Sid the Bareback-Rider;
    And—­oh-me-oh-my!—­
  Bub, the spruce Ring-master,
    Stepping round so spry!—­
  In his little waist-and-trousers
    All made in one,
  Was there a prouder youngster
    Under the sun!

  And NOW—­who will tell me,—­
    Where are they all? 
  Dunk’s a sanatorium doctor,
    Up at Waterfall;
  Sid’s a city street-contractor;
    Tom has fifty clerks;
  And Jamesy he’s the “Iron Magnate”
    Of “The Hecla Works.”

  And Bub’s old and bald now,
    Yet still he hangs on,—­
  Dan and Eck and “Little Mack,”
      Long, long gone! 
  But wasn’t it a good time,
      Long Time Ago—­
  When we all were little tads
      And first played “Show”!

* * * * *

A DIVERTED TRAGEDY

[Illustration]

  Gracie wuz allus a careless tot;
    But Gracie dearly loved her doll,
      An’ played wiv it on the winder-sill
  ’Way up-stairs, when she ought to not,
    An’ her muvver telled her so an’ all;
      But she won’t mind what she say—­till,
  First thing she know, her dolly fall
    Clean spang out o’ the winder plumb
      Into the street!  An’ here Grace come
  Down-stairs, two at a time, ist wild
  An’ a-screamin’, “Oh, my child! my child!”

[Illustration]

  Jule wuz a-bringin’ their basket o’ clo’es
    Ist then into their hall down there,—­
      An’ she ist stop’ when Gracie bawl,
    An’ Jule she say “She ist declare
  She’s ist in time!” An’ what you s’pose? 
      She sets her basket down in the hall,
  An’ wite on top o’ the snowy clo’es
    Wuz Gracie’s dolly a-layin’ there
      An’ ist ain’t bu’st ner hurt a-tall!

[Illustration]

  Nen Gracie smiled—­ist sobbed an’ smiled—­
  An’ cried, “My child! my precious child!”

* * * * *

THE RAMBO-TREE

  When Autumn shakes the rambo-tree—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard!—­
  The bird sings low as the bumble-bee—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard!—­
  The poor shote-pig he says, says he: 
  “When Autumn shakes the rambo-tree
  There’s enough for you and enough for me.”—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard.

  For just two truant lads like we,
  When Autumn shakes the rambo-tree
  There’s enough for you and enough for me—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard.

  When Autumn shakes the rambo-tree—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard!—­
  The mole digs out to peep and see—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard!—­
  The dusk sags down, and the moon swings free,
  There’s a far, lorn call, “Pig-gee!  ’Pig-gee!”
  And two boys—­glad enough for three.—­
    It’s a long, sweet way across the orchard.