¥OR CHILDREN. 79

Then it rushed like a monster on cottage az.d farm,

Striking their dwellers with sudden alarm ;

And they ran out like bees in a midsummer swarm ;

There were dames with their kerchiefs tied over
their caps,

To see if their poultry were free from mishaps ;

The turkeys they gobbled, the geese screamed
aloud,

And the hens crept to roost in a terrified crowd ;

There was rearing of ladders, and logs laying on,

Where the thatch from the roof threatened soon
to be gone.

But the wind had swept on, and had met ina lane

With a schoolboy, who panted and struggled in
vain ;

For it tossed him and twirled him, then passed,
and he stood

With his hat in a pool and his shoes in the mud.

Then away went the wind in its holiday glee,
And now it was far on the billowy sea,
And the lordly ships felt its staggering blow,
And the little boats darted to and fro.
But lo! it was night, and it sank to rest
On the sea-bird’s rock in the gleaming west,
Laughing to think, in its fearful fun,
How little of mischief it had done.
William Howitt.