Sly Boy.

    I was the slyest boy at home,
    The slyest boy at school,
    I wanted all the world to know
    That I was no one's fool.

    I kept my childish hopes and schemes
    Locked closely in my breast,
    No single secret shared with Bob,
    The chum I liked the best.

    I never showed my squirrel's nest,
    Nor beaver dam, nor cave,
    Nor fortress where I used to go
    To be a soldier brave.

    Oh, I was sly, just awful sly,
    In winter, summer, spring,
    While Bob would tell me all he knew,
    I never told a thing.

    And yet Bob always got ahead;
    I'd find the careless knave
    Asleep within my fortress walls,
    And fishing in my cave.

    "What, yours!" he said, in great surprise,
    "You should have told me so.
    You never said a word, old chum,
    And how was I to know?"

    My slyness hurt more than it helped;
    If Bob had known, you see,
    He was too kind to do his best
    To get ahead of me.

    I still was sly when I grew up.
    I fell in love with Nan,
    But scorned to own it to myself
    Or any other man.

    So sly was I, Nan never guessed -
    No more did handsome Bob -
    That every time she looked my way
    My heart, it stirred and throbbed.

    The same old story! Ere I knew,
    My chum had loved and won.
    When I explained I'd picked her out
    To be my very own,

    "What, yours!" he said in great surprise,
    "You should have told me so.
    You never said a word, old chum,
    And how was I to know?"

    I've learned my lesson, lost my girl;
    You'll own 'tis rather rough.
    Henceforward I'll not be too sly -
    I'll be just sly enough.