A very particular housekeeper was having her bedroom painted. Wishing to learn what progress the painter was making, she crept to the bottom of the stairs and listened, Not a sound reached her ears.
"Painter," she called, becoming suspicious, "are you working?"
"Yes, madam," came the reply.
can't hear you making a sound," the housekeeper rejoined.
"Perhaps not, madam," the painter called back. I ain't putting the paint on with a hammer!"
8 A Mariner A mariner can find no rest Or peace of mind when he's on land; But swifter his heart in his breast Will beat when he alone can stand On narrow wooden deck, and feel The cool air blowing around his head, And hear the turning of the wheer Amid the silence of the dead.
Surveying with experienced eye Each beacon, buoy or mountain ridge, With tedious hours dragging by While stancing on his lofty bridge, He heeds not time, but only knows The stretching sea in front of him, A bit of land which hardly shows In outlines distant, scarce and dim And then there comes a raging storm, With rain and thunder in the skies, Which madly hurls the ship's small form In vastness which about it lies.
Inspire of rolling, and the beat Of rain, with systematic tread He moves about on patient feet, With watchful, clear and careful head.
And there are times when there's no hope, And water sweeps the decks, and fills The holds, and he feels he can't cope With creaking masts, and heavy reels To port and starboard, but he still Give orders though with storm they blend; And his unbending iron will Makes him a hero to the end!—ex.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.