Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along,
laughing to himself, and singing,--
"Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, tum-too!"
Every animal and bird he met asked him
the same question,--
"Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?"
And to each of them the little slyboots
replied,--
"Fallen into the fire, and so will you
On little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too!"
Tum-pa, tum-too! tum-pa, tum-too!"
Then they all sighed to think of the tender
little morsel they had let slip.
At last the Jackal came limping along,
for all his sorry looks as sharp as a needle,
and he, too, called out,--
"Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?"
And Lambikin, curled up in his snug
little nest, replied gayly,--
"Fallen into the fire, and so will you
On little Drumikin! Tum-pa--"
But he never got any further, for the
Jackal recognized his voice at once, and
cried, "Hullo! you've turned yourself
inside out, have you? Just you come out
of that!"
Whereupon he tore open Drumikin and
gobbled up Lambikin.
THE BLACKBERRY-BUSH[1]
[1] From Celia Thaxter's Stories and Poems for Children.
A little boy sat at his mother's knees, by
the long western window, looking out into
the garden. It was autumn, and the wind
was sad; and the golden elm leaves lay
scattered about among the grass, and on
the gravel path.
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