  HO! All aboard? A traveler Sets sail from Babyland! Before my eyes there comes a blur; But still I kiss my hand, And try to smile as off he goes, My bonny, winsome boy! Yes, bon voyage! God only knows How much I wish thee joy! Oh! tell me; have you heard of him? He wore a sailor’s hat All silver-corded round the brim, And—stranger e’en than that— A wondrous suit of navy blue, With pockets deep and wide; Oh! tell me, sailors, tell me true, How fares he on the tide? We’ve now no baby in the house; ’Twas but this very morn, He doffed his dainty ’broidered blouse, With skirts of snowy lawn; And shook a mass of silken curls From off his sunny brow; They fretted him—“so like a girl’s,” Mamma can have them now. He owned a brand-new pocket-book, But that he could not find; A knife and string were all he took. What did he leave behind? A heap of blocks, with letters gay, And here and there a toy; I cannot pick them up to-day, My heart is with my boy. Ho! Ship ahoy! At boyhood’s town Cast anchor strong and deep. What! tears upon this little gown, Left for mamma to keep? Weep not, but smile; for through the air A merry message rings— “Just sell it to the rag man there; I’ve done with baby things!” Emma Huntington Nason. boy up in sails ON THE LOOKOUT. double line
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