Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/105



ELL, mate, you've asked me about a fellow You met to-day, in a black-and-yellow Chain-gang suit, with a pedler's pack. Or with some such burden, strapped to his back. Did you meet him square? No, passed you by? Well, if you had, and had looked in his eye, You'd have felt for your irons then and there; For the light in his eye is a madman's glare. Ay, mad, poor fellow! I know him well, And if you're not sleepy just yet, I'll tell His story,—a strange one as ever you heard Or read; but I'll vouch for it, every word.

You just wait a minute, mate: I must see How that damper's doing, and make some tea.