IN THE SAND BED WHERE I PLAY]

THE SAND BED

I have a sand bed, and there I play,
There in the sand for half the day.

And mother comes and sits by me;
And little sister likes to see

The many things I make of sand,
But she's too young to understand.

And then I make believe and say
My sand bed is the sunny bay;

These blocks are boats, and far away
They sail all night and sail all day,

And carry iron. When they return
They bring us coal that we may burn.

And now my sand bed is a farm.
This is the barn. Here, safe from harm,

My horses and my cows I keep.
These sheds are for the woolly sheep.

And there you see my piggie's pens.
The yard holds in the lively hens.

This is the garden, where I hoe
My plants: and here the flowers grow.

The sticks are pines, so straight, so tall
And dark. But these aren't half of all

The things I make each pleasant day
Out in the sand bed where I play.

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

"Oh, Jack, Uncle John says, if we will build a play-house for Mary and
her dolls, he will take us to Washington with him when he goes next
month."

"All right, Stuart, we can do it. Let us begin right away. Here is a
nice place for the house, just on the little hill. The ground is nice
and sandy, and the rain-water runs off. Here are some pretty trees for
shade. The hill is not high enough for it to be very cold.

"Now, for the house. We will place it so that it will face the south.
Then the living rooms will have plenty of sunshine. We will put it about
two feet off the ground, in order that it will not be damp; we can have
a wide piazza nearly all around the house; and on the south piazza we
can screen off a part for a sleeping porch. I am sure the dolls would
like one.

[Illustration: THE SLEEPING PORCH THAT JACK BUILT]

"We will screen every door and window to keep the flies and mosquitoes
out of the house. Mary says that each room must have at least two
windows. She wants the walls of the rooms painted a soft cream color. We
will oil and wax the floors. She can put a few rugs on them. She does
not want large ones that she cannot take up when she sweeps.

"The little white iron beds, with dainty pillows and white covers, will