Little Bill said
?'At when his gran'pa crossed the plains
The Mississippi, swelled by rains,
Was 'bout as big as Baffin Bay;
He could n't cross no other way
Essept he made the oxes swim—
Of course the oxes minded him—
An' while he tended to the sails
They steered theirselves jes by their tails!
?So little Bill said.
?Little Bill said
His gran'pa seed the buffalo
From where he was to Mexico—
The biggest herd he ever heard!
His oxes never said a word,
But pitched 'em off on either side
An' filled the air with buffalo hide.
To steal the bison would n't do.
An' so his oxes hooked a few!
?So little Bill said.
?Little Bill said
His gran'pa met, away out West,
A Indian tribe, in war-paint dressed,
'At reached way off almost a mile,
All marchin' at him single file
So straight he could n't see but one,
An' so he up an' fired his gun;
The bullet struck the big chief's head—
Went through 'em all an' killed 'em dead!
?So little Bill said.
?Little Bill said
His gran'pa met a polar bear;
But had n't any bullets there;
So put a peach-pit in his gun
An' shot the bear, but off he run.
Next spring his gran'pa went that way,
An' what d' ye think?—as sure as day,
That selfsame bear jumped in his track—
A peach-tree bloomin' in his back!
?So little Bill said.
?Little Bill said
His gran'pa found a holler tree
A-leanin' o'er Yosemite—
He hollered in the tree, no doubt,
An' found its trunk was hollered out—
A tree so awful big an' tall
He chopped 'er down an' let 'er fall;
An' when the top struck t'other ridge,
He drove his oxes through the bridge!
?So little Bill said.
?Little Bill said
His gran'pa built a fly'n-machine—
The first one anybody 'd seen—
An' started for the Pole, but found
It much too cold for flyin' round;
An' jes as he got almost there
The thing froze fast, right in the air;
He got so “hot” 'at he thawed loose,
But after that he wa' n't much use;
?So little Bill said.
?Little Bill said
His gran'pa thought 'at some folks might
Perhaps believe his head was light
A-talkin' things 'at was n't true;
But other folks did big things too:
For Atlas once held up the world,
An' Jupiter the lightnin' hurled;
With Gulliver an' Buffalo Bill,
To prove great men were livin' still!
?So little Bill said.