FOR CHILDREN. 61

The reptile woke, and quick as thought,
Curled round the stick, curled round and round,
While head and tail Ned’s nimble hands
Tied at each end with packthread bands,

Scarce was the enemy secured,

When Lucy timidly drew near,

But, by their shouting well assured,
Eyed the green reptile without fear;

The lads, stark wild with victory, flung
Their caps aloft—they danced, they sung.

But Lucy with an anxious look

Turned to her own dear nest, when lo!

To legs and wings the young ones took,

Hopping and tumbling to and fro;

The parents chattering from above,

With all the earnestness of love.

Alighting now among their train,

They pecked them on new feats to try,

But many a lesson seemed in vain

Before the giddy things would fly.

Lucy both laughed and cried to see

How ill they played at liberty.

I need not tell the snake’s sad doom,

You may be sure he lived not long;

Corked in a bottle, for a tomb,

Preserved in spirits and in song,

His skin in Tom’s museum shines,

You read his story in these lines.
Montgomery.

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Qa