Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/37

Rh He warned her 'gainst seductive youths in scarlet clad and gold,

As much as 'gainst the blandishments paternal of the old;

But kept his gravest warnings for (hereby my ditty hangs)

That snowy-haired Lothario Lieutenant-General Bangs.

'Twas General Bangs, with Aide and Staff, that tittupped on the way,

When they beheld a heliograph tempestuously at play.

They thought of Border risings, and of stations sacked and burnt—

So stopped to take the message down—and this is what they learnt:—

"Dash dot dot, dot, dot dash, dot dash dot" twice. The General swore.

"Was ever General Officer addressed as 'dear' before?

"'My Love,' i' faith! 'My Duck,' Gadzooks! 'My darling popsy-wop!'

"Spirit of great Lord Wolseley, who is on that mountain top?"