Another Brownie Book

<h2 style="page-break-before: avoid;"><SPAN name="THE_BROWNIES_BIRTHDAY_DINNER" id="THE_BROWNIES_BIRTHDAY_DINNER"></SPAN>THE BROWNIES' BIRTHDAY DINNER.</h2> <div class="container"> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <span class="figpoeml"> <ANTIMG src="images/i110a.jpg" width-obs="135" height-obs="71" alt="W" class="alignleftd" /> </span> <div class="i9"><span class="smcapa">HEN</span> people through the county planned</div> <div class="i10">To give their public dinners grand,</div> <div class="i10">The Brownies met at day's decline</div> <div class="i10">To have a birthday banquet fine.</div> <div class="i0">"The proper things," a speaker cried,</div> <div class="i0">"Await us here on every side;</div> <div class="i0">We simply have to reach and take</div> <div class="i0">And choose a place to boil and bake.</div> <div class="i0">With meal and flour at our feet,</div> <div class="i0">And wells of water pure and sweet,</div> <div class="i0">That Brownie must be dull indeed</div> <div class="i0">Who lacks the gumption to proceed.</div> <div class="i0">We'll peel the pumpkins, ripened well,</div> <div class="i0">And scoop them hollow, like a shell,</div> <div class="i0">Then slice them up the proper size</div> <div class="i0">To make at length those famous pies,</div> <div class="i0">For which the people, small and great,</div> <div class="i0">Are ever quick to reach a plate."</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</SPAN></span> <div class="i0">This pleased them all; so none were slow</div> <div class="i0">In finding work at which to go.</div> <div class="i0">A stove that chance threw in their way</div> <div class="i0">Was put in shape without delay.</div> <span class="figpoeml"> <ANTIMG src="images/i111.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="504" alt="" class="alignleft" /> </span> <div class="i0">Though doors were cracked, and legs were rare,</div> <div class="i0">The spacious oven still was there,</div> <div class="i0">Where pies and cakes and puddings wide</div> <div class="i0">Might bake together side by side.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="container"> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="i4">The level top, though incomplete,</div> <div class="i4">Gave pots and pans a welcome seat,</div> <div class="i4">Where stews could steam and dumplings found</div> <div class="i4">A fitting place to roll around.</div> <div class="i0">Some lengths of pipe were raised on high</div> <div class="i0">That made the soot and cinders fly,</div> <div class="i0">And caused a draught throughout the wreck</div> <div class="i0">That door or damper failed to check.</div> <ANTIMG src="images/i112.jpg" width-obs="420" height-obs="434" alt="" class="aligncenter" /> <div class="i4">The rogues who undertook the part,</div> <div class="i4">That tries the cook's delightful art,</div> <div class="i4">Had smarting hands and faces red</div> <div class="i4">Before the table-cloth was spread;</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</SPAN></span> <span class="figpoeml"> <ANTIMG src="images/i113a.jpg" width-obs="137" height-obs="132" alt="" class="alignleft" /> </span> <div class="i9">But what cared they at such an hour</div> <div class="i9">For singeing flame or scalding shower?</div> <div class="i9">Such ills are always reckoned slight</div> <div class="i9">When great successes are in sight.</div> <div class="i9">There cakes and tarts and cookies fine,</div> <div class="i9">Of both the "leaf" and "notched" design,</div> <div class="i9">Were ranged in rows around the pan</div> <div class="i9">That into heated ovens ran;</div> <div class="i9">Where, in what seemed a minute's space,</div> <div class="i0">Another batch would take their place;</div> <div class="i0">While birds, that had secured repose</div> <div class="i0">Above the reach of Reynard's nose,</div> <div class="i0">Without the aid of wings came down</div> <div class="i0">To be at midnight roasted brown.</div> <div class="i0">They found some boards and benches laid</div> <div class="i0">Aside by workmen at their trade,</div> <div class="i0">And these upon the green were placed</div> <div class="i0">By willing hands with proper haste.</div> <div class="i0">Said one, who board and bench combined:</div> <div class="i0">"All art is not to cooks confined,</div> <div class="i0">And some expertness we can show</div> <div class="i0">As well as those who mix the dough."</div> <div class="i8">And all was as the speaker said;</div> <div class="i7">In fact, they were some points ahead;</div> <span class="figpoemr"> <ANTIMG src="images/i113b.jpg" width-obs="233" height-obs="129" alt="" class="alignright" /> </span> <div class="i6">For when the cooks their triumphs showed,</div> <div class="i5">The table waited for its load.</div> <div class="i4">The knives and forks and dishes white</div> <div class="i3">By secret methods came to light.</div> <div class="i2">Much space would be required to tell</div> <div class="i1">Just how the table looked so well;</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</SPAN></span> <div class="i0">But kitchen cupboards, three or four,</div> <div class="i0">Must there have yielded up their store;</div> <div class="i0">For all the guests on every side</div> <div class="i0">With full equipments were supplied.</div> <ANTIMG src="images/i114.jpg" width-obs="444" height-obs="459" alt="" class="aligncenter" /> <div class="i0">When people find a carver hacked,</div> <div class="i0">A saucer chipped, or platter cracked,</div> <div class="i0">They should be somewhat slow to claim</div> <div class="i0">That servants are the ones to blame;</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</SPAN></span> <span class="figpoemr"> <ANTIMG src="images/i115a.jpg" width-obs="177" height-obs="180" alt="" class="alignright" /> </span> <div class="i1a">For Brownies may have used the ware</div> <div class="i1">And failed to show the proper care.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="i0a">A few, as waiters, passed about</div> <div class="i0">New dishes when the old gave out,</div> <div class="i0a">And saw the plates, as soon as bare,</div> <div class="i1">Were heaped again with something rare.</div> <div class="i1a">No member, as you may believe,</div> <div class="i2">Was anxious such a place to leave,</div> <div class="i6">Until he had a taste at least</div> <div class="i6">Of all the dishes in the feast.</div> <div class="i6">The Brownies, when they break their fast,</div> <div class="i6">Will eat as long as viands last,</div> <div class="i6">And even birds can not depend</div> <div class="i6">On crumbs or pickings at the end:</div> <div class="i6">The plates were scraped, the kettles clean,</div> <div class="i6">And not a morsel to be seen,</div> <div class="i6">Ere Brownies from that table ran</div> <div class="i6">To shun the prying eyes of man.</div> </div></div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i115b.jpg" width-obs="460" height-obs="96" alt="" /></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</SPAN></span></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />