A LONG JOURNEY.
Reading edition
BY JOSEPHINE POLLARD.
"We sail to-day," said the captain gay, As he stepped on board the boat that lay So high and dry, "Come now, be spry; We'll land, at Jerusalem by and by!" Away they sailed, and each craft they hailed; While down in the cabin they bailed and bailed; For the sea was rough, and they had to luff And tack, till the captain cried out "Enough!" They stopped at Peru, this jolly crew, And went to Paris and Timbuctoo; And after a while they found the Nile, And watched the sports of the crocodile. They called on the Shah, and the mighty Czar, And on all the crowned heads near and far; Shook hands with the Cid—they really did! And lunched on top of the pyramid! To Afric's strand, or northern land, They steer as the captain gives command; And fly so fast that the slender mast Goes quivering, shivering in the blast! Then on to the ground with a sudden bound, Leaps Jack—'t was a mercy he wasn't drowned! The sail is furled, the anchor hurled, "We've been," cry the children, "all round the world!" By billows tossed, by tempests crossed, Yet never a soul on board was lost! Though the boat be a sieve, I do not grieve, They sail on the ocean of "Make-believe."
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