THE LITTLE BOYS WHO LOOKED ALIKE.

Oh, never yet were little boys so much alike as they! Each looked more like the other than himself, folks used to say. And since no one between them any difference could tell Some incidents quite undeserved the two at times befell. Their mother was so puzzled about telling which was which That it made it very awkward when she had to use her switch; And it frequently would happen that the guilty one went free, While his righteous little brother would be placed across her knee. When either of the little boys was vexed with childish ills The good old doctor soon would bring his castor oil and squills, And, in spite of tears and protests, he would very often make The well one swallow all his horrid doses, by mistake. Though one at school was always head, the teacher had to put The other (who would never learn his lessons) at the foot; So the bright boy for his indolence was ofttimes sternly chid, And the dull one patted on the head for what his brother did. And sometimes, too, the cook would make a little pie for one, And give it to the other just as soon as it was done; And, to keep the first from crying, she would roll him out one more, But the second, when he came again, would get it, as before. Oh, never yet were little boys so much alike as they! Each looked more like the other than himself, folks used to say. And since no one between them any difference could tell, Surprising and unjust rewards the two at times befell!