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But soon all such thoughts were put out of his head,
For who should come by but Triangular Ted,
The very boy Tom had been wishing to see!
“Hello!” said Triangular Tommy, said he.
“Hello!” said Triangular Ted, and away
Those two children scooted to frolic and play.
And they had, on the green,
Where ’twas all dry and clean,
The best game of leap-frog that ever was seen.
Triangular Tom beat down this way, you know,
And Triangular Ted stood beside him, just so,
When one, two, three—go!
With the greatest gusto,
Ted flew over Tom in a manner not slow.

They played hide-and-seek, they played marbles and tag,
They played they were soldiers, and each waved a flag;
Till at last they confessed,
They wanted to rest;
So they sat down and chatted with laughter and jest;

When Schoolmaster Jones they suddenly spied,
Come clumping along with his pedagogue stride,
As usual, with manner quite preoccupied;
With his hat on one side,
And his shoe-lace untied—
A surly old fellow, it can’t be denied;
And each wicked boy
Thought that he would enjoy
An occasion the thoughtful old man to annoy,
And all of his wise calculations destroy.
So they thought they’d employ
A means known to each boy.
And across the wide pavement they fastened a twine
Exceedingly strong but exceedingly fine;
And Triangular Tommy laughed out in his glee,
To think how upset the old master would be!

Although very wicked, their mischievous scheme
Was a perfect success; and with a loud scream,
A horrible clash,
A thump and a smash,
Old Schoolmaster Jones came down with a crash.
His hat rolled away, and his spectacles broke,
And those dreadful boys thought it a howling good joke.
And they just doubled up in immoderate glee,
Saying, “Look at the Schoolmaster!
Tee-hee! tee-hee!”

Tom gave a guffaw,
And Ted roared a “haw-haw”;
But soon their diversion was turned into awe,
For old Schoolmaster Jones was angry, they saw.

Triangular Ted
Turned swiftly and fled,
And far down the street like a reindeer he sped,
Leaving Tommy to face the old gentleman’s rage,
Who quickly jumped up,—he was brisk for his age,—
And with just indignation portrayed on his face,
To Triangular Tommy he quickly gave chase.

And hearing his squeals
And his frantic appeals,
Triangular Tommy fast took to his heels.
Now Tommy was agile and Tommy was spry;
He whizzed through the air—he just seemed to fly;
He rushed madly on, until, dreadful to say!
He came where the railroad was just in his way—
And alas! and alack!
He tripped on the track
And then with a terrible, sudden ker-thwack!
Triangular Tommy sprawled flat on his back—
And the train came along with a crash, and a crack,
A din, and a clatter, a clang, and a clack,
A toot, and a boom, and a roar, and a hiss,
And chopped him up all into pieces like this—
If you cut out papers just like them, why, then,
If you try, you can put him together again.

A Modern Invention

Old Santa Claus is up-to-date,
And hereafter, rumors say,
He’ll come with his pack of glittering toys,
And visit the homes of girls and boys,
In a new reindeerless sleigh.

An April Joke

Oh, it was a merry, gladsome day,
When the April Fool met the Queen of May;
She had roguish eyes and golden hair,
And they were a mischief-making pair.
They planned the funniest kind of a joke
On the poor, long-suffering mortal folk;
And a few mysterious words he said,
His fool’s cap close to her flower-crowned head.
Then he laughed till he made his cap-bells ring,
At the thought of the topsy-turvy Spring.
“’Tis a fair exchange,” he said, with a wink—
“It is!” she said, and what do you think?
The flowers that should bloom in the month of May
Every one of them came on an April day!
And they looked for April showers in vain,
But all through May it did nothing but rain!

An Alice Alphabet