Chapter II

Then the Toddling Baby Boy,
With shining morning face,
Creeping like a snail.

Queer, drifting fancies, vague and dim,
'Neath his gold curls are hid.
The kitchen steps appear to him
Those of a pyramid.

With mighty purpose in his mind,
He clambers up. And then,
With purpose quite as well defined,
He scrambles down again.

Then, of all busy ones of earth,--
Toilers beneath the sun,
Working away for all they're worth,
He is the busiest one!

Down in the sand he has to dig
A hole, exceeding deep;
And by its side, all smooth and big,
He piles a lovely heap.

With both hands then he scatters it
Round the verandah floor;
And when he's scattered every bit,
He scoops it up once more.

He has to watch the rainy drops
Drip, dripping from the wall;
Then, quick as anything, he stops
To go and roll his ball.

Across the lawn he seems to see
A funny little stick;
So he must needs go hastily
And give the thing a kick.

The laughing sunshine sifts right through
His mop of tangled curls;
Turning it to a golden hue,
And kinking it in twirls.

_Then the Toddling Baby Boy--
With shining morning face,
Creeping like a snail._]

And then he hums with all his might
A funny little song;
Some of the notes are almost right,
And some are sort of wrong.

Then he must watch a lady-bird
That crawls across the floor;
Then listen! for he _thinks_ he heard
An awful lion roar!

He has to stop and 'member things;
"Once out at Gran'ma's house
They was a birdy wiv red wings!
And kitty caught a mouse!

"And then in Sunday-school one day,
The children all stood 'round,
And sang a song 'bout why--delay,--
It had a lovely sound."

Whatever can, or can't be known,
He much desires to know;
For suddenly his wonder-bone
Has just begun to grow.

"I wonder what that birdy's at
Over to Gran'ma's house.
I wonder why a kitty cat
Is 'llowed to catch a mouse.

"I wonder why the doggie whines,
I wonder why he does;
I wonder why the dandylines
All turns to fuzzy-fuzz.

"I wonder why my shadow-boy
Hops fast along as me;
I wonder why my newest toy
So broken seems to be.

"I wonder why they disappear
That sharp and shiny tool;
I wonder why my muvver dear
Won't let me go to school.

"I wonder why a deaded fly
Won't ever come alive;
I wonder why I'm only free,
An Dorofy is five!"

Each hour with wonder new is fraught;
Until he thinks so fast,
He wonders what it was he thought
When he was thinking last.

Wondering, singing, 'membering,--
He learns anew each day,
The world is but a bounding ball
For him to kick in play.