John B. Tabb.

_Lost_

"_Lock the dairy door!_" Oh, hark, the cock is crowing proudly!
"_Lock the dairy door!_" and all the hens are cackling loudly:
"_Chickle, chackle, chee,_" they cry; "_we haven't got the key,_"
they cry;
"_Chickle, chackle, chee! Oh, dear, wherever can it be!_" they cry.

Up and down the garden walks where all the flowers are blowing,
Out about the golden fields where tall the wheat is growing,
Through the barn and up the road they cackle and they chatter:
Cry the children, "Hear the hens! Why, what can be the matter?"

What scraping and what scratching, what bristling and what hustling;
The cock stands on the fence, the wind his ruddy plumage rustling;
Like a soldier grand he stands, and like a trumpet glorious
Sounds his shout both far and near, imperious and victorious.

But to partlets down below, who cannot find the key, they hear,
"_Lock the dairy door!_" That's all his challenge says to them,
my dear.
Why they had it, how they lost it, must remain a mystery;
I that tell you, never heard the first part of the history.

But if you will listen, dear, next time the cock crows proudly,
"_Lock the dairy door!_" you'll hear him tell the biddies loudly:
"_Chickle, chackle, chee,_" they cry; "_we haven't got the key!_"
they cry;
"_Chickle, chackle, chee! Oh, dear, wherever can it be!_" they cry.

Celia Thaxter.

_Extremes_[6]

I

A little boy once played so loud
That the Thunder, up in a thunder-cloud,
Said, "Since _I_ can't be heard, why, then,
I'll never, never thunder again!"

II

And a little girl once kept so still
That she heard a fly on the window-sill
Whisper and say to a lady-bird,--
"She's the stilliest child I ever heard!"

James Whitcomb Riley.

[Footnote 6: _From "The Book of Joyous Children," copyright 1902, by
Chas. Scribner's Sons._]

_The Dream of a Girl Who Lived at Seven-Oaks_

Seven sweet singing birds up in a tree;
Seven swift sailing-ships white upon the sea;
Seven bright weather-cocks shining in the sun;
Seven slim race-horses ready for a run;
Seven gold butterflies, flitting overhead;
Seven red roses blowing in a garden bed;
Seven white lilies, with honey bees inside them;
Seven ro