Part 11 (1/2)

I s.h.i.+pped aboard the _Lizzie_--or she might ha' bin the _Jane;_ Them wimmin names are mixey, so I don't remember plain; But anyhow, she were a craft that carried schooner rig, (Although Sam Swab, the bo'sun, allus swore she were a brig); We sailed away from Salem Town,--no, lemme think;--'t were _Lynn_,-- An' steered a course for Africa (or Greece, it might ha' bin); But anyway, we tacked an' backed an' weathered many a storm-- Oh, no,--as I recall it now, that week was fine an' warm!

Who did I say the cap'n was? I _didn't_ say at all?

Wa-a-ll now, his name were 'Lijah Bell--or was it Eli Ball?

I kinder guess 't were Eli. He'd a big, red, bushy beard-- No-o-o, come to think, he allus kept _his_ whiskers nicely sheared.

But anyhow, that voyage was the first I'd ever took, An' all I had to do was cut up cabbage for the cook; But come to talk o' cabbage just reminds me,--that there trip Would prob'ly be my _third_ one, on a Hong Kong clipper-s.h.i.+p.

The crew they were a jolly lot, an' used to sing '_Avast_,'

I think it were, or else '_Ahoy_,' while bailing out the mast.

And as I recollect it now,--”

But here I cut him short, And said: ”It's time to tack again, and bring your wits to port; I came to get a story both adventurous and _true_, And here is how I started out to write the interview: 'I saw a _certain_ sailorman,' but you turn out to be The most _un_-certain sailorman that ever sailed the sea!”

He puffed his pipe, and answered, ”Wa-a-ll, I _thought_ 'twere mine, but still, _I must ha' told the one belongs to my twin brother Bill_!”

_Frederick Moxon._

BALLAD OF THE PRIMITIVE JEST

I am an ancient Jest!

Paleolithic man In his arboreal nest The sparks of fun would fan; My outline did he plan, And laughed like one possessed, 'Twas thus my course began, I am a Merry Jest.

I am an early Jest!

Man delved and built and span; Then wandered South and West The peoples Aryan, _I_ journeyed in their van; The Semites, too, confessed,-- From Beersheba to Dan,-- I am a Merry Jest.

I am an ancient Jest, Through all the human clan, Red, black, white, free, oppressed, Hilarious I ran!

I'm found in Lucian, In Poggio, and the rest, I'm dear to Moll and Nan!

I am a Merry Jest!

|envoy|:

Prince, you may storm and ban-- Joe Millers _are_ a pest, Suppress me if you can!

I am a Merry Jest!

_Andrew Lang._

VILLANELLE OF THINGS AMUSING

These are the things that make me laugh-- Life's a preposterous farce, say I!