Little Orphant Annie

  Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,   An' wash the cups and saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,   An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,   An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;   An' all us other children, when the supper things is done,   We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun   A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about.   An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you         Ef you               Don't                   Watch                       Out!   Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,    So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,   His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,   An' when they turn't the kivers down, he wasn't there at all!   An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubbyhole, an press,   An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess;   But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout!   An' the Gobble-uns git you         Ef you               Don't                   Watch                       Out!   An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,   An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood an' kin;   An' onc't when they was "company," an' ole folks was there,   She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!   An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,   They was two great big black Things a-standin' by her side,   An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!   An' the Gobble-uns'll git you         Ef you               Don't                   Watch                       Out!   An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,   An' the lampwick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!   An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,   An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,    You better mind yer parents, and yer teachers fond and dear,   An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,   An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,   Er the Gobble-uns'll git you         Ef you               Don't                   Watch                       Out! JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY  (From "Riley Child Rhymes," copyright, 1899. Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.)