Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/66

48 "You speak to Salem Hardieker;

"You was his girl, I know.

"I ship mineselfs to-morrow, see,

"Und round the Skaw we go,

"South, down the Cattegat, by Hjelm,

"To Besser in Saro."

When love rejected turns to hate,

All ill betide the man.

"You speak to Salem Hardieker"—

She spoke as woman can.

A scream—a sob—"He called me—names!"

And then the fray began.

An oath from Salem Hardieker,

A shriek upon the stairs,

A dance of shadows on the wall,

A knife-thrust unawares—

And Hans came down, as cattle drop,

Across the broken chairs.

In Anne of Austria's trembling hands

The weary head fell low:—

"I ship mineselfs to-morrow, straight

"For Besser in Saro;

"Und there Ultruda comes to me

"At Easter, und I go

"South, down the Cattegat—What's here?

"There—are—no—lights—to—guide!"

The mutter ceased, the spirit passed,

And Anne of Austria cried

In Fultah Fisher's boarding-house

When Hans the mighty died.