Oh! work and play are very good,
  Work number one, you know;
Play number two has ever stood
  The best in this world’s show
    And it should be—­so! so! so!

Hence these young children played at work,
  And thus learnt to work well,
And now their duties they ne’er shirk,
  Which is all I’ve to tell,
    And you to—­spell! spell! spell!

Or, maybe, read and then to write,
  Until you know it through;
Which will to you give great delight,
  And mem’ry strengthen too,
    As you ought to—­do! do! do!

And, who knows, one day you may give
  Some stories to the young,
To make your name through ages live
  And loud your praises sung. 
    Keep your life well—­strung! strung! strung!

[Illustration:  The Little Soldiers]

’Tis said ’That he who fights and runs away Is sure to live to fight another day;’ But better to clear keep of ev’ry brawl, And then you’ll never have to fight at all.

THE LITTLE SOLDIERS.

Robert and Henry Graham were handsome, rich little fellows; but very fast and fond of imitating.  Indeed, they were more like little men than young boys.  And as their parents gave them plenty of pocket-money, they did many things that otherwise they would not have done.  Added to this, they were spoiled by their father.  You see, it’s generally ‘mother’ who does this; so for a wonder we’ll have a change.

Well, one day the two boys went to the family tailor, and Robert said, very big, “Haw! measure us for two suits of military clothes, officers’ ones, haw! and see that you send home with them at the same time—­swords, muskets, canes, sentry box, tents, and all, haw! necessarythings for playing at soldiers!”

Now, don’t let it slip out of your mind that a bit before this, the boys’ rich uncle had bought them some beautiful sets of boxes of soldiers.

When the clothes and other things came home, these young fellows, followed by the dog, which they called their army, dressed themselves, cleverly set up their tents, and went to work in good earnest.  Billy, the dog, sniffed at the butt of the musket to make quite sure that it was not loaded.  Robert put his glass to his right eye, and having posted Henry as a sentry, began to officer over, him, commanding him rather more than his brother liked.

It’s not a nice thing to see a soldier cry; but if you look at Harry, you will find that he feels hurt very much.

“Haw! hem! sir!” roared Robert, “with, haw! the help of my glass I see, haw! a speck of rust on one of your buttons, haw! as big as the tip of a fly’s eyelash!”

The dog at this set up a howl.  The howl called their mother’s attention to the garden, and then she saw them.  With a funny smile she took all their toy soldiers and walked to her children.

“Haw!  Pre-sent, Fire!” cried Bob.