An' then he went back to the gate THE ENCHANTED SHIRT BY JOHN HAY The king was sick. His cheek was red, But he said he was sick-and a king should know; They did not cure him. He cut off their heads, At last two famous doctors came, The other had never looked in a book; If they died, their heirs paid double. Together they looked at the royal tongue, The old sage said, "You're as sound as a nut." "Hang him up!" roared the king, in a gale,In a ten-knot gale of royal rage; The other leach grew a shade pale; But he pensively rubbed his sagacious nose, "The king will be well if he sleeps one night Wide o'er the realm the couriers rode, And fast their horses ran, And many they saw, and to many they spake, But they found no happy man. They saw two men by the roadside sit, At last they came to a village gate; He whistled and sang and laughed, and rolled The weary couriers paused and looked At the scamp so blithe and gay, And one of them said, "Heaven save you, friend, You seem to be happy to-day?" "Oh, yes, fair sirs," the rascal laughed, And his voice rang free and glad; "An idle man has so much to do That he never has time to be sad." "This is our man." the courier said, I will give you a hundred ducats, friend, The merry rascal lay back on the grass "I would do it," said he, and roared with the fun, "But I haven't a shirt to my back!" Each day to the king the reports came in And the sad panorama of human woes, And he grew ashamed of his useless life, He opened his windows and let the free air And out he went into the world and toiled 'And the people blest him, the land was glad, DER OAK UND DER VINE BY CHARLES FOLLEN ADAMS I don'd vas preaching voman's righdts, Und I likes to see all beoples Shust gontended mit dheir lot; Berhaps, somedimes, dot may be drue; Und ven hees friendts dhey all vas gone Shust go oup to der paseball groundts Ven sickness in der householdt comes, "Man vants budt leedle here pelow," Dhere's leedle dot man he don'd vant, Und vhen der years keep rolling on, He vants to pe der shturdy oak, Maype, vhen oaks dhey gling some more, Der glinging vines dhey haf some shance In helt und sickness, shoy und pain, "Tvas beddher dot dhose oaks und vines Should alvays gling togedder. From "Dialect Ballads," copyright, 1897, by Harper & Brothers. THE SHIP OF FAITH ANONYMOUS A certain colored brother had been holding forth to his little flock upon the ever-fruitful topic of Faith, and he closed his exhortation about as follows: "My bruddren, ef yous gwine to git saved, you got to git on board de Ship ob Faith. I tell you, my bruddren, dere ain't no odder way. Dere ain't no gitten up de back stairs, nor goin' 'cross lots; you can't do dat away, my bruddren, you got to git on board de Ship ob Faith. Once 'pon a time dere was a lot ob colored people, an' dey was all gwine to de promised land. Well, dey knowed dere w'an't no odder way for 'em to do but to git on board de Ship ob Faith. So dey all went down an' got on board, de ole granfaders, an' de ole granmudders, an' de pickaninnies, an' all de res' of 'em. Dey all got on board 'ceptin' one mons'us big feller, he said he's gwine to swim, he was. 'W'y!' dey said, 'you can't swim so fur like dat. It am a powerful long way to de promised land!' He said: 'I kin swim anywhur, I kin. I git board no boat, no, 'deed!' Well, my bruddren, all dey could say to dat poor disluded man dey couldn't git him on board de Ship of Faith, so dey started off. De day was fair, de win' right; de sun shinin' and ev'ryt'ing b'utiful, an' dis big feller he pull off his close and plunge in de water. Well, he war a powerful swimmer, dat man, 'deed he war; he war dat powerful he kep❜ right 'long side de boat all de time; he kep' a hollerin' out to de people on de boat, sayin': 'What you doin' dere, you folks, brilin' away in de sun; you better come down heah in de water, nice an' |