The Barefoot Time Part 5

When the moon is bright a-shinin' an' a-sparkle is the snow, 'Tis the plainest invitation just invitin' one to go For a rollic an' a frolic 'hind a pair of prancin' steeds,-- The very kind of tonic that a tired body needs,-- How the jingle, An' the ringle, In the crisp an' frosty air, An' the tingle, Jingle, tingle, Hypnotizes anxious care!

E'en the stars are all a-twinkle! Hear the merry coasters shout!

Happiness is everywhere a-lyin' loose about!

Everybody is as joyful as a new-anointed king,-- Age an' wrinkles hide their faces while the magic sleighbells ring,-- Hark! the jingle, An' the ringle,-- It just sets your soul a-rhyme With the tingle, Jingle, tingle, Of the magic sleighbells' chime!

PROTECTED

I've built a wall about me, To keep all foes without,-- Anxiety, with all her train, And the grim monster, Doubt!

You ask my name? 'Tis Happiness, With which no foe can cope!

The wall I've built cannot be scaled,-- Its quarried blocks are Hope.

GRANDMOTHER'S St.i.tCHES

What had happened to Emily Foote?

Every b.u.t.ton was gone from her boot!

She noticed that morning that _one_ was loose; "I'll fix it at bedtime!" Ah, little the use!

"Remember my st.i.tches," grandmother said, As she kindly nodded her dear, wise head.

"A 'corner rent' in my dress, that's all,"

And Mary ran for her cap and shawl.

"I'll mend it soon--now there isn't _time_!"

How she wished she'd heeded her grandmother's rhyme!

The rent grew long and ever so wide, And kept her at home from the picnic ride.

Teddy was playing with ball and bat.

"I've started a st.i.tch!" "Oh, never mind that,"

Answered his chum, jolly Archibald May, "'Twill last as long as we want to play!"

"But grandmother says--" "Oh, bother such things!"

So soon, the ball was but leather and strings.

And grandmother's st.i.tches--yours and mine?

"A st.i.tch in _time_, my dear, saves _nine_!"

FOUR TO ONE

"I'm sorry," said Mary, "it's rainy to-day; When _I_ want it pleasant it's always the way; It rains, rains, rains!"

"To-day I can finish my book," said Dean; "It's the jolliest one I ever have seen; For it rains, rains, rains!"

"It will fill up the swimming-hole, p'r'aps," said Ted.

"I can dive like a frog if it's over my head; Glad it rains, rains, rains!"

"To-day," said Herr Steuber, "my plants I'll set out; I feared they would die because of the drought.

Ha! it rains, rains, rains!"

"The weather'll be cooler, and Aunt Polly Haynes May get over her fever," said Lou, "if it rains-- If it rains, rains, rains!"

"I am so glad since such good can be done,"

Said Mary, her face bright as yesterday's sun, "That it rains, rains, rains!"

THE NEW GLa.s.sES

The queerest thing happened ('twas not long ago), To Miss Betty Pringle. Perhaps you don't know That it made little difference what came to her sight, There never was anything really quite right!

The gra.s.s was too green, and the sky was too gray, And the wind never blew in a suitable way,-- If it came from the east it was brewing a storm, If it blew from the south 'twas oppressively warm!

If the sun shone at all, it was always too bright, And she wished it would hurry and set for the night.

If a friend came to see her with something new on, 'Twas "to show off her gewgaws, as sure's you are born;"

If a package were left in which dainties were found, She knew that her friend had an axe to be ground.

And so it went on for a twelvemonth or more, Till a queer little stranger appeared at her door, With a case of new gla.s.ses of marvellous power, That would change one's whole vision in less than an hour!

At his rat-a-tat-tat! Betty Pringle came out, Much surprised at her brisk little caller, no doubt!

"Good morning, my lady!" he said with a smile.

"No, no; I'll not step in--it's hardly worth while.

I've heard that your gla.s.ses (I cannot tell where) Are of a very poor make--p'r'aps you'd like a new pair."

And will you believe it, new ones she did take, In exchange for her own of the "fault-finding make"!

And now Betty's happy's a queen need to be, For the beauty about her she's able to see!

THE TWO WAYS

The ways diverged--I wondered which I'd take, And as I paused, I watched the people throng Out of the Somewhere, each with hurrying feet,-- To right, to left, they hastened all day long!

They bore a heavy burden as they pa.s.sed, (With every single one it was the same), And each was plainly marked, so all could read (I marvelled greatly at the fact), "My Aim."

And those who took the beaten path, I saw Soon laid their burden down and gazed around.

Allured by vain enticements all about, They left their "Aim" forgotten on the ground!

But those who took the other way pressed on, Nor feared for pleasure's sake their "Aim" to lose,-- I now perceived this path was Duty, so No longer pondered which I ought to choose.

A WISE WAITING

A blushing little Mayflower Turned away her head, Too polite to let a weed Hear a word she said.