The Grey Brethren, and Other Fragments in Prose and Verse
either side As up I ride On mounting wing, And sing and sing— Then reach my bliss, The sun’s great kiss; And poise a space To see his face, Sweet, sweet, In radiant grace, Ah, sweet! ah, sweet!

Sweet

Sweet, sweet! Beneath my feet My nestlings call: And down I fall Unerring, true, Through heaven’s blue; And haste to fill Each noisy bill. My brooding breast Stills their unrest. Sweet, sweet, Their quick hearts beat, Safe in the nest: Ah, sweet, sweet, sweet! Ah, sweet!

Sweet, sweet The calling sky That bids me fly Up—up—on high. Sweet, sweet The claiming earth; It holds my nest And draws me down To where Love’s crown Of priceless worth Awaits my breast. Sweet, sweet! Ah, this is best And this most meet, Sweet, sweet! ah, sweet!

p. 75‘Luvly Miss’

p. 75

Nobody thought of consequences. There was a lighted paraffin lamp on the table and nothing else handy. Mrs Brown’s head presented a tempting mark, and of course Mr Brown’s lengthy stay at ‘The Three Fingers’ had something to do with it; but nobody thought of Miss Brown, aged four, who was playing happily on the floor, unruffled by the storm to which she was so well accustomed.

Nobody

Mrs Brown ducked; there was a smash, a scream, and poor little Miss Brown was in a blaze. The shock sobered the father and silenced the mother. Miss Brown was extinguished with the aid of a table-cover, much water, and many neighbours; but she was horribly burnt all over, except her face.

* * * * *

I made Miss Brown’s acquaintance a few days later. She was lying on a bed made up on two chairs, and was covered with cotton wool. She had scarcely any pain, and could not move at all; and the small face that peered out of what she called her “pitty warm snow” was wan and drawn and had a far-away look in the dark eyes.

Miss Brown possessed one treasure, her ‘luvly miss.’ I suppose I must call it a doll, though in what its claim to the title consisted I dared not ask; Miss Brown would have deeply resented the enquiry. It was a very large potato with a large and a small bulge. Into the large bulge were inserted three pieces of fire-wood, the body and arms of ‘luvly miss’; legs she had none.

How Miss Brown came by this treasure I never heard. She had an impression 
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