144 THE BOYS,
But to change it for the tumult Of those horrid country boys ?
Waking one with wild hallooing
Early every summer day ; Shooting robins, teasing kittens,
Frightening the wrens away ;
Stumbling over trailing flounces ;
Thumbing volumes, gold and blue ; Clamoring for sugared dainties :
Tracking earth the passage through.
These and other kindred trials Fancied we with woeful sigh. " Those boys, those horrid boys, to-morrow!" Sadly whispered Lou and I.
- * * *
I wrote those lines one happy summer ;
To-day I smile to read them o er, Remembering how full of terror
We watched all day the opening door.
They came "the boys !"
Six feet in stature, Graceful, easy, polished men !
I vowed to Lou, behind my knitting, To trust no mother s words again.
For boyhood is a thing immortal To every mother s heart and eye ;
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