Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 09.pdf/472

 Interstate Robbery.

INTERSTATE

ROBBERY.

BY JOHN ALBERT MACY.

July heat upon the city bore And summons came from mountain, plain, and shore, Inviting all with thermal woe oppressed To come and revel in a month of rest; When each mosquito whetted well his bill, Expecting soon his hungry self to fill; When hotel men, with nervous-handed greed Prepared the summer multitude to feed, She packed her trunk, forsook the city's heat, And hastened far afield with eager feet. There in a world of solitude and shade For many weeks has lovely Phyllis stayed. Hear now a crime that strikes the soul with awe! Judges, give judgment! Lawyers, read the law! Hear ye the charge of robbery and the grounds : While in the country Phyllis gained ten pounds; Now, if the riches of the jeweled Kast Were piled together and the pile increased A thousandfold, not all the treasure there With Phyllis's little finger could compare. So if she brings from out another State Ten pounds of worth too priceless to relate, New Hampshire bears incalculable loss, When such a wealth its boundary line shall cross. And still the lovely robber goes at large, Unmindful of the weight of such a charge.

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