Nay, now, pretty birds, don't be frightened, I

pray,

You shall not be hurt, I'll engage;

I'm not come to catch you and force you away, And fasten you up in a cage.

I wish you could know you've no cause for alarm,
From me you have nothing to fear;

Why, my little fingers could do you no harm,
Although you came ever so near.

Jane Taylor.

LITTLE PRINCE AND PRINCESS

III

THE PALACE PETS

III

THE PALACE PETS

The Cow*

The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart:

She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,

All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

The Good Moolly Cow

Come! supper is ready;

Come! boys and girls, now,

From "Poems and Ballads," copyright, 1895, 1896, by Chas.

Scribner's Sons.