"I wish you'd set fire to my place;
And pray you at once to despatch me,
That none of my enemy's race,
In the form of Miss Kitty, may catch me!"
Disgrace thus will follow on vice,
Although for a while it be hidden;
When children, or kittens, or mice,
Will do what they know is forbidden.
=Jemmy String=
I knew a little heedless boy,
A child that seldom cared,
If he could get his cake and toy,
How other matters fared.
He always bore upon his foot
A signal of the thing,
For which, on him his playmates put
The name of Jemmy String.
No malice in his heart was there;
He had no fault beside,
So great as that of wanting care.
To keep his shoe-strings tied.
You'd often see him on the run,
To chase the geese about,
While both his shoe-ties were undone,
With one end slipping out.
He'd tread on one, then down he'd go,
And all around would ring
With bitter cries, and sounds of woe,
That came from Jemmy String.
And oft, by such a sad mishap,
Would Jemmy catch a hurt;
The muddy pool would catch his cap,
His clothes would catch the dirt!
Then home he'd hasten through the street,
To tell about his fall;
While, on his little sloven feet,
The cause was plain to all.
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