LITTLE JANE NIMBLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 323, 7 April 1928, Page 25

LITTLE JANE NIMBLE

There was a small girl And her name was Jane Nimble Her brains would have fitted Inside a bone thimble.

When her mother cried, "Jane! Come at once into tea!” She would skip down the orchard And climb up a tree.

She jumped on the sofas. Knocked over the chairs. And generally meddled With people’s affairs. She* would scream in the night And, it grieves me to say. Would poke out her tongue At least ten times a day. Her cousin, Rebecca. Was not quite as bad. Though Jane kept upsetting What morals she had. And enticed the poor mita To the back of a mule On the pretext of taking her Straight down to school. With a whirr and a skurry. And mile after mile They galloped, both gasping. In horrified style.

And the school bell was clanging. The class was in line. But of Jane and Rebecca There was never a sign . . . They issued a warrant. They ransacked the town: They searched all the country Both uphill and down; They posted them letters. They prayed in the Square. But the hapless young couple Had vanished in air . . . There’s a moral in this Where Rebecca’s concerned— She was easily led So her fate was well earned. And as for Jane Nimble. Who lacked every grace. Well, no one could teach her To keep her in place. —W.S.T