WHY THE MOLE IS BLIND.

In days gone by, when cows could fly

And goblins rode on bears;

When fairies danced upon the green

And giants moped in lairs,

There lived alone upon a shelf

A tinsie, winsie little elf.

Just when the stars came out at night

And moonbeams filled the earth with light,

Down from his perch this little elf

Would jump and wander by himself.

He wore a pair of little wings

Tied in their place by golden strings.

One day he took a kind of notion

To take a trip upon the ocean.

He combed his hair and washed his face

And put his little wings in place,

Then from his shelf he softly stole

And went to see his friend the mole

Who gave to him a pea-green boat

And guaranteed that it would float.

A funny thing about this boat

‘ Twas patterned from a ten-pound note.

The little elf was greatly pleased

And laughed until he sneezed and sneezed;

He launched his boat upon the sea

And kicked his little heels in glee.

The mole looked on in glad surprise

( For in those days all moles had eyes. )

He shouted out a loud farewell

As the little row-boat rose and fell.

The elf picked up a golden oar

And soon lost sight of mole and shore.

The elf rowed out for quite a way

And in the waves did sport and play,

Until at length the sun sank low

And then he thought it time to go.

Now just as luck would have it then

A prowling sea gull left his den.

The savage sea gull loudly laughed

To see an elf in such a craft,

And swooping down upon the water

He did a thing he had n't oughter,

For with his strong and sturdy beak

He caused the boat to spring a leak.

He said he longed for a little change

And the bank-note boat was just in range;

The poor young elf gave one big holler

Just as the sea gull made a swallow

( And this is strange indeed to follow

For a gull himself is just a swallow. )

The faithful mole heard this loud yell

And rushed down to the shore pell-mell.

Alas, alas he was too late

And saw his friend's unhappy fate;

He groaned, and shrieked and tore his fur

And raised an awful din and stir.

The sea gull heard this awful racket

And seized the mole, just like a packet.

He carried him across the seas

To teach the young gulls A B C's.

But the loving mole went blind with rage

And they had to put him in a cage,

And ever since that fatal night

The moles have all been out of sight.