With a twinkle in his eye
He’d come gayly walkin’ by
An’ he’d whistle to the children
An’ he’d beckon ’em to come,
Then he’d chuckle low an’ say,
‘Come along, I’m on my way,
An’ it’s I that need your company
To buy a little gum.’
When his merry call they’d hear,
All the children, far an’ near,
Would come flyin’ from the gardens
Like the chickens after wheat;
When we’d shake our heads an’ say:
‘No, you mustn’t go to-day!’
He’d beg to let him have ’em
In a pack about his feet.
Oh, he spoiled ’em, one an’ all;
There was not a youngster small
But was over-fed on candy
An’ was stuffed with lollypops,
An’ I think his greatest joy
Was to get some girl or boy
An’ bring ’em to their parents
All besmeared by chocolate drops.
Now the children’s hearts are sore
For he comes to them no more,
And no more to them he whistles
And no more for them he stops;
But in Paradise, I think,
With his chuckle and his wink,
He is leading little angels
To the heavenly candy shops.
