s so!
Mebbe he did--
I dunno!
O' course what's a-keepin' me 'way from the top,
Is not never havin' no blacksmithing shop.

She said 'at Ben Franklin was awfully poor,
But full of ambition an' brains;
An' studied philosophy all his hull life,
An' see what he got for his pains!
He brought electricity out of the sky,
With a kite an' a bottle an' key,
An' we're owing him more 'n any one else
For all the bright lights 'at we see.
Jane Jones she honestly said it was so!
Mebbe he did--
I dunno!
O' course what's allers been hinderin' me
Is not havin' any kite, lightning, er key.

Jane Jones said Abe Lincoln had no books at all
An' used to split rails when a boy;
An' General Grant was a tanner by trade
An' lived way out in Ill'nois.
So when the great war in the South first broke out
He stood on the side o' the right,
An' when Lincoln called him to take charge o' things
He won nearly every blamed fight.
Jane Jones she honestly said it was so!
Mebbe he did--
I dunno!
Still I ain't to blame, not by a big sight,
For I ain't never had any battles to fight.

She said 'at Columbus was out at the knees
When he first thought up his big scheme,
An' told all the Spaniards 'nd Italians, too,
An' all of 'em said 'twas a dream.
But Queen Isabella jest listened to him,
'Nd pawned all her jewels o' worth,
'Nd bought him the Santa Maria 'nd said,
"Go hunt up the rest o' the earth!"
Jane Jones she honestly said it was so!
Mebbe he did--
I dunno!
O' course that may be, but then you must allow
They ain't no land to discover jest now!

FOOTNOTE:

[71] By permission of the author and Forbes & Co., publishers.

KNEE-DEEP IN JUNE[72]

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Tell you what I like the best--
'Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strawberries melt
On the vine,--some afternoon
Like to jes' git out and rest,
And not work at nothin' else!

Orchard's where I'd ruther be--
Needn't fence it in fer me!
Jes' the whole sky overhead,
And the whole airth underneath--
Sorto' so's a man kin breathe
Like he ort, and kind o' has
Elbow-room to keerlessly