Once there lived a little Dutchess, Just beside the Zuyder Zee; Short and stout and roly-poly, As a Dutchess ought to be.
She had pigs and she had poultry, She had lands and she had gold; And she loved the Burgomaster,-- Loved him more than can be told.
"Surly, burly Burgomaster, Will you have me for your love? You shall be my pouter-pigeon, I will be your turtle-dove.
"You shall have my China porkers, You shall have each Dorking hen; Take them with your loving Dutchess, Oh, you Dutchiest of men!"
Loudly laughed the Burgomaster, "Naught I care for Dorking fowls; Naught for pig, unless 'tis roasted, And on that my doctor scowls.
"Frumpy, stumpy little Dutchess, I do not incline to wed. Keep your pigs and keep your poultry! I will take your gold instead.
"I will take your shining florins, I will take your fields' rich hoard; You may go and tend your piggies Till your spirits be restored."
Loudly wept the little Dutchess, Tending sad each China pig; Loudly laughed the Burgomaster 'Neath his merry periwig.
Till the Dutchy people, angry Conduct such as this to see, Took and plumped the pouter-pigeon Right into the Zuyder Zee.
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS. A Book of Fables for Old and Young
_Illustrated Edition._ With five full-page illustrations and text decorations by Arthur E. Becher and Julia Ward Richards. 12mo. Full gilt. $1.50.
_Popular Edition._ With frontispiece and text decorations. 16mo. $1.00.
Simply written, and exquisitely conceived with a little golden moral attached to each.--_Boston Herald._
Fitly named, for the book is a window into a realm as beautiful as it is real.--_The Outlook_, New York.
THE SILVER CROWN. Another Book of Fables for Old and Young
With ornamental initials and title-page by Julia Ward Shaw. 12mo. Decorated cloth, gilt top. $1.25.
Forty-five simply written fables each with its own delightful conception, and its own little moral, fragrant with aspiration.--_New York Times._
Replete with exquisite feeling and lovely in the telling. No child can read them without learning many a lesson tenderly imparted, and no grown persons will read them without content in their heart-satisfying wisdom.--_Chicago Post._
Illustrated by E. H. Garrett. 12mo. Cloth. $1.00.
Toto is a little boy who lives with his blind grandmother on the edge of a wood. Toto makes friends with all the wood creatures, from the bear to the squirrel, and they frequently come to the house to entertain the grandmother with their conversation. Told in a droll way which is heartily enjoyed by the children.