Abigail Adams and Her Times. Richards Laura Elizabeth Howe

      And so the old lady her servant called up

      And packed off a budget of tea,

      And, eager for three-pence a pound, she put in

      Enough for a large familee.

      She ordered her servant to bring home the tax,

      Declaring her child should obey,

      Or old as she was, and almost woman grown,

      She'd half whip her life away,

      She'd half whip her life away.

      The tea was conveyed to the daughter's door,

      All down by the ocean side,

      And the bouncing girl poured out every pound

      In the dark and boiling tide,

      And then she called out to the Island Queen,

      "Oh! Mother! Dear Mother!" quoth she,

      "Your tea you may have when 'tis steeped enough,