trength and wind they tried
By means they found on every side.
Some claimed at once the high trapeze,
And there performed with grace and ease;
They turned and tumbled left and right,
As though they held existence light.
At times a finger-tip was all
Between them and a fearful fall.
On strength of toes they now depend,
Or now on coat-tails of a friend--
And had that cloth been less than best
That looms could furnish, east or west,
Some members of the Brownie race
Might now be missing from their place

[Illustration]

But fear, we know, scarce ever finds
A home within their active minds.
And little danger they could see
In what would trouble you or me.
Some stood to prove their muscle strong,
And swung the clubs both large and long
That men who met to practice there
Had often found no light affair.

[Illustration]

A rope they found as 'round they ran,
And then a "tug-of-war" began;
First over benches, stools, and chairs,
Then up and down the winding stairs,
They pulled and hauled and tugged around,
Now giving up, now gaining ground,
Some lost their footing at the go,
And on their backs slid to and fro
Without a chance their state to mend
Until the contest found an end.

[Illustration]

Their coats from tail to collar rent
Showed some through trying treatment went,
And more, with usage much the same,
All twisted out of shape, and lame,
Had scarce a button to their name.
The judge selected for the case
Ran here and there about the place
With warning cries and gesture wide
And seemed unable to decide.

[Illustration]

And there they might be tugging still,
With equal strength and equal will--
But while they struggled, stars withdrew
And hints of morning broader grew,
Till arrows from the rising sun
Soon made them drop the rope and run.

[Illustration: Brownie.]

[Illustration]

THE BROWNIES' FEAST.

[Illustration]

IN best of spirits, blithe and free,--
As Brownies always seem to be,--
A jovial band, wi