Page:The moods of Ginger Mick.djvu/54

46 "On the day we come to Cairo wiv its niggers an' its din, To fill our eyes wiv desert sand, our souls wiv Eastern sin, There wus cursin' an' complainin'; we wus 'ungerin' fer fight— Little imertation soljers full uv vanity an' skite.

"Then they worked us—Gawd! they worked us, till we knoo wot drillin' meant; Till men begun to feel like men, an' wasters to repent, Till we grew to 'ate all Egyp', an' its desert, an' its stinks: On the days we drilled at Mena in the shadder uv the Sphinx.

"Then Green uv Sydney swore an oath they meant to 'old us tight, A crowd uv flamin' ornaments wivout a chance to fight; But little Smith uv Collin'wood, he whistled 'im a toon. An' sez, 'Aw, take a pull, lad; there'll be whips o' stoushin' soon.'

"Then the waitin', weary waitin', while we itched to meet the foe! But we'd done wiv fancy skitin' an' the comic op'ra show. We wus soljers—finished soljers, an' we felt it in our veins On the day we trod the desert on ole Egyp's sandy plains.

"An' Trent 'e said it wus a bore, an' all uv us wus blue. An' Craig, the giant, never joked the way 'e used to do. But little Smith uv Collin'wood 'e 'ummed a little song, An' said, 'You leave it to the 'eads. O now we sha'n't be long!'