Little Jack

He wore a pair of tattered pants
A ragged roustabout
And through the torn crown of his cap
A lock of hair stuck out
His home was in a friendless street
His name was Little Jack

One day a bouncing baby boy
With head of curly hair
Escaped his mothers loving arms
Who, tired with other cares
Forgot her little baby one
Who crept upon the railway track
To play with the bright pebbles there

But see! Around the bend there comes
A swiftly flying train
It rattles and it whistles and it shreiks with might and main
But who's this little figure?
Running down the track...
His hat is gone
His feet are bare
Its ragged Little Jack

He picked the child up in his arms
And from the tracks the babe was safely tossed
But a slip, and a cry, the train rolled by
Poor Little Jack is gone

They found his mangled body there
Just where he slipped and fell
And brave men wept
Who'd never cared for him, when he was well
If there be starry crowns in Heaven
For little ones to wear
The star on Little Jacks would be
The brightest of any there.