Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/211

Rh We've got the cholerer in camp—we've got it 'ot an' sweet;

It ain't no Christmas dinner, but it 's 'elped an' we must eat.

We've gone beyond the funkin', 'cause we've found it doesn't pay,

An' we're rockin' round the Districk on ten deaths a day!

Then strike your camp an' go, the Rains are fallin'.

The Bugle's callin'!

The dead are bushed an' stoned to keep 'em safe below!

An' them that do not like it they can lump it,

An them that can not stand it they can jump it;

We've got to die somewhere—some way—some'ow—

We might as well begin to do it now!

Then, Number One, let down the tent-pole slow,

Knock out the pegs an 'old the corners—so!

Fold in the flies, furl up the ropes, an' stow!

Oh, strike—oh, strike your camp an' go!

(Gawd 'elp us!)