A Jolly Jingle-Book | Page 3

little
maiden,--and this is what she said:
"Oh, what's the use of houses? I
think it is a sin
To take a lot of boards and bricks and shut the
outdoors in!"
[Illustration: An Outdoor Girl]

THE BEDTIME STORY-BOOK
There's something very, very queer
About a story-book,
No matter
what's the time of year,
Nor where you chance to look;
No matter when it is begun,
How many pages read,
The very best of
all the fun
Comes just the time for bed,
When mother whispers in your ear:
"'Tis almost eight--just look!

Now finish up your chapter, dear,
And put away your book."
The minutes almost seem to race
When it is growing late;
The very
most exciting place
Is just half after eight.
[Illustration: The Bedtime Story-Book]
THE BROWNIES
The little Bad Luck Brownies,
They cry and pout and frown;
They
pucker up a crying-mouth,
And pull the corners down;
They blot
the smile from every face
And hush the happy song--
The little Bad
Luck Brownies
That make the world go wrong!
The little Good Luck Brownies,
They sing and laugh and shout;
If
any cloud of trouble comes,
They turn it inside out
To show the
silver lining
That's always, always there,--
The little Good Luck
Brownies
That make the world so fair!
[Illustration: Bad Luck and Good Luck Brownies]
HER ANSWER
It was an easy question and Margie thought it so,
An easy one to
answer, as any one would know.
She smiled and smiled again as it
hung upon the wall:
"In going to school what do you like the very
best of all?" Then grew a little sober as she began to write,
With

wrinkles on her forehead and lips a little tight.
She wrote her answer
carefully, with look so grave and wise, She minded all her capitals and
dotted all her I's,
She crossed her T's precisely, she smiled a little
more
At all the pleasant images the pleasant question bore
Of all
the merry, laughing hours, and all the joyous play-- "The thing I like
the best of all in school--a holiday."
SIDNEY DAYRE.
A TROUBLESOME DAUGHTER
Angelica Sue is the carelessest child!
The trouble she makes me is
perfectly fearful.
I told her this morning, but she only smiled,
And
swung in her hammock, and looked just as cheerful.
I'm sure I should
feel I had nothing to do,
If some one adopted Angelica Sue.
It's always Angelica falls in the dust,
Angelica's frock that gets torn
on the fences,
The other dolls sit as I tell them they must,
But when
she comes out, then the trouble commences.
Wherever I go, or
whatever I do,
She's sure to be with me--Angelica Sue.
Oh, nobody knows how I work for that child!
But once, when I spoke
of her ways to my brother,
He said, and he looked at us both, and he
smiled,
"Angelica Susan takes after her mother!"
I've wondered
since then if it really can be
Angelica Sue is a little like me.
HANNAH G. FERNALD.
THE RACE
Across the field and down the hill
I ran a race with Cousin Will,

And lost my shoe, I ran so fast,
And that is why I came in last.
But Cousin Will would try once more
Across the field down to the
shore.
This time all would have ended well,
Only I stubbed my toe
and fell.

And then we raced across the yard,
And though I ran as swift and
hard
As Cousin Will, yet some way he
Got to the place ahead of
me.
Will says to lose is no disgrace,
That trying really makes a race.

Twas trying, he says, made the fun,
That all we wanted was the run.
ALICE TURNER CURTIS.
A BIG PLAYFELLOW
It's lots of fun down in the grass,
A-watching all the things that pass!

You won't come too? I wonder why
It's fun a-playing with the sky!
I guess you are too tall to see;
If you would come down here with me,

And just _ungrow_ a little, you
Could see just what you wanted to.
Such big cloud-ships with sails spread out
To catch the breeze that's
all about!
And big gray birds with soft cloud-wings,
And wolves
and bears and tiger things!
Just lying down here in the grass,
I've seen about a million pass;

They creep and run and sail and fly--
It's fun a-playing with the sky!
[Illustration: A Big Playfellow]
HAYING TIME
In haying-time my grandpa says
I'm lots of use to him;
I take my
nice new wheelbarrow
and fill it to the brim;
The big team comes
out, too, and
takes the hay-cocks one by one,
And that and my new
wheelbarrow
soon get the haying done.
F. LILEY-YOUNG.
NOBODY

"Nobody b'oke it! It cracked itself;
It was clear 'way up on the toppest
shelf.
I--p'rhaps the kitty-cat knows!"
Says poor little Ned,
With
his ears as red
As the heart of a damask rose.
_Nobody_ lost it. I carefully
Put my cap just where it ought to be

(No, 'tisn't ahind the door),
And it went and hid,
Why, of course it
did,
For I've hunted an hour or more.
"_Nobody tore it_! You know things will
Tear if you're sitting just
stock stone still!
I was just jumping over the fence--
There's some
spikes on top,
And you have