pen avowal?

And so it came to pass in a little while that the courtly company,
headed by the King of Boyville, filed gayly down the path. They walked
two by two, and they started on a long, uneven way. But the King of
Boyville was full of joy--a kind of joy so strange that wise men may
not measure it; a joy so rare that even kings are proud of it.

JAMES SEARS: A NAUGHTY PERSON

LITTLE SISTER'S LULLABY

Zhere, zhere, 'ittul b'o', sistuh 'll wock you to s'eep
Hush-a-bye O, darlene, wock-a-bye, b'o',
An' tell you the stowy about the b'ack sheep--
Wock-a-bye, my 'ittul b'over.
A boy onct said "b'ack sheep, you dot any wool?"
"Uh-huhm," said the lambie, "I dot free bags full."
An' where Murry went w'y the lamb's sure to doe,
They's mowe of zis stowy--I dess I don' know;
But hush-a-bye O, darlene, wock-a-bye b'o',
Wock-a-bye, my 'ittul b'over.

O, mama says buddy tomed stwaight down from Dod;
Hush-a-bye O, uh-huhm, wock-a-bye b'o',
At doctuh mans bwunged him, now is n't zhat odd--
Wock-a-bye, my 'ittul b'over.
For papa says, "doctuhs is thiefs so zhey be."
An' thiefs tain't det up into Heaven you see:
I dess w'en one comes up an' dets sent below,
He's dot to bwing wif him a baby or so;
Hush-a-bye O, uh-huhm, wock-a-bye b'o',
Wock-a-bye, my 'ittul b'over.

But sistuh loves b'o' anyhow if he's dood,
Hush-a-bye O, sweetie, wock-a-bye b'o',
Better 'n tandy er infalid's food--
Wock-a-bye, sistuh's own b'over.
An' some day when buddy drows up to a man,
W'y sistuh an' him 'ull 'ist harness ol' Fan,
An dwive off to Heaven the fuist zhing you know,
An' bwing ever' baby back what wants to doe.
Zhen hush-a-bye O, sweetie, wock-a-bye b'o',
Wock-a-bye, sistuh's own b'over.

James Sears: A Naughty Person

A naughty person ... walketh with a forward mouth.

He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with
his fingers;... he deviseth mischief continually;...

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be
broken without remedy.--_Proverbs_, vi. 12-15.

It was morning--the cool of the morning. The pigeons were gossiping
under the barn eaves. In the apple-tree a robin's song thrilled
at intervals, and the jays were chattering incessantly in the
cherry-trees by the fence. The dew was still on the grass that lay in
the parallelogram of shade made by the Sears' dwelling, and in
the twilight of grass-land all