Page:Carroll - Sylvie and Bruno.djvu/181

XI] It chanced one day, as Peter sat
 * Gnawing a crust—his usual meal—

Paul bustled in to have a chat,
 * And grasped his hand with friendly zeal.

'I knew,' said he, 'your frugal ways:
 * So, that I might not wound your pride

By bringing strangers in to gaze,
 * I've left my legal friend outside!

'You well remember, I am sure,
 * When first your wealth began to go,

And people sneered at one so poor,
 * I never used my Peter so!

And when you'd lost your little all,
 * And found yourself a thing despised,

I need not ask you to recall
 * How tenderly I sympathised!

'Then the advice I've poured on you.
 * So full of wisdom and of wit:

All given gratis, though 'tis true
 * I might have fairly charged for it!

But I refrain from mentioning
 * Full many a deed I might relate—

For boasting is a kind of thing
 * That I particularly hate.