Bud, come here to your uncle a spell, And I'll tell you something you mustn't tell-- For it's a secret and shore-'nuf true, And maybe I oughtn't to tell it to you--! But out in the garden, under the shade Of the apple-trees, where we romped and played Till the moon was up, and you thought I'd gone Fast asleep--, That was all put on! For I was a-watchin' something queer Goin' on there in the grass, my dear--! 'Way down deep in it, there I see A little dude-Fairy who winked at me, And snapped his fingers, and laughed as low And fine as the whine of a mus-kee-to! I kept still-- watchin' him closer-- and I noticed a little guitar in his hand, Which he leant 'ginst a little dead bee-- and laid His cigarette down on a clean grass-blade, And then climbed up on the shell of a snail-- Carefully dusting his swallowtail-- And pulling up, by a waxed web-thread, This little guitar, you remember. I said! And there he trinkled and trilled a tune--, "My Love, so Fair, Tans in the Moon!" Till presently, out of the clover-top He seemed to be singing to, came k'pop! The purtiest, daintiest Fairy face In all this world, or any place! Then the little ser'nader waved his hand, As much as to say, "We'll excuse you!" and I heard, as I squinted my eyelids to, A kiss like the drip of a drop of dew! _The South Wind and the Sun_ O The South Wind and the Sun! How each loved the other one Full of fancy--- full folly-- Full of jollity and fun! How they romped and ran about, Like two boys when school is out, With glowing face, and lisping lip, Low laugh, and lifted shout! And the South Wind-- he was dressed With a ribbon round his breast That floated, flapped and fluttered In a riotous unrest, And a drapery of mist From the shoulder and the wrist Flowing backward with the motion Of the waving hand he kissed. And the Sun had on a crown Wrought of gilded thistle-down, And a scarf of velvet vapor, And a ravelled-rainbow gown; And his tinsel-tangled hair, Tossed and lost upon the air, Was glossier and flossier Than any anywhere. And the South Wind's eyes were two Little dancing drops of dew, As he puffed his cheeks, and pursed his lips, And blew and blew and blew! And the Sun's-- like diamond-stone, Brighter yet than ever known, As he knit his brows and held his breath, And shone and shone and shone! And this pair of merry fays Wandered through the summer days; Arm-in-arm they went together Over heights of morning haze-- Over slanting slopes of lawn They went on and on and on, Where the daisies looked like star-tracks Trailing up and down the dawn. And where'er they found the top Of a wheat-stalk droop and lop They chucked it underneath the chin And praised the lavish crop, Till it lifted with the pride Of the heads it grew beside, And then the South Wind and the Sun Went onward satisfied.