But soon, with haste and wonder out of breath, And to his master made this dread report: "A horse!" the elder man of physic cried, 23.-EYES AND NOSE. WILLIAM COWPER. [See page 136.] BETWEEN Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose, So the Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause “In behalf of the Nose, it will quickly appear, And your lordship," said Tongue, "will undoubtedly find That the Nose has had spectacles always in wear, Which amounts to possession, time out of mind." Then holding the spectacles up to the court "Your lordship observes they are made with a straddle As wide as the ridge of the nose is; in short, Designed to sit close to it, just like a saddle. 'Again, would your lordship a moment suppose "On the whole it appears, and my argument shows, Then shifting his side, as the lawyer knows how, So his lordship decreed, with grave solemn tone, 24.-THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE. [See page 110.] A WELL there is in the west country, An oak and an elm-tree stand beside, A traveller came to the well of St. Keyne, For from the cock-crow he had been travelling, And there was not a cloud in the sky. He drank of the water so cool and clear, And he sat down upon the bank Under the willow-tree. There came a man from the house hard by At the well to fill his pail; On the well-side he rested it, And he bade the stranger hail. "Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger ?" quoth he, The happiest draught thou hast drank this day, "Or hath thy good woman, if one thou hast, For an if she have, I'll venture my life, She has drank of the well of St. Keyne." I have left a good woman who never was here," “But that my draught should be the better for that, "St. Keyne," quoth the Cornish-man, "many a time And before the angels summon'd her, "If the husband of this gifted well For he shall be master for life. "But if the wife should drink of it first, The stranger stooped to the well of St. Keyne, "You drank of the well I warrant betimes ?" He to the Cornish-man said: But the Cornish-man smiled as the stranger spake, "I hasten'd as soon as the wedding was done, But i' faith she had been wiser than me, For she took a bottle to church." 25.-THE FAKENHAM GHOST. ROBERT BLOOMFIELD. [Author of "The Farmer's Roy," and other rural poems. Originally a shoemaker. Born 1766; died 1823.] THE lawns were dry in Euston park, The lonely footpath, still and dark, Benighted was an ancient dame, And fearful haste she made Her footsteps knew no idle stops, Where clamorous rooks, yet scarcely hushed, And many a wing the foliage brushed The dappled herd of grazing deer, Darker it grew, and darker fears She turned-it stopt-nought could she see But, as she strove the Sprite to flee, Now terror seized her quaking frame: Yet once again, amidst her fright, Regardless of whate'er she felt, It followed down the plain ! She owned her sins, and down she knelt, Then on she sped, and hope grew strong, Loud fell the gate against the post! Still on, pat, pat, the Goblin went, Her strength and resolution spent, Out came her husband, much surprised; The candle's gleam pierced through the night, Distinctly might be seen. An ass's foal had lost its dam No Goblin he; no imp of sin; His little hoofs would rattle round The matron learned to love the sound A favourite the ghost became, And 'twas his fate to thrive ; For many a laugh went through the vale, 26.-PAUDEEN O'RAFFERTY'S SAY-VOYAGE. SURE now, ladies_and_gintlemen, if ye plase, I'll relate the great mistake I made when I came hare to Naples-stop! aisy, Paudeen, and don't decaive the ladies and gintlemen: for bedad, I didn't come at all; they brought me in a ship—a grate big ship, with two big sticks standing out of it. Masts they call thim, bad luck to it, and the day I saw it! If I had been an ignorant fellow, and didn't know joggraphy and the likes, I'd be safe enough at home now, so I would, in my own cellar, on the Coal-Quay in Dublin. I must be making a man of myself, showing my learnin', me knowledge of similitude and the likes. You see, I wint over to England, on a bit of an agricultural speculation-hay-makin' and harvist-rapin'-and, the saison bein' good, I realized a fortune; so I did—a matter of thirty shillings or so. But So, says I to myself, says I, "Now I have got an indipindant competence, I'll go back to Ireland-I'll buy it out, and make meself imperor of it." So I axed one of the boys which was my nearest |