Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building Part 32

Then the Critical Owl With a guttural growl, Or a noise which was something near it, Stood up and observed: "All summer long From dusk till day you have sung that song-- And why should we _pay_ to hear it?"

So they all marched out In a regular rout, With remarks most decidedly chilling, And every one, as he pa.s.sed the stand Where the Muskrat kept all the cash in hand, Demanded and _got_ his shilling!

And the luckless Frog, In the lonesome Bog, Relapsed into deep dejection; As he broods alone on his dismal case And sings all night in a booming ba.s.s, "_Ger-rump_" is his one selection.

The Musical Trust

By D. K. Stevens

There was once a man who could execute "Old Zip c.o.o.n" on a yellow flute, And several other tunes to boot, But he couldn't make a penny with his tootle-ti-toot Tootle-ootle-_oot_le--tootle-ti-toot!

Tootle-ootle-_oot_le--tootle-ti-toot!

Though he played all day on his yellow flute, He couldn't make a penny with his tootle-ti-toot.

One day he met a singular Quaint old man with a big tu_ba_, Who said: "I've travelled wide and far But I haven't made a penny with my _oom_-pah-pah."

_Oom_-pah! _Oom_-pah! _Oom_-pah-pah!

_Oom_-pah! _Oom_-pah! _Oom_-pah-pah!

Though he played all day on his big tu_ba_ He couldn't make a penny with his _oom_-pah-pah.

Then they met two men who were hammering On a big ba.s.s drum and a cymbal thing, Who said: "We've banged since early spring And we haven't made a penny with our boom-zing-zing."

_Boom_-zing! _Boom_-zing! _Boom_-zing-zing!

_Boom_-b-b-_boom_-boom--zing-zing!

Though the banged on the drum and the cymbal thing They couldn't make a penny with their _boom_-zing-zing.

So the man with the flute Played tootle-ti-toot, And the other man he played _oom_-pah, While the men with the drum and the cymbal thing Went: _boom_-b-b-_boom_-boom--zing-zing!

And they travelled wide and far.

Together they made the welkin ring With a Tootle-ootle! _Oom_-pah! _Boom_-zing-zing!

Tootle-ootle! _Oom_-pah! _Boom_-zing-zing!

Tootle-ootle! _Oom_-pah! _Boom_-zing-zing!

And Oh! the pennies the people fling!

When they hear the tootle-_oom_-pah-_boom_-zing-zing!

Katherine Maynadier Browne

The Cautious Cat

by D.K. Stevens

A Cautious Cat And a Reckless Rat Went to sea with an Innocent Lamb.

They sailed in a yawl With nothing at all To eat but a Sugar-cured Ham.

The wind blew high In a sky-blue sky, At a rate they had never foreseen.

The wind blew low, And the wind also Blew a little bit in between-- Just a little bit in between.

Said the Cautious Cat To the Reckless Rat, Likewise to the Innocent Lamb: "We'll tack this smack And sail right back To send a Mar-coni-o-gram.

For the winds might blow Both high and low And I wouldn't care a Lima Bean, But I never can sail When the ocean gale Blows a little bit in between-- Just a little bit in between.

"Of course with me You will never agree,"

Said the Cat to the Rat and the Lamb, "But if you balk You will have to walk,-- That's the kind of kitten I am!"

So they sailed right back On the larboard tack To the nearest port of call, And the Reckless Rat Let it go at that, While the Lamb said nothing at all-- Said nothing--whatever--at all.

Katherine Maynadier Browne

THREE LITTLE BEARS

BY M. C. McNEILL

Three little bears came into the town.

"How do you do?" said everybody.

Their faces were smiling, with never a frown.

"How sweet!" said everybody.

The three little bears made three little bows.

"How very polite!" said everybody.

They bowed as boys bow in dancing-school.

"What airs and what grace!" said everybody.

One little bear had a little red coat.

"How smart!" said everybody.

One had a tippet all made of soft down.

"How cozy and warm!" said everybody.

And one was a fiddler of great renown.

"What charming music!" said everybody.

The three little bears began then to dance.

"How cute!" said everybody.

"What do you want, you little black bears With manners so nice?" said everybody.

"I don't like to be a fool, so I want to go to school,"

Said the red-coated bear to everybody.

Then Tommy Perkins, making a bow, Right in front of everybody, Took down his book and his slate as well, And began to explain to everybody Just what the little black bears should do To read and to cipher like everybody.

"Sit up quite straight, and mind your stops; Say, 'A, B, C,' for everybody."

"A, B, C," said the three little bears, All in one voice, to everybody.

"A, B, C! What fiddle-dee-dee!"

Was whispered aloud by everybody.

"I want to count," said one little bear.

"One! Two! Three! Four!" shouted everybody.

"We're not at all deaf!" said the three little bears.

"Oh! I beg your pardon!" said everybody.

"We'd like to learn manners," said the three little bears; "And we'd like to learn from everybody, But every one hasn't fine manners," they said.

"Some have very bad manners," said everybody.

"What manners you have may be better than ours,"

Said the three little bears to everybody, "For we live in the wood--which no manners requires."

"Then how did you learn?" said everybody.