Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/150

 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. &quot; Those boys, those horrid boys, to-morrow!&quot; 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 &quot;the boys !&quot;

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 ;

�� �