She loves me when she cuts and sews My little cloak and Sunday clothes; An' when my pa comes home to tea, She loves him most as much as me. She laughs an' tells him all I said. An' grabs me up an' pats my head; An' I hug her, an' I hug my pa, An' love him purt' nigh much es ma. FOOTNOTE: [62] Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. From "Rhymes of Childhood," copyright, 1900. ALMOST BEYOND ENDURANCE[63] JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY I ain't a-goin' to cry no more, no more! I'm got ear-ache, an' ma can't make It quit a-tall; An' Carlo bite my rubber-ball An' puncture it; an' Sis she take An' poke my knife down through the stable-floor An' loozed it--blame it all! But I ain't goin' to cry no more, no more! An' Aunt Mame wrote she's a-comin', an' she can't-- Folks is come there!--An' I don't care, She is my Aunt! An' my eyes stings; an' I'm Ist coughin' all the time, An' hurts me so, an' where my side's so sore Granpa felt where, an' he Says "maybe it's pleurasy!" But I ain't goin' to cry no more, no more! An' I climbed up an' nen falled off the fence, An' Herbert he ist laugh at me! An' my fi'-cents It sticked in my tin bank, an' I ist tore Purt' nigh my thumbnail off, a-tryin' to git It out--nen smash it!--An it's in there yit! But I ain't goin' to cry no more, no more! Oo! I'm so wickud!--An' my breath's so hot-- Ist like I run an' don't rest none But ist run on when I ought to not; Yes, an' my chin An' lip's all warpy, an' my teeth's so fast, An' 's a place in my throat I can't swaller past-- An' they all hurt so!-- An' oh, my--oh! I'm a-startin' a'gin-- I'm a-startin ag'in, but I won't, fer shore!-- I ist ain't goin' to cry no more, no more! FOOTNOTE: [63] Used by special permission of the publishers, the Bobbs-Merrill Company. From "His Pa's Romance," copyright, 1903. BREAKING THE CHARM[64] PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR