Nye and Riley's Wit and Humor — A Hint of Spring

[Illustration: A HINT of SPRING.

] 'Twas but a hint of Spring--for still The atmosphere was sharp and chill-- Save where the genial sunshine smote The shoulders of my overcoat, And o'er the snow beneath my feet Laid spectral fences down the street.

My shadow even seemed to be Elate with some new buoyancy, And bowed and bobbed in my advance With trippingest extravagance, And when a bird sang out somewhere, It seemed to wheel with me, and stare.

Above I heard a rasping stir-- And on the roof the carpenter Was perched, and prodding rusty leaves From out the choked and dripping eaves-- And some one, hammering about, Was taking all the windows out.

Old scraps of shingles fell before The noisy mansion's open door;

And wrangling children raked the yard, And labored much, and laughed as hard And fired the burning trash I smelt And sniffed again--so good I felt!