[Illustration: "SQUINT' OUR EYES AN' LAUGH' AGAIN"]

* * * * *

"We ist laugh' an' laugh', tel Bert
Say he _can't_ quit an' it hurt.
Nen I _howl_, an' Minnie-Belle
She tear up the grass a spell
An' ist stop her yeers an' _yell_
Like she'd _die_ a-laughin'.

Never sich fool-youngens yit!
Nothin' funny,--not a bit!--
But we laugh' so; tel we whoop'
Purt'-nigh like we have the croup--
All so hoarse we'd wheeze an' whoop
An' ist _choke_ a-laughin'.

* * * * *




THE KATYDIDS


Sometimes I keep
From going to sleep,
To hear the katydids "cheep-cheep!"
And think they say