Page:Poems that every child should know (ed. Burt, 1904).djvu/163

Rh The Overland-Mail.

the name of the Empress of India, make way,

O Lords of the Jungle wherever you roam,

The woods are astir at the close of the day—

We exiles are waiting for letters from Home—

Let the robber retreat; let the tiger turn tail,

In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail!

With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in,

He turns to the foot-path that leads up the hill—

The bags on his back, and a cloth round his chin,

And, tucked in his belt, the Post-Office bill;—

"Despatched on this date, as received by the rail,

Per runner, two bags of the Overland-Mail."

Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.

Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.

Does the tempest cry "Halt"? What are tempests to him?

The service admits not a "but" or an "if ";

While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail,

In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail.

From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir,

From level to upland, from upland to crest,