The Gallant Outriders. Rhymes and Jingles by Mary Mapes Dodge for children
Where have you been, my children;
Where have you been, I pray?"
"Oh, but we've been a-riding,
A-riding the live-long day."
"And how did you ride, my darlings;
And where did all of you go?"
"We all of us went on horseback,
A-galloping in a row.
"Jack had the whole of the saddle;
I held on to the tail;
And Leslie, under the fore-feet,
Managed to ride the rail;
"Jackey galloped and cantered,—
Played he galloped, I mean;
For Les. and I did the rocking,
And Jack just rode between.
"Oh, didn't our animal caper
As he hitched himself along!
We might have kept on forever,
If they'd only made him strong.
"But when I pitched on the carpet,
His tail so tight in my hand,
And Les. from the rail fell kicking,
Why, horsey came to a stand.
"If Les. had only kept quiet,
We might have played we were dead;
I don't see the sense in yelling
Because you have bumped your head.
"Jackey held on like a good one,
And looked as fine as a fiddle,—
But it's nothing to ride a-horseback
If a fellow is on the middle."