Page:McClure's Magazine volume 10.djvu/509

Rh

Jimmy Legs he walks the deck,
 * Brass buttons down his coat,

A buzzard and stripe he wears on his sleeve,
 * He's the biggest man afloat.

The lads who smuggle the "stuff" on board
 * They know when he's around,

And skylarkin' drops and the fightin' stops
 * Because he is brass-bound.

I'm a-goin' to be brass-bound
 * Before I leaves the ship;

I'm goin' to sport a crow of my own
 * And I won't take nobody's lip.

I ain't ashamed of a shirt—
 * (And I wears a ratin' mark,)

But I mades up my mind as a 'prentice boy
 * (When walkin' in Central Park,)

I was goin' to be brass-bound
 * Before I left the sea,

And buzzard and stripe And a bo'sun's pipe
 * Are waitin' somewhere for me.