Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/54

32 Slam-bang too much—they knock a wee—the crosshead-gibs are loose;

But thirty thousand mile o' sea has gied them fair excuse. . ..

Fine, clear an' dark—a full-draught breeze, wi' Ushant out o' sight,

An' Ferguson relievin' Hay. Old girl, ye'll walk to-night!

His wife's at Plymouth. . . . Seventy—One—Two—Three since he began—

Three turns for Mistress Ferguson. . . . and who's to blame the man?

There's none at any port for me, by drivin' fast or slow,

Since Elsie Campbell went to Thee, Lord, thirty years ago.

(The year the Sarah Sands was burned. Oh roads we used to tread,

Fra' Maryhill to Pollokshaws—fra' Govan to Parkhead!)

Not but they're ceevil on the Board. Ye'll hear Sir Kenneth say:

'Good morrn, M'Andrews! Back again? An' how's your bilge to-day?'