no grown-ups bring annoy,
An' the rain-bows ring the medders with a rosy rim of joy!

Jist a-wushin'! Only that,
Fer tho perished pleasures!
Jist a-wushin'! Fer the years
An' their squandered treasures!
Wushin' still to be a boy
With the wide world fer a toy,
While the rain-bows ring the medders with a rosy rim of joy!

A Happy Farmer.

What's the use to worry?
Joy is coming nigh:
Got the patches planted
For the melons bye and bye!

What's the use to worry?
Trust the rain and sky;
They will stuff the melons
Full of heaven bye and bye!

Sooner Sayings.

When the cow-path fades, the section line appears.

The testimony in a contest case is often a startling work of fiction.

The booth certificate and the lottery number are worthless to the fellow
that won't hustle.

In the Lap of Spring.

Took a walk one day to hear
Mister Blue-bird sing;
Found old Winter sittin' there
In the lap of Spring!

"Mister Winter!" So I said,
"Guess you'd better hike!
Give the lady here a chance
At the rosy pike!"

Loafing.

Loafin' in the sunshine,
On a grassy bed,
Dreamin' of the melons
An' their hearts of red!

Loafin' in the sunshine,--
That is what I said!
Mockin'-bird a-singin',
Tree-tops overhead!

Loafin' in the sunshine!
All the cares are dead,
Thinkin' of the melons
An' their hearts of red!

Loafin' in the sunshine,--
Work an' worry fled!
Heart's a-dancin' hoe-downs
With the roses red!

No Encouragement.

"Ah tole yuh, boss, dat book whut yuh calls de Bible ain't no frien' to
de cullud people," said Black Mose in a sceptical moment.

"Why, how is that Mose," said the preacher.

"Bekaze it doan't hol' no encouragement out foh de cullud sinnah! Now,
ef Hebben wuz a place full ob banjoes en wohtah-millions, all de black
raskels would suah come eh-runnin' to de moahneh's bench so fas' dey
coulden' be bapsoused!" And the old man slouched away full of
indignation at the barrenness of the heavenly promises.

Only the chemical tests of the long years can determine the true success
or the utter failure,--the worth of a great deed or the nothingness of a
mean act. The world's esteemed immortals have survived the shadows of
oblivion only because of precious deeds they wrought for fel