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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 70150 ***






AN
A. B. C.
OF
EVERY-DAY PEOPLE

[Illustration]

GOOD, BAD & INDIFFERENT.

BY
G. E. FARROW

AUTHOR OF “THE WALLYPUG OF WHY”
“THE LITTLE PANJANDRUM’S DODO”
ETC. ETC.

ILLUSTRATED
BY JOHN HASSALL.

LONDON DEAN & SON 160^A FLEET S^T. E.C.

[Illustration: =A= THE AMIABLE]




A the Amiable!


[Illustration]

=A=h! what an +a+miable party is =A=,
He holds out his hand in a genial way;

He is hearty and hale,
And he loves a good sail.
What a capital friend on a fine summer’s day!

[Illustration: =B= THE BUMPTIOUS]




B the Bumptious.


[Illustration]

=B=oastful, and +b+umptious Bohemian =B=,
He plays on the fiddle most beautifully;

But is really so vain,
That some people complain
That his fiddling is nothing but fiddle-de-dee.

[Illustration: =C= THE CONTENTED]




C the Contented.


[Illustration]

=C=heerful, +c+ontented, and smiling is =C=,
A good-natured, pleasant old lady is she;

And even her cat,
Tho’ he isn’t too fat,
Appears to be grinning most amiably.

[Illustration: =D= THE DOLEFUL]




D the Doleful.


[Illustration]

=D=ear! Dear! What a +d+readfully +d+olorous =D=,
The picture of misery surely is he;

When he asks for a penny,
And doesn’t get any,
His language is not what his language should be.

[Illustration: =E= THE ENERGETIC]




E the Energetic.

[Illustration]


Behold, +e+nergetic and eager-eyed =E=,
Who has no time to stand upon ceremony;

He’s all hurry and hustle,
And scurry and bustle,
About something or other continually.

[Illustration: =F= THE FEEBLE]




F the Feeble.

[Illustration]


=F=idgety, +f+retful, and +f+ractious is =F=.
For feeble and fragile, and frail is old F;

Not a tooth in his head,
And now, it is said,
The old fellow’s becoming remarkably deaf.

[Illustration: =G= THE GENEROUS]




G the Generous.

[Illustration]


This is +g+ood-natured and +g+enerous =G=.
A kind little fellow, you’ll doubtless agree;

See him willingly share
That extremely large pear,
How very surprised Pretty Polly must be.

[Illustration: =H= THE HAUGHTY]




H the Haughty.

[Illustration]


=H=oity-toity! Here’s +h+igh-minded +h+aughty Miss =H=.
To be so self-satisfied’s naughty, Miss H,

With your nose in the air,
And your insolent stare,
I can’t think what you’ll look like at forty, Miss H.

[Illustration: =I= THE INDUSTRIOUS]




I the Industrious.


[Illustration]

You can’t help but admire this +i+ndustrious =I=,
Who is studying hard, tho’ there’s nobody by.

He’s so lost in his book,
He has no time to look
At the ink he has spilt; and it’s getting quite dry.

[Illustration: =J= THE JOLLY]




J the Jolly.


[Illustration]

This is the +j+ovial, +j+ocular =J=,
Who’s enjoying at Margate a fine holiday.

He makes everyone laugh,
With his fun and his chaff.
You’ve met somebody like him before, I dare say.

[Illustration: =K= THE KNAVISH]




K the Knavish.


[Illustration]

I’d +k+nock o’er the +k+nuckles this +k+navish young =K=:
He’s been picking a pocket and now runs away.

But Policeman X+2+
Has this person in view,
And will certainly catch the young rascal some day.

[Illustration: =L= THE LIVELY]




L the Lively.


[Illustration]

=L=issome and +l+ively is +l+ight-footed =L=,
Who dances the sailor’s hornpipe very well.

From morning to night,
He is merry and bright,
Is this jolly Jack Tar, one may easily tell.

[Illustration: =M= THE MEEK]




M the Meek.


[Illustration]

Down-trodden, brow-beaten, +m+eek little =M=,
This torrent of fault-finding nothing can stem.

If her mistress were kinder,
No doubt she would find her
The best of good servants, a regular gem.




N the Neighbourly.


[Illustration]

This is good-natured and +n+eighbourly =N=,
Who over the wall has been talking since ten.

To the lady next door,
(Who’s perhaps rather poor)
She’s lending her very best flat-iron again.

[Illustration: =N= THE NEIGHBOURLY]




O the Obliging.


[Illustration]

An +o+bliging +o+fficial is good P’liceman =O=.
He holds up his hand, and the coachman says “Whoa!”

His smile is seraphic,
When stopping the traffic,
To let a small lady cross over, you know.

[Illustration: =O= THE OBLIGING]




P the Perky.


[Illustration]

=P=erky and +p+roud is +p+articular =P=.
She wouldn’t converse with a policeman, not she!

But I have heard it said,
That a soldier in red
By her is regarded more favourably.

[Illustration: =P= THE PERKY]




Q the Quarrelsome.


[Illustration]

This is the +q+uerulous, +q+uarrelsome =Q=.
Nothing will please her, whatever you do;

And from morning till night,
This or that isn’t right,
And whatever you tell her, she says isn’t true.

[Illustration: =Q= THE QUARRELSOME]




R the Respectable.


[Illustration]

Proper and highly +r+espectable =R=.
About your appearance most particular.

The man with the broom
Steps aside to make room,
And wonders, poor fellow, whoever you are.

[Illustration: =R= THE RESPECTABLE]




S the Satisfied.


[Illustration]

In his cooking most highly +s+uccessful is =S=,
And his smiling face doth satisfaction express.

He says, “Very good stew!”
And so, doubtless, would you.
This person’s a Chef, as you see by his dress.

[Illustration: =S= THE SATISFIED]




T the Timid.


[Illustration]

=T=erribly +t+imid is +t+remulous =T=,
Who appears to be sitting uncomfortably.

He looks nervous and ill,
And will certainly spill
All his tea. He has spilt some already, I see.

[Illustration: =T= THE TIMID]




U the Unhappy.


[Illustration]

=U=nfortunate and most +u+nwilling is =U=.
The poor little chap’s in a terrible stew,

When he’s had the tooth out
He’ll be better, no doubt,
And a new tooth will grow where the other one grew.

[Illustration: =U= THE UNHAPPY]




V the Vacant.


[Illustration]

Utterly +v+acant and lost is poor =V=,
He’s forgotten the date of the wedding you see.

He’s forgotten the ring,
And in fact everything;
A remarkable kind of a bridegroom is he.

[Illustration: =V= THE VACANT]




W the Willing.


[Illustration]

Perfectly +w+illing is antique Miss =W=,
Tho’ I fear very much that nobody will trouble you.

Few are anxious to kiss
Such an elderly miss;
It is sad, but a fact, you poor ancient Miss W.

[Illustration: =W= THE WILLING]




X the Excitable.


[Illustration]

This is the highly excitable =X=.
The result of the poll, or some land we annex,

Drives him quite off his head;
And I have heard it said
That such conduct his wife doth exceedingly vex.

[Illustration: =X= THE EXCITABLE]




Y the Youthful.


[Illustration]

This is the girlish and +y+outhful Miss =Y=,
Who’ll bestow a sweet smile as she passes you by.

To look younger than ever
Is her constant endeavour;
Though her age you will probably guess, if you try.

[Illustration: =Y= THE YOUTHFUL]




Z the Zealous Zoologist.


[Illustration]

This is the +z+ealous +z+oologist =Z=
Examining an hippopotamus’ head.

There’s no cause for alarm,
It can do you no harm,
For the creature, of course, is decidedly dead.

[Illustration: =Z= THE ZEALOUS ZOOLOGIST]




                          TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

               1. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
               2. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.
               3. Enclosed special font in +plus+.



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