rom Ispahan, Lynn, or Woonsocket,
And the grim furnace is out, and over the ash heap and bottles
Capers the "Billy" in glee, becanning his innermost Billy.
Now the blue pill is on tap, and likewise the sarsaparilla,
And on the fence and the barn, quite worthy of S. Botticelli,
Frisk the lithe leopard and gnu, in malachite, purple, and crimson,
That we may know at a glance the circus is out on the rampage.
Put then the flannels away and trot out the old linen duster,
Pack the bob-sled in the barn, and bring forth the baseball and racket,
For the spry Spring is on deck, performing her roseate breakdown
Unto the tune of the van that rattles and bangs on the cobbles.
MEDITATIONS OF A MARINER[4]
BY WALLACE IRWIN
A-watchin' how the sea behaves
For hours and hours I sit;
And I know the sea is full o' waves--
I've often noticed it.
For on the deck each starry night
The wild waves and the tame
I counts and knows 'em all by sight
And some of 'em by name.
And then I thinks a cove like me
Ain't got no right to roam;
For I'm homesick when I puts to sea
And seasick when I'm home.
[Footnote 4: From "Nautical Lays of a Landsman," by Wallace Irwin.
Copyright, 1904, by Dodd, Mead & Co.]
VICTORY[5]
BY TOM MASSON
I turned to the dictionary
For a word I couldn't spell,
And closed the book when I found it
And dipped my pen in the well.
Then I thought to myself, "How was it?"
With a sense of inward pain,
And still 'twas a little doubtful,
So I turned to the book again.
This time I remarked, "How easy!"
As I muttered each letter o'er,
But when I got to the inkwell
'Twas gone, as it went before.
Then I grabbed that dictionary
And I sped its pages through,
And under my nose I put it
With that doubtful word in view.
I held it down with my body
While I gripped that pen quite fast,
And I howled, as I traced each letter:
"I've got you now, _at last_!"
[Footnote 5: Lippincott's Magazine.]
THE FAMILY HORSE
BY FREDERICK S. COZZENS
I have bought me a horse. As I had obtained some skill in the _manege_
during my younger days, it was a matter of consideration to have a
saddle-horse. It surprised me to find good saddle-horses very abundant
soon after my consultation with the stage
|