[Illustration]
THE Brownies once, while roaming 'round,
By chance approached a college ground;
And, as they skirmished every side,
A large gymnasium they espied.
Their eyes grew bright as they surveyed
The means for exercise displayed.
The club, the weight, the hanging ring,
The horizontal bar, and swing,
[Illustration]
The boxing-gloves that please the heart
Of him who loves the manly art,
All brought expressions of delight,
As one by one they came in sight.
The time was short, and words were few
That named the work for each to do.
Their mystic art, as may be found
On pages now in volumes bound,
Was quite enough to bear them in
Through walls of wood and roofs of tin.
No hasp can hold, no bolt can stand
Before the Brownie's tiny hand;
The sash will rise, the panel yield,
And leave him master of the field.--
When safe they stood within the hall,
A pleasant time was promised all.
[Illustration]
Said one: "The clubs let me obtain
That Indians use upon the plain,
And here I'll stand to test my power,
And swing them 'round my head an hour;
Though not the largest in the band,
I claim to own no infant hand;
And muscle in this arm you'll meet
That well might grace a trained athlete.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Two goats once blocked a mountain pass
Contending o'er a tuft of grass.
Important messages of state
Forbade me there to stand and wait;
Without a pause, the pair I neared
And seized the larger by the beard;
I dragged him from his panting foe
And hurled him to the plain below."
[Illustration]
"For clubs," a second answered there,
"Or heavy weights I little care;
Let those by generous nature planned
At heavy lifting try their hand;
But give me bar or give me ring,
Where I can turn, contort, and swing,
And I'll outdo, with movements fine,
The monkey on his tropic vine."
[Illustration]
Thus skill and strength and wind they tried
By means they found on every side.
Some claimed at once the high trapeze,
And there performed with grace and ease;
They turned and tumbled left and right,
As though they held existence light.
At times a finger-tip was all
Between them and a fearful fall.
On strength of toes they now depend,
Or now on coat-tails of a friend--
And had that cloth been less than best
That looms could furnish, east or west,
Some members of the Brownie race
Might now be missing from their place
[Illustration]
But fear, we know, scarce ever finds
A home within their active minds.
And little danger they could see
In what would trouble you or me.
Some stood to prove their muscle strong,
And swung the clubs both large and long
That men who met to practice there
Had often found no light affair.
[Illustration]
A rope they found as 'round they ran,
And then a "tug-of-war" began;
First over benches, stools, and chairs,
Then up and down the winding stairs,
They pulled and hauled and tugged around,
Now giving up, now gaining ground,
Some lost their footing at the go,
And on their backs slid to and fro
Without a chance their state to mend
Until the contest found an end.
[Illustration]
Their coats from tail to collar rent
Showed some through trying treatment went,
And more, with usage much the same,
All twisted out of shape, and lame,
Had scarce a button to their name.
The judge selected for the case
Ran here and there about the place
With warning cries and gesture wide
And seemed unable to decide.
[Illustration]
And there they might be tugging still,
With equal strength and equal will--
But while they struggled, stars withdrew
And hints of morning broader grew,
Till arrows from the rising sun
Soon made them drop the rope and run.
[Illustration: Brownie.]
[Illustration]