Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/210

188 Our Colonel's white an' twitterly—'e gets no sleep nor food.

But mucks about in 'orspital where nothing does no good.

'E sends us 'eaps o' comforts, all bought from 'is pay—

But there aren't much comfort 'andy on ten deaths a day.

Our Chaplain's got a banjo, an' a skinny mule 'e rides.

An' the stuff 'e says an' sings us, Lord, it makes us split our sides!

With 'is black coat-tails a-bobbin' to Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-ay!

'E's the proper kind o' padre for ten deaths a day.

An' Father Victor 'elps 'im with our Roman Catholicks—

He knows an 'eap of Irish songs an' rummy conjurin' tricks;

An' the two they works together when it comes to play or pray;

So we keep the ball a-rollin' on ten deaths a day.