Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/69

Rh July was a trifle unhealthy,—Pagett was ill with fear,

Called it the "Cholera Morbus," hinted that life was dear.

He babbled of "eastern exile," and mentioned his home with tears;

But I hadn't seen my children for close upon seven years.

We reached a hundred and twenty once in the Court at noon,

[I've mentioned Pagett was portly] Pagett went off in a swoon.

That was an end to the business; Pagett, the perjured, fled

With a practical, working knowledge of "Solar Myths" in his head.

And I laughed as I drove from the station, but the mirth died out on my lips

As I thought of the fools like Pagett who write of their "Eastern trips,"

And the sneers of the travelled idiots who duly misgovern the land,

And I prayed to the Lord to deliver another one into my hand.