BY ETHEL M. KELLEY
I’ve got a’ older brother,
And another one that 's new.
Got a father an’ a mother,
And a cat and kittens, too.
An' I 've got a’ Uncle Hewitt,
An’ I 've got a Cousin Sam.
They don’t know I 'm goin’ to do it,—
But I am!
I ’m goin’ through the garden.
An’ I 'm goin’ out the gate:
An’ I sha’n’t beg no one’s pardon,
Or come back when it is late.
I ’ll take off my big lace collar,
And I ’ll paint some whiskers on,
An’ I ’ll take my silver dollar,
An' be gone.
I guess I It be a cow-boy,
Or a sailor, or a cop:
And no one can tell me, “Now, boy,
It is time that you should stop!”
An’ I ’ll earn a lot of money,
And be famous where I go:
An’ I guess they ’ll all feel funny
When they know.
I don’t mind when they “correct” me
For a lot of things I say,
For, of course, they can't expect me
To remember, every day.
I don’t mind it when they scold me
‘Cause I 'm naughty, or I ’m “soiled”—
But they had n’t oughter told me
I was spoiled!
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