THE BROWNIES IN FRANCE.

Now rising with a sudden start
The strange affair would upward dart,
While those who had been cheated out
Of cabin-passage still were stout
And could their great endurance show
By hanging to the ropes below.
Now some advised to keep her high,
And others said to let her fly
Along the sea through waves and all,
Thus to avoid a fearful fall
In case the works got out-of tune
When they were half-way to the moon.
They found the new machine that night
Somewhat erratic in its flight.
The helm at times, the truth to tell,’
It did not answer extra well;
Some technicalities, no doubt,
The Brownies scarce had studied out,
And so the ride failed to impart
The joy they hoped for at the start.
Said one: “TI ’d rather lose a toe,
Or leg in fact, if it must go
To feed the fish along the shore,
Than fall five thousand feet or more.”
Another shouted: “Turn her round,
And steer her back to English ground!
For one, I ’d rather France should stay
‘Untrodden by my feet for aye,
Than there in such a fixture get

That has not been perfected yet;
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