A careful man, I want to be;

A little fellow follows me.

I do not dare to go astray,

For fear he'll go the selfsame way.

I cannot once escape his eyes;

Whatever he sees me do, he tries.

Like me, he says he's going to be,

That little chap that follows me.

He thinks that I am good and fine,

Believes in every word of mine.

The bad in me, he must not see;

My life to him must an example be.

I must remember, as I go

Through summer's sun and winter's snow,

I'm building for the years to be,

For that little chap that follows me.