loak and Sunday clothes;
An' when my pa comes home to tea,
She loves him most as much as me.

She laughs an' tells him all I said.
An' grabs me up an' pats my head;
An' I hug her, an' I hug my pa,
An' love him purt' nigh much es ma.

FOOTNOTE:

[62] Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill
Company. From "Rhymes of Childhood," copyright, 1900.

ALMOST BEYOND ENDURANCE[63]

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

I ain't a-goin' to cry no more, no more!
I'm got ear-ache, an' ma can't make
It quit a-tall;
An' Carlo bite my rubber-ball
An' puncture it; an' Sis she take
An' poke my knife down through the stable-floor
An' loozed it--blame it all!
But I ain't goin' to cry no more, no more!

An' Aunt Mame wrote she's a-comin', an' she can't--
Folks is come there!--An' I don't care,
She is my Aunt!
An' my eyes stings; an' I'm
Ist coughin' all the time,
An' hurts me so, an' where my side's so sore
Granpa felt where, an' he
Says "maybe it's pleurasy!"
But I ain't goin' to cry no more, no more!

An' I climbed up an' nen falled off the fence,
An' Herbert he ist laugh at me!
An' my fi'-cents
It sticked in my tin bank, an' I ist tore
Purt' nigh my thumbnail off, a-tryin' to git
It out--nen smash it!--An it's in there yit!
But I ain't goin' to cry no more, no more!

Oo! I'm so wickud!--An' my breath's so hot--
Ist like I run an' don't rest none
But ist run on when I ought to not;
Yes, an' my chin
An' lip's all warpy, an' my teeth's so fast,
An' 's a place in my throat I can't swaller past--
An' they all hurt so!--
An' oh, my--oh!
I'm a-startin' a'gin--
I'm a-startin ag'in, but I won't, fer shore!--
I ist ain't goin' to cry no more, no more!

FOOTNOTE:

[63] Used by special permission of the publishers, the Bobbs-Merrill
Company. From "His Pa's Romance," copyright, 1903.

BREAKING THE CHARM[64]

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

Caught Susanner whistlin'; well,
It's most nigh too good to tell.
'Twould 'a' b'en too good to see
Ef it hadn't b'en fur me,
Comin' up so soft an' sly
That she didn' hear me nigh.
I was pokin' round that day,
An' ez I come down the way,