Page:Poems Curwen.djvu/251

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"Fie, fie, Miss Mabel, do not pout,"
 Says nurse, in kindly tone;
"Think of the good things you possess,
 And the children who have none;
And Santa Claus will come to-night.—
 What! Crying, little one?

"Come, let us hang your stocking up,
 The hour is getting late,
And Santa Claus may be in haste
 And will not want to wait,"
Said nurse. But naughty Mab replied,
 "Old Santa Claus I hate."

"He never brings me what I want;
 I'm sick of all his toys;
Why can't I have a rocking horse,
 And tops and drums, like boys?
I don't want dulls; I want a watch
 And chain, like Cousin Floy's."

"It would serve you right, Miss Mabel,
 If good Santa passed you by,
And left your stocking empty,"
 Said the old nurse, with a sigh.
"He can please himself, I do not care,"
 Was Mabel's rude reply.

But by and bye, when nurse had left
 Her charge tucked up in bed,
Miss Mabel lay a-thinking o'er
 Some things her nurse had said;