The two little children that died long ago

Away in the woods on the top of a hill—

And a good little robin that knew all about it

Came with strawberry leaves in her bill,

To cover them up, and she kept very quiet

And brought the leaves one at a time, I think.

And some of the leaves would have little holes in them,

And some would be red and pink.

And these little Babes-in-the-Woods that were dead

Must have lain very still, and they heard all the talk

That the bees would be saying to more little bees,

And maybe they even could hear the ants walk.

And they could look out through a crack in the leaves

And see little bushes and some of the sky.

They could see robin coming with leaves in her mouth,

And they watched for her when she went by.

They had a picnic in the woods,

And Mother couldn't go that day,

But the twins and Brother and I could go;

We rode on the wagon full of hay.

There were more little girls than ten, I guess.

And the boy that is Joe B. Kirk was there.

He found a toad and a katydid,

And a little girl came whose name was Clare.

Miss Kate-Marie made us play a song

Called "Fare-you-well, says Johnny O'Brown."

You dance in a ring and sing it through,

And then some one kneels down.

She kissed us all and Joe B. Kirk;

But Joe B. didn't mind a bit.

He walked around and swung his arms

And seemed to be very glad of it.

Then Mr. Jim said he would play,

But Miss Marie, she told him then,

It's a game for her and the little folks,

And he could go and fish with the men.

Mr. Wells was there and he had a rope

To tie to a limb and make it swing.

And Mrs. Wells, Mr. Wells's wife,

Gave me a peach and a chicken wing.

And I had a little cherry pie

And a piece of bread, and after we'd played

Two other songs, I had some cake

And another wing and some lemonade.

I had a feeling in my neck,

And on the sides were two big bumps;

I couldn't swallow anything

At all because I had the mumps.

And Mother tied it with a piece,

And then she tied up Will and John,

And no one else but Dick was left

That didn't have a mump rag on.

He teased at us and laughed at us,

And said, whenever he went by,

"It's vinegar and lemon drops

And pickles!" just to make us cry.

But Tuesday Dick was very sad

And cried because his neck was sore,

And not a one said sour things

To anybody any more.

Friday came and the circus was there,

And Mother said that the twins and I

And Charles and Clarence and all of us

Could go out and see the parade go by.

And there were wagons with pictures on,

And you never could guess what they had inside,

Nobody could guess, for the doors were shut,

And there was a dog that a monkey could ride.

A man on the top of a sort of cart

Was clapping his hands and making a talk.

And the elephant came—he can step pretty far—

It made us laugh to see him walk.

Three beautiful ladies came riding by,

And each one had on a golden dress,

And each one had a golden whip.

They were queens of Sheba, I guess.

A big wild man was in a cage,

And he had some snakes going over his feet.

And somebody said "He eats them alive!"

But I didn't see him eat.

Away beyond the Jarboe house

I saw a different kind of tree.

Its trunk was old and large and bent,

And I could feel it look at me.

The road was going on and on

Beyond to reach some other place.

I saw a tree that looked at me,

And yet it did not have a face.

It looked at me with all its limbs;

It looked at me with all its bark.

The yellow wrinkles on its sides

Were bent and dark.

And then I ran to get away,

But when I stopped to turn and see,

The tree was bending to the side

And leaning out to look at me.

We stopped at the branch on the way to the hill.

We stopped at the water a while and played.

We hid our things by the osage tree

And took off our shoes and stockings to wade.

There is sand at the bottom that bites at your feet,

And there is a rock where the waterfall goes.

You can poke your foot in the foamy part

And feel how the water runs over your toes.

The little black spiders that walk on the top

Of the water are hard and stiff and cool.

And I saw some wiggletails going around,

And some slippery minnows that live in the pool.

And where it is smooth there is moss on a stone,

And where it is shallow and almost dry

The rocks are broken and hot in the sun,

And a rough little water goes hurrying by.

Dickie found a broken spade

And said he'd dig himself a well;

And then Charles took a piece of tin,

And I was digging with a shell.

Then Will said he would dig one too.

We shaped them out and made them wide,

And I dug up a piece of clod

That had a little worm inside.

We watched him pucker up himself

And stretch himself to walk away.

He tried to go inside the dirt,

But Dickie made him wait and stay.

His shining skin was soft and wet.

I poked him once to see him squirm.

And then Will said, "I wonder if

He knows that he's a worm."

And then we sat back on our feet

And wondered for a little bit.

And we forgot to dig our wells

Awhile, and tried to answer it.

And while we tried to find it out,

He puckered in a little wad,

And then he stretched himself again

And went back home inside the clod.

I looked for him everywhere

Because I wanted him to play;

And then I found him on his bed

Asleep, but it was day.

His eyes were shut behind the lids—

He couldn't