CORRECTED NEWS.

‘ T was a maiden lady ( the newspapers say )

Pious and prim and a bit gone-gray.

She slept like an angel, holy and white,

Till ten o’ the clock in the shank o’ the night

( When men and other wild animals prey )

And then she cried in the viewless gloom:

“There's a man in the room, a man in the room!”

And this maiden lady ( they make it appear )

Leapt out of the window, five fathom sheer!

Alas, that lying is such a sin

When newspaper men need bread and gin

And none can be had for less than a lie!

For the maiden lady a bit gone-gray

Saw the man in the room from across the way,

And leapt, not out of the window but in —

Ten fathom sheer, as I hope to die!