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COMRADES UNCHOSEN.

MANY maidens, many minds ;
He that finds one, seldom binds.
I will never choose my wife as one of many.
But the maid who stands alone,
And in solitude has grown,
Such a one I wed, if, truly, I wed any."

So the stalwart youth did pass,
Treading down the tender grass,
While a maiden in the group looked shyly after.
Gentle gaze he could not see,
But the breezes, wickedly,
Came behind him with the sound of girlish laughter.

" How the mope doth glow'r and grope ! "
Said a damsel, who had hope
That the glow'ring and the groping were a token,
Not of love she might return,
But of love that she would spurn,
When the manly honest words were once out-spoken.