Rhymes of the Rookies | Page 4

is "hoof-marked"
With the "16th
Cavalry" brand;
And we'll warrant when he "cuts his molars,"
He'll
be as good as the best in the land.
We'll see that he gets fearless riders,
Who are "kindly" and know
every "aid;"
So if ever a battle is brewing,
He'll go to the "Charge"
unafraid.
He'll compare with all Cavalry horses,
No "I. C." marks for his neck;

Instead, upon his new brow-band
Resetted Blue Ribbons bedeck.
No matter the "sire," no matter the "dam,"
His "strain" is
"pure-blood"--tho "unregistered" yet;
He'll "run in the money,"--when
put to the test,
To "win in the stretch,"--on that you can bet.
So here's to the "Sixteenth Cavalry,"
The youngest of Cavalry
"mounts;"
He hasn't a "Past" and a "Pedigree,"
But 's

"all-horse,"--and that is what counts!
HIKING IN THE PHILIPPINES
(From a Marine's Diary)
(A ONE-DAY HIKE)
Rise and Shine, the bugle's calling!
Spring up lively from your beds!

Into line we'll soon be falling--
Shake a leg, you sleepy heads!
Better make a hasty toilet,
Like the other fellows do,
For I'll
guarantee you'll spoil it,
Long before the day is thru!
Better see the shoes you're wearing
Have a heavy pair of soles;
Or
you'll do some awful swearing
When the rocks come thru the holes!
Have your canteen filled and ready
Haversack swung on your belt,

Where it will swing good and steady
And its weight is scarcely felt!
At your breakfast don't you hurry--
Eat another dish of beans;
For
you'll need it--don't you worry--
Hiking in the Philippines!
Up the dusty road we've started--
Rout Step--walking at our ease;

Soon the even lines are parted--
All are walking as they please.
Long before the sun has ambled
O'er the green hills on our right,

Far along the road we've rambled
In the early morning light.
Thru the narrow trail we're walking,
Sticking to the narrow path.

Just behind us some are talking,
'Way ahead we hear a laugh.
Now a slender bridge we're crossing,
Over to a "goo-goo" farm--

Where a Carabao is tossing
Up his head, in great alarm.
Here we stop to rest a trifle--
Sip a drop from our canteens.
Gee! It's

tough to "pack" a rifle--
Hiking in the Philippines.
'Round the narrow path we're turning;
Tho it's early morning, yet.

Down the sun is fiercely burning--
Bringing out the drops of sweat!
Where the tropic trees are shading
Out the sunlight overhead

Leggings, shoes and all, we're wading
Thru a shallow river-bed.
You can hear the bamboo cracking
Underneath our heavy tread,

While the forest trails we're tackling--
Following, where we are lead.
You have got to be a Hiker
To keep up with these Marines,
Not a
big four-flush or piker--
Hiking in the Philippines!
Where the big mangoes are growing,
We have halted--Stacking Arms,

Far away, a rooster's crowing
On one of the native farms.
Under branches of big palm trees,
We are resting easy now--

Welcoming the cooling sea breeze
While we're waiting for our Chow.
Plainest fare is a fiesta
When you've Hiked for half a day;
And a
little noon siesta
Helps to pass the time away!
Like a ribbon all unraveled
Starts the line at half past two,
There are
new trails to be traveled
Back to old Olongapo!
THE MOUNTAIN BATTERY SONG
1.
Fall in. Fall in. Attention, you red-legged mountaineers, With your gun
and pack and box of tack, "non-coms." and cannoneers, Baptized in
Mindanao, beside the Sulu Sea.
Here's How, and How, how, how, to
a mountain battery.
Here's How, and How, how, how, to a mountain
battery.

2.
I'd rather be a soldier with a mule and mountain gun
Than a Knight of
old with spurs of gold, a Roman, Greek or Hun, For when there is
trouble brewing they always send for me To start the row with a row,
row, row, from a mountain battery. To start the row with a row, row,
row, from a mountain battery.
Here's to pack and aparejo, the cradle, gun trail,
And that darned old
fool, the battery mule, that was never known to fail. So raise your
glasses high and drink this toast with me:
Here's How, and How, how,
how, to a mountain battery.
Here's How, and How, how, how, to a
mountain battery.
THE CAVALRY SONG
Come, listen unto this song, I'm as happy as can be,
I'm masher and
dasher in the U. S. Cavalrie;
I stand up straight with legs apart;
bowed slightly at the knee, With folded arms across my chest, 'tis the
pose of the Cavalrie.
Chorus:
So fill your glasses to the brim
And brace your courage with slow gin,

I will tell you all it is a sin
To serve in the Infantrie.
I'm a cavalryman so fierce and bold, a soldier thru and thru, I ride a
horse because of course 'tis the proper thing to do. I wear my spurs both
night and day that every one may see. Whatever else I might have been,
I'm not in the Infantrie.
We went to fight the China horde with sabre, horse and gun. We'd meet
them and we'd beat them just the way it should be done; But we left our
horses, corn and hay out on the ships in