illustration]

I listen when
They cheep again
And so, I think, they're _singing_ then!
But, no; I'm wrong,--
The sound's too long
And all-alike to be a song!

I think, "Well, there!
I do declare,
If it is neither song nor prayer,
It's _talk_--and quite
Too vain and