Page:Harper's New Monthly Magazine - v109.djvu/880

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Self-Evident

Judge. "Officer, release that man at once; his appearance indicates he has told a straight story."



Gettin' Washed

BURGES JOHNSON

AT breakfast, when I'm kinder late an' hurry to my place,
An' wanter eat, some person says, "Oh, what a dirty face!"
Or, "Leave the table right away, those hands are a disgrace!"
An' when I come back nice an' clean, my mother says she fears
I didn't take a lot of pains to wash behin' my ears.

An' lots o' times when I've been out an' haven't touched a thin'
That could have dirtied me a bit, why some one's called me in,—
An' what they went an' said was dirt was shadders on my skin.
But s'pose that cedar-tree I climbed did leave some teeny smears,
I don't see how a bit could get 'way up behin' my ears!

Oh, when I'm big, without a nurse or grown-up folks that tease,
Some weeks I'll wear my oldest clo'es as ragged as I please,
An' muss my hair an' have big holes in both my stockin' knees.
Of course I'll wash each mornin', 'cept when playtime interferes,
But you just bet I'll let alone that place behin' my ears!