Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/44

30 Yar Mahommed Yusufzai, down to kill or steal;

Chimbu Singh from Bikaneer, Tantia the Bhil;

Killar Khan the Marri chief, Jowar Singh the Sikh,

Nubbee Baksh Punjabi Jat, Abdul Huq Rafiq—

He was a Wahabi; last, little Boh Hla-oo

Took advantage of the Act—took a Snider too.

They were unenlightened men, Ballard knew them not,

They procured their swords and guns chiefly on the spot,

And the lore of centuries, plus a hundred fights,

Made them slow to disregard one another's rights.

With a unanimity dear to patriot hearts

All those hairy gentlemen out of foreign parts

Said: "The good old days are back—let us go to war!"

Swaggered down the Grand Trunk Road into Bow Bazar.

Nubbee Baksh Punjabi Jat found a hide-bound flail,

Chimbu Singh from Bikaneer oiled his Tonk jezail,

Yar Mahommed Yusufzai spat and grinned with glee

As he ground the butcher-knife of the Khyberee.