Logic In Rhyme 3 Poem by Kim Barney

(14)
Little Billy Johnson
was walking through the trees
with a double-barreled shotgun;
there was a gentle breeze.
He came upon an oak tree
just filled with birds galore,
the most that he did ever see;
of that he was most sure.
there were ninety-seven blackbirds
perched up there on high,
and he thought that we would fire his gun
up into the sky.
He pulled both triggers, did little Bill,
and now here is the tally
of all the birds that he did kill
there in that lonesome valley:
The first barrel got twenty-four
of those little ebony birds.
The second barrel got fifteen more;
too bad he didn't have a third.
Now here's the problem I have for thee:
how many birds remain in the tree?

(15)
Here is a problem for a laugh:
just divide thirty by one half,
add ten,
and then
what number have you at the end?

(16)
Three little pills the doctor did supply
to little Jimmy Bower
and said, 'Now listen, little guy,
take one every half hour.'
If Jimmy does as doctor says
(start thinking really fast)
from when he starts to when he stops,
how long do those pills last?

(17)
Old lady Penn
wants to get up at ten,
quite late on the morrow
and so she sets her Baby Ben
alarm clock for that hour.
She needs lots of sleep,
wants to slumber deep
and not have any sorrow.
She takes just one small glass of wine
and climbs into her bed at nine
p.m. the night before
and very soon, with a full moon,
she softly starts to snore.
She's breathing deeply in her bed
with an occasional cough.
How many hours slumber will she get
before her alarm goes off?

(Try to solve them before you look for the answers in 'Notes by the Poet about the Poem')