30
Then Sol, the little one, spoke: "By darn!
Le's hurry back an' hide 'n the barn,
An' pay him fer tellin' us that yarn!"

"Agreed!" Through the orchard they creep back,
Along by the fences, behind the stack, 5
And one by one, through a hole in the wall,
In under the dusty barn they crawl,
Dressed in their Sunday garments all.
And a very astonishing sight was that,
When each in his cobwebbed coat and hat 10
Came up through the floor like an ancient rat.

And there they hid;
And Reuben slid
The fastenings back, and the door undid.
"Keep dark!" said he, 15
"While I squint an' see what the' is to see."

As knights of old put on their mail,--
From head to foot
An iron suit,
Iron jacket and iron boot, 20
Iron breeches, and on the head
No hat, but an iron pot instead,
And under the chin the bail
(I believe they called the thing a helm);
And, thus accoutered, they took the field, 25
Sallying forth to overwhelm
The dragons and pagans that plagued the realm,--
So this modern knight
Prepared for flight,
Put on his wings and strapped them tight,--
Jointed and jaunty, strong and light,--
Buckled them fast to shoulder and hip,--
Ten feet they measured from tip to tip!
And a helm had he, but that he wore, 5
Not on his head, like those of yore,
But more like the helm of a ship.

"Hush!" Reuben said,
"He's up in the shed!
He's opened the winder,--I see his head! 10
He stretches it out,
An' pokes it about,
Lookin' to see 'f the coast is clear,
An' nobody near;--
Guess he don'o' who's hid in here! 15
He's riggin' a springboard over the sill!
Stop laffin', Solomon! Burke, keep still!
He's climbin' out now. Of all the things!
What's he got on? I van, it's wings!
An' that t'other thing? I vum, it's a tail!
An' there he sets like a hawk on a rail! 20
Steppin' careful, he travels the length
Of his springboard, and teeters to try its stren