Just then, up through the silverware
    The rocket thundered, flaring! 
  The Burglar got a dreadful scare;
    Then out the door went tearing.

[Illustration:  SIXTH FLAT]

SEVENTH FLAT

  Miss Mamie Briggs with no mean skill
    Was playing “Casey’s Fling”
  To please her cousin, Amos Gill,
    Who liked that sort of thing,

  When suddenly the rocket, hot,
    The old piano jumbled! 
  It stopped that rag-time like a shot,
    Then through the ceiling rumbled.

[Illustration:  Seventh flat]

EIGHTH FLAT

  Up through the next floor on its way
    That rocket, dread, went tearing
  Where Winkle stood in bath-robe, gay,
    A tepid bath preparing.

  The tub it punctured like a shot
    And made a mighty splashing. 
  The man was rooted to the spot;
    Then out the door went dashing.

[Illustration:  Eighth flat]

NINTH FLAT

  Bob Brooks was puffing very hard
    His football to inflate,
  While round him stood his faithful guard,
    And they could hardly wait.

  Then came the rocket, fierce and bright,
    And through the football rumbled. 
  “You’ve got a pair of lungs, all right!”
    His staring playmates grumbled.

[Illustration:  NINTH FLAT]

TENTH FLAT

  The family dog, with frenzied mien,
    Was chasing Fluff, the mouser,
  When, poof! the rocket flashed between,
    And quite astonished Towzer.

  Now, if this dog had wit enough
    The English tongue to torture,
  He might have growled such silly stuff
    As, “Whew! that cat’s a scorcher!”

[Illustration:  TENTH FLAT]

ELEVENTH FLAT

  While Carrie Cook sat with a book
    The phonograph played sweetly. 
  Then came the rocket and it smashed
    That instrument completely.

  Fair Carrie promptly turned her head,
    Attracted by the roar. 
  “Dear me, I never heard,” she said,
    “That record played before!”

[Illustration:  Eleventh flat]

TWELFTH FLAT

  De Vere was searching for a match
    To light a cigarette,
  But failed to find one with despatch,
    Which threw him in a pet.

  Just then the rocket flared up bright
    Before his face and crackled,
  Supplying him the needed light—­
    “Thanks, awfully,” he cackled.

[Illustration:  Twelfth flat]

THIRTEENTH FLAT