t), and some chopped shalot,
And some sage and parsley, too.

"'Come here,' says he, with a proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell,
''T will soothing be if I let you see
How extremely nice you'll smell.'

"And he stirred it round and round and round
And he sniffed at the foaming froth;
When I ups with his heels and smothers his squeals
In the scum of the boiling broth.

"And I eat that cook in a week or less,
And--as I eating be
The last of his chops, why, I almost drops,
For a wessel in sight I see!

* * * * *

"'And I never larf, and never smile,
And I never lark nor play,
But sit and croak, and a single joke
I have--which is to say:

"'Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig!'"

375

John T. Trowbridge (1827-1916) is one of the
important figures in modern literature for
young folks. He wrote a popular series of books
for them beginning with _Cudjo's Cave_, and
many poems, the most famous of which are "The
Vagabonds" and the one given below.
Trowbridge's autobiography will interest
children with its story of a literary life
devoted to the problems of their entertainment.
"Darius Green and His Flying Machine" first
appeared in _Our Young Folks_ in 1867. It is to
be read for its fun--fun of dialect, fun of
character, and fun of incident. If it has any
lesson, it must be that dreamers may come to
grief unless they have some plain practical
common sense to balance their enthusiasm!

DARIUS GREEN AND HIS FLYING MACHINE

JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE

If ever there lived a Yankee lad,
Wise or otherwise, good or bad,
Who, seeing the birds fly, didn't jump
With flapping arms from stake or stump,
Or, spreading the tail of his coat for a sail,
Take a soaring leap from post or rail,
And wonder why he couldn't fly,
And flap and flutter and wish and try,--
If ever you knew a country dunce
Who didn't try that as often as once,
All I can say is, that's a sign