"I wouldn't whip him very hard,"—
The stick stops in its fall,
"It wasn't right to do it, but
It didn't hurt at all."
"What made you cry, then, Mary Ann?"
The school noise makes a pause,
And out upon the listening air
From Mary comes, "Because."
TOGETHER ON THE STAIRS.
They sat together on the stairs,
Far up where there was shade:
'Twas not because there were no chairs
To sit on, I'm afraid.
Some time they had been sitting there
Alone, while others danced,
And people, coming out for air
'Tween dances, often glanced
Up at them, while they seemed to be
Oblivious of remark,
And sat like two birds in a tree,
Within a shady park.
To eyes that saw them from below,
They looked a loving pair:
The many signs which lovers show
They seemed to show up there.
At least, that is the way, to chaps
Who sauntered in the hall,
Things looked; but then, of course, perhaps,
'Twas nothing after all.
For, though on spooning they seemed bent,
Regardless how time flew,
'Twas possible that "distance lent
Enchantment to the view."
