Daphne Dale

The frosts in the door-yard maple
Had lighted a fine red blaze,
And one of the golden twilights
That come September days:
The neighborhood lads had gathered
To play their usual plays.

Frankie was good at planning, And seeing the glowing tree, “Let’s have a fire department And play ’tis a house!” said he. “Oh, yes, a hook and ladder,” Cried all; “what fun ’twill be!” So they put the hose on the hydrant. Searched everywhere about Until they found a ladder, And then, with yell and shout Of “fire” and clang of “ding-dong,” They rushed to put it out. The hosemen pulled their jackets Hastily from their backs; One climbed the tree like a squirrel, With a ball-bat for an axe And he hewed at the beautiful branches With frantic hacks and whacks.

Some one turned on the water,
And the boy in the foremost place
Got the full force from the nozzle
Square in his little face;
And he cried for half a minute
With the funniest grimace.

One boy is soaked by another boy with a hose

The stream flew this way, that way,
And up to the tree’s bright top,
And back came the water splashing
With reckless slosh and slop,
And with it showers of red leaves
And twigs began to drop.

This small boys’ Hook and Ladder
Was a very good company,
And they squirted till the sidewalk
Was like a mimic sea;
But they didn’t put out the fire
In the old red maple-tree.

MRS. CLARA DOTY BATES.

---

Transcriber's note

The original book was printed in three different coloured inks. The transcriber has tried to match this colour scheme as closely as possible here. If you find it difficult to read the coloured sections, you may prefer to read the single-colour version of this book, which has black text throughout. Go to the single-colour version.

OUR YOUNG FOLKS
AT ...
HOME AND ABROAD:

Illustrated Sketches and Poems
for Young People.

BY

ANNIE D. BELL, CLARA J. DENTON, AMANDA M. DOUGLAS,
FRANK H. SELDEN, CHAS. T. JEROME, LAURA
E. RICHARDS, MRS. L. A. CURTIS,
OLIVER OPTIC, ETC.

ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

BY

F. S. CHURCH, E. H. GARRETT, A. S. COX, CULMER BARNES,
PARKER HAYDEN, H. MOSER, H. PRUETT SHARE,
MISS L. B. HUMPHREY, ETC., ETC.

——————
EDITED BY
DAPHNE DALE.
——————

LONDON—NEW YORK—CHICAGO:
W. B. CONKEY COMPANY,
PUBLISHERS.

——————
Copyright 1894,
W. B. Conkey Company.
——————