istle-down.
Pretty baby,
Curly head,
Standing in a pansy-bed,
Pretty clouds
All white and curled--
O the great, big pretty world!

[Illustration: PRETTY THINGS]

DID YOU EVER?

Did you ever go to the watering trough
And watch the sparrows drink?
Did you ever go to Potter's pond
And see the divers sink?
Did you ever steal to the barn at night
And watch the hoot-owls think?

[Illustration]

HOOTEM, TOOTEM, CLEAR THE TRACK

Hootem, tootem, clear the track!
I caught a coon on Kamiak!
Colonel Clapp and Uncle Rome
Have hired a hack to bring it home.

DOCTOR DRAKE

On a hummock by the lake
Stands the home of Doctor Drake,
Poor old doctor, how he works!
Week by week he never shirks--

Pulling teeth for guinea-fowl,
Soothing puppies when they howl,
Whittling out a hickory peg
For a gander's broken leg,

Giving medicine away
About a hundred times a day,
Linseed oil and elder-bark
To a croaking meadowlark,

Nasty, bitter yarrow-tea
To a tipsy bumble-bee,
A poultice made of plantain leaves
To cure a rabbit with the heaves.

Fever, colic, cramp, or stitch,
Kitten-croup or beaver's-itch,
Any kind of pain or ache
Is cured by dear, old Doctor Drake.

[Illustration]

BABIES

Come to the land where the babies grow,
Like flowers in the green, green grass.
Tiny babes that swing and crow
Whenever the warm winds pass,
And laugh at their own bright eyes aglow
In a fairy looking-glass.

Come to the sea where the babies sail
In ships of shining pearl,
Borne to the west by a golden gale
Of sun-beams all awhirl;
And perhaps a baby brother will sail
To you, my little girl.

TWENTY THIEVES FROM ALBION

Twenty thieves from Albion,
All with butcher knives,
Coming on the dead run,
Fighting for their lives.

See the man from our town.
In a fancy vest,
Knocking all the big ones down,
Chasing all the rest.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

AS I CAME OUT OF GRUNDY GREET

As I came out of Grundy Greet
Four cats were marching down the street

One was long and gray and thin
With lots of whiskers on his chin,

And one was round and sleek and fat
(He must have been a butcher's cat).

One was dapper, slight, and frail,
With bells and tassels on his tail,

And one had starey yellow eyes
Almost as bi