Page:The songs that Quinte sang.djvu/49

Rh “And you used to dress and nurse the cat, And play in the sun without any hat, ’Till she’d think your very brains would bake, And you ‘hooked’ her pies and ‘fobbled’ her cake. And often you and my Uncle Ed For being naughty were sent to bed, Without any supper, and you used to cry When you had to wash dishes, same as I.

“And you used to run off to the fields for flowers, And stay away for hours and hours, Then slip in the back way upstairs to bed, You and Aunt Emmie and Uncle Ed. And she says you could climb a fence or tree, And tear your clothes just the same as me.

“So, Auntie, I think it is hardly fair,” The dear little maid goes on to declare, “That you should be always scolding so Because I am naughty, when you know You did the very same things I do. So Grandma says, and it must be true.”

Like a culprit I sit and listen, dismayed, To the charges read by this little maid, I am vanquished, ay! But I bear no grudge As I plead my guilt to the youthful judge, For memory wakes with a rush and whirl, Aroused by the words of the little girl, And, looking down in the bright, young face The well-known features and smile I trace Of another wee lassie I used to know Somewhere about twenty years ego.