bit av a curve,
An' some kyears went off as they made the swerve.
"There's nobody hurted," sez Finnigin,
"But repoorts must be made to Flannigan,"
An' he winked at McGorrigan
As married a Finnigin.

He wus shantyin' thin, wuz Finnigin,
As minny a railroader's been agin,
An' the shmoky ol' lamp wuz burnin' bright
In Finnigin's shanty all that night--
Bilin' down his repoort, wuz Finnigin.
An' he writed this here: "Muster Flannigan:
Off agin, on agin,
Gone agin.--Finnigin."

FOOTNOTE:

[68] By permission of the author.

GAVROCHE AND THE ELEPHANT[69]

VICTOR HUGO

[A story of how Gavroche, a street gamin of Paris, uses for a home
the monument built in the form of a huge elephant, which Napoleon
Bonaparte erected in 1823.]

The forest has a bird. Paris a child. The bird is called a sparrow. The
child--a gamin. This little being is joyous; he has not food every day;
no shoes on his feet; not much clothing on his body. He runs, he swears
like a convict, he haunts all the wine shops, knows all the thieves--but
he has no evil in his heart. Little Gavroche was one of these. He had
been dispatched into life with a kick and had simply taken flight. The
pavements were less hard to him than his mother's heart.

One evening, little Gavroche was skipping along an alley, hands in his
pockets and singing merrily, when he came upon a young man who had a
wild, happy look in his eye, but no hat on his head.

"Whoa there, monsieur, where's your roof? You've got enough light in
them blinkers of yours to light up my apartments--say, monsieur, you're
either crazy or you've had an awful good time!"

"Be off with you, imp."

"Say, did you know there wus a goin' ter be war in this town in a few
days and I'm goin' to enlist as general of the
army--Forward--March--Say, monsieur, I believe I know you, yes, sir,
I've seen you down in that Napoleon meetin' way down there in that
cellar--"

"Oh, be off with you, imp!"

"Yes, sir, I'm goin' now. Sorry I can't walk with you further, but
business calls me in the other direction.

"Good evenin', monsieur--Watch out there. Can't ye see where yer goin'?
Little more an' ye'd been eatin' the dandelions! Good evenin',
monsieur!"

A little further down the street, Gavroche was standing scrutinizing a
shop window, when two little children came up to him crying.

"What's the matter with you, brat