Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/191

Rh "If I had raised my bridle-hand, as I have held it low,

"The little jackals that flee so fast were feasting all in a row:

"If I had bowed my head on my breast, as I have held it high,

"The kite that whistles above us now were gorged till she could not fly."

Lightly answered the Colonel's son:—"Do good to bird and beast,

"But count who come for the broken meats before thou makest a feast.

"If there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away,

"Belike the price of a jackal's meal were more than a thief could pay.

"They will feed their horse on the standing crop, their men on the garnered grain,

"The thatch of the byres will serve their fires when all the cattle are slain.

"But if thou thinkest the price be fair,—thy brethren wait to sup,

"The hound is kin to the jackal-spawn,—howl, dog, and call them up!