Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/307

Rh The mangled stallion's scream at night, the tail-cropped heifer's low.

Who set the whisper going first? You know, and well you know!

My soul! I'd sooner lie in jail for murder plain and straight,

Pure crime I'd done with my own hand for money, lust, or hate,

Than take a seat in Parliament by fellow-felons cheered,

While one of those "not provens" proved me cleared as you are cleared.

Cleared—you that "lost" the league accounts—go, guard our honour still,

Go, help to make our country's laws that broke God's law at will—

One hand stuck out behind the back, to signal "strike again";

The other on your dress-shirt-front to show your heart is clane.