Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/54

36 Next the sleepy Babu wake,

Book a Kalka van "for four."

Few, I think, will care to make

Journeys with me any more

As they used to do of yore.

I shall need a "special brake"—

'Thing I never took before—

Get me one for old sake's sake.

After that—arrangements make.

No hotel will take me in,

And a bullock's back would break

'Neath the teak and leaden skin.

Tonga-ropes are frail and thin,

Or, did I a back-seat take,

In a tonga I might spin,—

Do your best for old sake's sake.

After that—your work is done.

Recollect a Padre must

Mourn the dear departed one—

Throw the ashes and the dust.

Don't go down at once. I trust

You will find excuse to "snake

Three days' casual on the bust ,"—

Get your fun for old sake's sake.

I could never stand the Plains.

Think of blazing June and May,

Think of those September rains

Yearly till the Judgment Day!

I should never rest in peace,

I should sweat and lie awake.

Rail me then, on my decease,

To the Hills for old sake's sake!