The skies are dimming; the birds fly low,
Skimming and swimming, their wings are slow;
They float, they are carried, they scarcely go.

The dead leaves hurry; the waters, too,
Flurry and scurry, as if they knew

A storm was at hand; the smoke is blue.

LILLIPUT LEVEE.

* 64 *

THE WATCH-DOG.

"Bow, wow, wow!"

'Tis the great watch-dog,

66

I know by his honest bark:

'Bow, wow, wow!"

Says the great watch-dog

When he hears a foot in the dark.

Not a breath can stir

But he's up with a whir,1

And a big bow-wow gives he;

And, with tail on end,

He'll the house defend

Far better than lock or key.

When we sleep sound,
He takes his round,

A sentry 2 o'er us all:

1 whir, whirl, a turning about quickly. 2 sentry, soldier on guard.

Through the long dark night,
Till broad daylight,

He scares the thieves from the wall.

But through the whole day
With the children he'll play,

And gambol' in the sun;
On his back astride

They may safely ride,

For well he loves their fun.

By all he's known

To be true to the bone;2

No flattering tongue has he;

And we may all learn

From the great watch-dog

Both faithful and fond to be.

* 65 *

A. SMART.

THE CLUCKING HEN.

"WILL you take a walk with me,
My little wife, to-day?
There's barley in the barley field,
And hay-seed in the hay."

"Oh, thank you!" said the clucking hen;

"I've something else to do;

I'm busy sitting on my eggs;
I cannot walk with you."

1 gambol, frisk, sport.

2 thoroughly faithful, -to the backbone, as it were.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck!"

Said the clucking hen;

"My little chicks will soon be hatched;

I'll think about it then."

The clucking hen sat on her nest,-
She made it in the hay,

And warm and snug beneath her breast
A dozen white eggs lay.

"Crack, crack!" went all the eggs;
Out dropped the chickens small.
"Cluck!" said the clucking hen;
"Now I have you all.

"Come along, my little chicks,
I'll take a walk with you."
"Hollo!" said the barn-door cock;

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

AUNT EFFIE'S RHYMES.

* 66 *

FREDDIE AND THE CHERRY-TREE.

FREDDIE saw some fine ripe cherries
Hanging on a cherry-tree,

And he said, "You pretty cherries,
Will you not come down to me?"

"Thank you kindly," said a Cherry ;
"We would rather stay up here:
If we ventured down this morning,
You would eat us up, I fear."

One

the finest of the cherries
Dangled from a slender twig:
"You are beautiful," said Freddie;
"Red and ripe, and, oh, how big!"

"Catch me," said the Cherry, "catch me,
Little master, if you can!"

"I would catch you soon," said Freddie,
"If I were a grown-up man."

Freddie jumped, and tried to reach it,
Standing high upon his toes;
But the Cherry bobbed about,

And laughed, and tickled Freddie's nose.

"Never mind!" said little Freddie,

"I shall have them when it's right:" But a Blackbird whistled boldly,

"I shall eat them all to-night."

* 67 *

AUNT EFFIE'S RHYMES.

THE ANT AND THE CRICKET.

A SILLY young Cricket, accustomed to sing Through the warm sunny months of the summer and spring,

Began to complain when he found that at home His cupboard' was empty, and winter was come. Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-covered ground;

1 cupboard (pronounced 'kub'burd').

Not a flower could he see,

Not a leaf on a tree:

"Oh! what will become," said the Cricket, "of me?"

At last, by starvation and famine made bold,
All dripping with wet, and trembling with cold,
Away he set off to a miserly Ant,

To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant
A shelter from rain,

And a mouthful of grain.

He wished only to borrow,
And repay it to-morrow;

If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.

Said the Ant to the Cricket, "I'm your servant and

friend;

But we ants never borrow, we ants never lend.

But tell me, dear sir, did you lay nothing by
When the weather was warm ?

"Not I!

My heart was so light

Said the Cricket,

That I sang day and night,
For all nature looked gay."

“You sang, sir, you say?

Go then," said the Ant, "and dance winter away."
Thus ending, he hastily opened the wicket,
And out of the door turned the poor little Cricket.

Though this is a fable, the moral is good:

If you live without work, you will go without

food.