Part 25 (1/2)

BY MARGARET SIDNEY.

They all said ”No!”

As they stood in a row, The poodle, and the parrot, and the little yellow cat, And they looked very solemn, This straight, indignant column, And rolled their eyes, and shook their heads, a-standing on the mat.

Then I took a goodly stick, Very short and very thick, And I said, ”Dear friends, you really now shall rue it, For one of you did take That bit of wedding-cake, And so I'm going to whip you all. I honestly will do it.”

Then Polly raised her claw!

”I never, never saw That stuff. _I'd_ rather have a cracker, And so it would be folly,”

Said this naughty, naughty Polly, ”To punish me; but p.u.s.s.y, you can whack her.”

The cat rolled up her eyes In innocent surprise, And waved each trembling whisker end.

”A crumb I have not taken, But Bose ought to be shaken.

And then, perhaps, his thieving, awful ways he'll mend.”

”I'll begin right here With you, Polly, dear,”

And my stick I raised with righteous good intent.

”Oh, dear!” and ”Oh, dear!”

The groans that filled my ear.

As over head and heels the frightened column went!

The cat flew out of window, The dog flew under bed, And Polly flapped and beat the air, Then settled on my head; When underneath her wing, From feathered corner deep, A bit of wedding-cake fell down, That made poor Polly weep.

The cat raced off to cat-land, and was never seen again, And the dog sneaked out beneath the bed to scud with might and main; While Polly sits upon her roost, and rolls her eyes in fear, And when she sees a bit of cake, she always says, ”Oh, dear!”

KITTEN TACTICS.

BY ADELAIDE CILLEY WALDRON.

Four little kittens in a heap, One wide awake and three asleep.

Open-eyes crowded, pushed the rest over, While the gray mother-cat went playing rover.

Three little kittens stretched and mewed; Cried out, ”Open-eyes, you're too rude!”

Open-eyes, winking, purred so demurely, All the rest stared at him, thinking ”surely

_We_ were the ones that were so rude, _We_ were the ones that cried and mewed; Let us lie here like good little kittens; We cannot sleep, so we'll wash our mittens.”

Four little kittens, very sleek, Purred so demurely, looked so meek, When the gray mother came home from roving-- ”What good kittens!” said she; ”and how loving!”

BOTH SIDES.

BY GAIL HAMILTON.

”Kitty, Kitty, you mischievous elf, What have you, pray, to say for yourself?”

But Kitty was now Asleep on the mow, And only drawled dreamily, ”Ma-e-ow!”

”Kitty, Kitty, come here to me,-- The naughtiest Kitty I ever did see!

I know very well what you've been about; Don't try to conceal it, murder will out.

Why do you lie so lazily there?”

”Oh, I have had a breakfast rare!”

”Why don't you go and hunt for a mouse?”

”Oh, there's nothing fit to eat in the house.”