Bradford, Mass.
Dear Aunt Abby,
Thank you for your pretty card. It must be hard to be back without your mother there. She was so dependant [sic] on you an leaned on you for her strength.
It was too bad the Endowment wasn't all raised for Founder's Day.
Enclosed are the verses you asked for. I couldn't find the duplicates so copied them, but that left the best part out, as they sketches they furnished were very good.
No, I haven't been to Montague lately. Wish you might have gotten out there.
Best wishes to you all,
Alice.
I dreamed one night two elephants
With long trunks joined together
Came bowing low most courteously
And frankly asked me whether
I wouldn't jump the rope awhile.
"Most certainly," I said.
But my! They whirled their ropes so fast,
I jumped right out of bed!
Did you ever stop to wonder
How dark the waves would be.
If there weren't so many starfish
At the bottom of the sea?
Last year Old Father Time lost count
And had nineteen a plenty
(Nineteen nineteen's a foolish way
To count, as anyone would say.)
But now he has it straight again,
For hear him - Nineteen twenty!
Today's grandmother's birthday;
Just think she's sixty three!
You'd never guess her age was that -
She's as young as young can be.
Her birthday cake we're trimming
With candles pink and green,
There'll not be room for sixty three -
We'll put on sweet sixteen.
Two matches were squabbling one day,
When one became scratched in the fray.
"You struck me!" he cried. This the other denied,
And then lost his head right away.
A kettle and a stewpan came
Almost, I've heard, to blows
When the stewpan told the kettle,
"You are singing through your nose!"
The dainty lily valley bells,
Swinging in the breeze,
Rang, "Come to school now everyone,
And learn your ABC's."
The earthworm peeped from out his hole.
The glistening beetles scampered.
The caterpillars looped along
None with books were hampered.
The hop toad ruled with dignity,
His grave eyes open wide,
And when they all recited well,
He swelled right out with pride.
The scholars sat on toad stools,
And judging from their eyes,
They must have learned an awful lot,
They looked so very wise.
Some yellow pop-corn kernels,
With secrets stored inside,
Slipped from their cozy corn-cob home
To enjoy a popper ride.
The popper travelled to and fro,
Above some glowing coals,
The kernels snapped and danced about, -
The lively little souls.
When the ride was over,
They tumbled out in glee,
Their secrets now were all revealed,
And those who wished might see.
There were poodle dogs and rabbits,
And funny bob-tailed cats,
Somethings so queer they had no names,
And some white ruffled hats.
The acorn child does surely love
His tam-o'shanter cap.
He never, never takes it off
Not even for a nap.
He wears it when he's all dressed up
And when he romps about,
Not matter how he uses it And still, no matter how it's used,
It never does wear out.
"I have two busy hands and a face,"
Ticked the clock, "And forever I race!
I run hard all day, but try as I may
I never can stir from this place."
"I've a back, and four legs," creaked the chair,
"But it's no use to go any where.
I can't hear nor see, so you will agree
To travel I hardly should dare."
"You poor helpless things," said an Elf,
As he took the clock down from the shelf,
"If you just do your share, you can go anywhere,
Pull together, not each for himself.["]
When Towser comes along and barks
Our cat's mad through and through
And looks for all the world just like
A great black W.
I dreamed one night, my ribbon bright
And took me fluttering with it
Into the deep blue sky.
With flowers we played, and rarely stayed
And rarely st In one place very long,
While sometimes pretty birds joined us
To cheer us with their song.
That summer day, passed fast away,
A star peeped over head.
And when I woke, I found that I
Had lighted right in bed.
The toad stool umbrellas ar.
Are great friends indeed,
They never, never disappear
Unless they sew [sic] some seed!
Though they're gone forever
Others come to stay,
I wish that my umbrella
Would only act that way!
The wasp's waist is pinched in so tight,
Paper couldn't be thinner.
I wonder what would happen,
If he ate a turkey dinner!
Coal-black cap, black bib at throat,
A sommersault, a cheery note,
Back again? We welcome thee!
Chickadee-dee-dee-dee-dee.
Though the winds may howl and blow,
You will happy be I know,
How can we, but merry be,
When we hear your chickadee.
Aug. '21 Y.C.
A Monkey's Tale
by Alice A. Noyes
A monkey climbed into a cocoanut tree
To show off his knowledge with pride and with glee.
"I'm not brilliant, I know, but J, S and O,"
He boasted, "I make very plainly, you see.
I can make these three letters
As well as my betters.
Will anyone try to deny it?" said he.
[The following image was found separately in Abby's papers and was probably sent in a different letter which has not survived.]
To appear Mar. 1925
The Freezer Organ
by Alice A. Noyes
Ice-cream day I always play
I'm organ man, and grind away.
The freezer organ you'll agree
Is just the finest that can be.
At first the music is so gay
The handle nearly runs away,
But when the cream is almost done
A slow church tune is just the one.