very small!
And feel his muscle, will you?
And tell him, if you dare,
That he's the sort of fellow
To get a fall, or scare?

They got him a velocipede;
I really do not know
How they could ever do it,
But then, he teased them so,
And so abused their patience,
And dulled their nerves of right,
That they just lost their senses
And brought it home one night.

They bought him a velocipede--
O woe the day and hour!
When proudly seated on it,
In pomp of pride and power,
His foot upon the treadle,
With motion staid and slow
He turned upon his axle,
And made the big thing go.

Alas, for the velocipede!
The way ran down a hill--
The whirling wheels went faster,
And fast, and faster still,
Until, like flash of rocket,
Or shooting star at night,
They crossed the dim horizon
And rattled out of sight.

So vanished the velocipede,
With him who rode thereon;
And no one, since that dreadful day,
Has found out where 'tis gone!
Except a floating rumor
Which some stray wind doth blow.
When the long nights of winter
Are white with frost and snow,
Of a small fleeting shadow,
That seems to run astray
Upon a pair of flying wheels,
Along the Milky Way.

And this they think is Teddy!
Doomed for all time to speed--
A wretched little phantom boy,
On a velocipede!

M.E.B.

[Illustration]

JOJO'S PETITION.

Golden-haired Jojo, at his mother's knee,
Nestles each night his baby prayer to say:
"Bless papa and mamma! make Ned and me
Good little boys!" he has been taught to pray.

Grandmamma was very sick one weary day,
And Jojo shared with us our anxious care;
So the dear child, when he knelt down to pray,
Seemed to think Grandma must be in his prayer.

And sure the dear Lord did not fail to hear
Sharer alike of sorrows and of joys--
When he said, "Bless papa and my mamma dear,
And make me an' Gran'ma an' Neddy good boys!"

RUTH HALL.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BOYS***

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