FOR CHILDREN 197

Now Gilpin had a pleasant wit
And loved a timely! joke ;
And thus unto the calender,
In merry guise,? he spoke :--

I came because your horse would come ;
And, if I well forebode,
My hat and wig will soon be here,
They are upon the road.”

The calender, right glad to find
His friend in merry pin’

Returned him not a single word,
But to the house went in:

Whence straight he came with hat and wig,
A wig that flowed behind, |

A hat not much the worse for wear,
Each comely in its kind.

He held them up, and in his turn
Thus showed his ready wit,—

“ My head is twice as big as yours,
They therefore needs must fit.

« But let me serape the dirt away
That hangs upon your face ;
And stop and eat, for well you may
Be in a hungry case.”4
Said John, “It is my wedding-day.
And all the world would stare,

1 Timely—at the right time, seasonable.
® Guise—manner, mood.
3 Pin—mood, humour.
* Case—condition, state.
8 2