I should like to shoot with a bow of yew,
As the English at Agincourt used to do;
The strings of a thousand bows went twang,
And a thousand arrows whizzed and sang!

On Hounslow Heath I should like to ride,
With a great horse-pistol at my side:
It is dark-hark! A robber, I know!
Click! crick-crack! and away we go!

I will shoot with a double-barrelled gun,
Two bullets are better than only one;
I will shoot some rooks to put in a pie;
I will shoot an eagle up in the sky.

I once shot a bandit—in a dream—
In a mountain pass I heard a scream;
I rescued the lady, and set her free,
"Do not fear, madam, lean on me!"

With a boomerang I could not aim;
A poison blow-pipe would be the same;
A double-barrelled is my desire,

Get out of the way-one, two, three, fire!

W. B. Rands.

The Boy Decides

I'D like to be a p'liceman

And flash my bull's-eye out,—

If there were not so many thieves

And drunken men about.

I'd like to be a butcher

And use a knife and steel,If only bullocks didn't bleed And piggies wouldn't squeal.

And sailors go so far from home,
And soldiers often die,
And Mr. Blake, the blacksmith,
Got a big spark in his eye;

And so I think that, after all,

I'll be a railway guard,

And run beside the train, and jump,

And blow my whistle hard.

Rickman Mark.

FROM "HIAWATHA"

P

Hiawatha's Childhood

BY the shores of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,

Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

There the wrinkled old Nokomis

Nursed the little Hiawatha,
Rocked him in his linden cradle,

Bedded soft in moss and rushes,

Safely bound with reindeer sinews;

Stilled his fretful wail by saying,

"Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!"

Lulled him into slumber, singing,

"Ewa-yea! my little owlet!

Who is this, that lights the wigwam?
With his great eyes lights the wigwam?
Ewa-yea! my little owlet!"

Many things Nokomis taught him
Of the stars that shine in heaven;