SONGS FOR THE

Once—it was just before she died—
I struck her in a pet;

How bitterly I since have cried,
And wished I could forget.

I love to hear dear mother say
Our Ellen lives in heaven ;

And every night I kneel and pray
To have my faults forgiven.

I’LL NEVER USE TOBACCO
“T’ll never use tobacco, no,
It is a filthy weed ;
I'll never put it in my mouth,”

Said little Robert Reid.

“Why, there was idle Jerry Jones,
As dirty as a pig,
Who smoked when only ten years old,
And thought it made him big.

“He’d puff along the open street
As if he had no shame ;
He’d sit beside the tavern-door,
And there he’d do the same.

‘He spent his time and money too,
And made his mother sad ;
She feared a worthless man would come
From such a worthless lad.