Page:Fifes and Drums, Poems of America at War, Vigilantes, 1917.djvu/22



the high court of King Lion the Strong

The wily Hyena appeared with a throng

Of Jackals as witnesses, charging the Ass

With wronging him foully by eating the grass.

"This rogue," the Hyena indignantly cried,

"Without any warrant express or implied,

Devours the herbage so luscious and sweet

And cruelly leaves me with nothing to eat.

I pray the Court, therefore, to grant me relief,

Including permission to dine on the thief."

The Ass pleaded humbly with down-hanging ears,

(Addressing a Jury composed of his peers):

"Dear friends, that I graze in the meadow is true,

But not without warrant. My course I pursue