Quick over the pot; "It's boiling hot--
It'll maybe cook him, and maybe not,"
He cried in glee,
"But I'll let him be,
And when it is dinner-time I'll see!"

That day he dined quite to his mind;
And he mused to himself, "I'm half inclined
To think, by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin,
That _this_ is the best way to take wolves in!"

GOODY TWO-SHOES.

Versified by Mrs. Clara Doty Bates.

Two-Shoes, Two-Shoes,
Little Goody Two-Shoes!
Do you know about her? Well,
I'm ready now to tell
How the little creature came
By so odd a name.

It was very long ago,
In the days of good Queen Bess,
When upon the cold world's care,
Fatherless and motherless,

There were thrown two helpless ones,
Destitute as they could be;
Tom, they called the little boy,
And the girl was Margery.

Many a day they cried for food
When the cup-board shelves were bare;
Many an hour they roamed the streets
Scarcely knowing why or where.

As to kindred, all were dead;
As to shelter, they had none;
As to shoes, Tom had a pair;
Little Margery had but one!

One-Shoe, One-Shoe,
Think of Little One-Shoe!
Think how never a pretty boot
Was buttoned on the tender foot;
Nor yet a slipper, fairy-light,
With dainty knot or buckle bright!

But above our human woes
Bends an always loving Heaven;
And to every hungry cry
Is there somewhere answer given.

Kind eyes watched the wandering ones,
Pitied their forlorn distress;
Grieved to note Tom's ragged coat,
And Margery's tattered dress.

'Twas the village clergyman,
And he sought them tenderly,
Gave them warm, soft clothes to wear.
Ordered shoes for Margery.

"Two shoes, two shoes,
Oh, see my two shoes!"
So did little Margery cry,
When the cobbler came to try
If they fitted trim and neat
On the worn and tired feet:
That is how and why she came
By so strange a name.

Tom went off to London town;
Margery went to village school;
Apt she was, and quick to learn,
Docile to the simplest rule.

Out from the long alphabet
Letters looked at her and smiled,
Almost seemed to nod and speak,
Glad to know so bright a child,

Ranged themselves in winsome words;
Then in sentences. Indeed,
Quite before she knew the fact,
Margery had learned to read.

Two-Shoes, Two-Shoes,