Prairie-Dog Town

Prairie-Dog Town
By Mary Hunter Austin


Old Peter Prairie-dog
 Builds him a house
 In Prairie-Dog Town,
 With a door that goes down
 And down and down,
 And a hall that goes under
 And under and under,
 Where you can't see the lightning,
 You can't hear the thunder,
 For they don't like thunder
 In Prairie-Dog Town.

 Old Peter Prairie-Dog
 Digs him a cellar
 In Prairie-Dog Town,
 With a ceiling that is arched
 And a wall that is round,
 And the earth he takes out he makes into a mound.
 And the hall and the cellar
 Are dark as dark,
 And you can't see a spark,
 Not a single spark;
 And the way to them cannot be found.

 Old Peter Prairie-Dog
 Knows a very clever trick
 Of behaving like a stick
 When he hears a sudden sound,
 Like an old dead stick;
 And when you turn your head
 He'll jump quick, quick,
 And be another stick
 When you look around.
 It is a clever trick,
 And it keeps him safe and sound
 In the cellar and the halls
 That are under the mound
 In Prairie-Dog Town.