on me. Keep me
well shod. Examine my teeth when I do not eat. I may have an ulcerated
tooth, and that, you know, is very painful. Do not fix my head in an
unnatural position, or take away my best defense against flies and
mosquitoes by cutting off my tail.

I cannot tell you when I am thirsty, so give me clean cool water often.
I cannot tell you in words when I am sick, so watch me, and by signs
you may know my condition. Give me all possible shelter from the hot
sun, and put a blanket on me not when I am working but when I am
standing in the cold. Never put a frosty bit in my mouth. First warm it
by holding it a moment in your hands.

And finally, O My Master, when my useful strength is gone, do not turn
me out to starve or freeze, or sell me to some human brute, to be
slowly tortured and starved to death; but do Thou, My Master, take my
life in the kindest way, and your God will reward you Here and
Hereafter. You will not consider me irreverent if I ask this in the
name of Him who was born in a stable. Amen.

[Illustration]

"ONE, TWO, THREE!"

1. It was an old, old, old, old lady,
And a boy that was half past three;
And the way that they played together
Was beautiful to see.

2. She couldn't go running and jumping,
And the boy, no more could he;
For he was a thin little fellow,
With a thin little twisted knee.

3. They sat in the yellow twilight,
Out under the maple tree;
And the game that they played I'll tell you,
Just as it was told to me.

4. It was Hide and Go Seek they were playing,
Though you'd never have known it to be--
With an old, old, old, old lady,
And a boy with a twisted knee.

5. The boy would bend his face down
On his one little sound right knee,
And he guessed where she was hiding,
In guesses One, Two, Three!

6. "You are in the china closet!"
He would cry, and laugh with glee--
It wasn't the china closet;
But he still had Two and Three.

7. "You are up in Papa's big bedroom,
In the chest with the queer old key!"
And she said: "You are _warm_ and _warmer_;
But you're not quite right," said she.

8. "It can't be the little cupboard
Where Mamma's things used to be
So it must be the clothespress, Gran'ma!"