|24| G || @ kats @ more |I hav finally got to that | |25| M || :: wind @ buty |point whare I aint very posative | |26| T || @ for @ ashes < |ov what other people kno, and | |27| W ||+ wind * howleth :: |aint at all certain ov what I kno | |28| T || @ sow @ peas @ |miself. | |29| F || @ more @ wind @ | | |30| S || > go @ slow @ | | |31| G || | | +--+---++------------------------+-------------------------------------+ _THE CENTAUR._ The centaur iz not an Amerikan, but blooms in the land far away to the eastward, whare the muskeeto iz unknown, and whare the pensiv kokroach putteth in no appearance. He is haff horse, and haff sum other phellow, and hunts for fun, and sumthing to eat. He haz got a hed on him like Demostheneze ov old, and wears hiz hair short in front, but flooded down on hiz nek, and over hiz shoulders, like a growth ov yung hop vines, in a hot house. Hiz instrument iz a bo, and arro, and he kan assassinate the stupendous elephant 440 yards distant, or pik a single feather off from the top ov a humming birds hed on the fly The centaur allwuss hunts on horsebak, and leads a free and cheap life. When in the ackt ov shooting the vast elephant, or the remorseless tiger, hiz hed iz thrown finely bak, hiz eye gleams like a lost jewell, hiz hair quivers like an aspen leaf, courage smiles in hiz face, hiz breast grows wider, and the muscles in hiz arm hang down like hornets' nests, hiz tale whips the air, and hiz hooffs ov steel ring on the turf. I hav et plain hash untill i am tired ov it, and would like no better phun than to mount a centaur, without enny bridle on him, and with a mermaid in front ov me, and a ghost behind, take a free, and rekless ride, a ride ov genius, to the ends ov the earth. But I suppoze I should git sik ov this, in a day, or two, and want to ride sumthing else. _IMPS._ Poverty haz been called safe, but poverty even, haz got to lock up its mouldy bread, and cheeze, or loze it. * * * * * Honesty iz the rarerest welth enny one kan possess, and yet all the honesty in the world, aint lawful tender for a loaf ov bread. 30 Days. APRIL. 1878. _When he reaches six years, He iz called a full horse, And iz thought fit to trot, For a puss on the course._