The Magic Pudding | Page 5

safe distance away the Possum sang out: "You'll
repent this conduct. You'll repent bending a man's snout so that he can
hardly see over it, let alone breathe through it with comfort," and the

Wombat added, "For shame, flapping a man with sore feet."
"We laugh with scorn at threats," said Bill, and he added as a warning--
"I don't repent a snout that's bent, And if again I tap it, Oh, with a clout
I'll bend that snout With force enough to snap it."
and Sam added for the Wombat's benefit--
"I take no shame to fight the lame When they deserve to cop it. So do
not try to pipe your eye, Or with my flip I'll flop it."
The puddin'-thieves disappeared over the hill and, as the evening
happened to come down rather suddenly at that moment, Bill said,
"Business bein' over for the day, now's the time to set about makin' the
camp fire."
This was a welcome suggestion, for, as all travellers know, if you don't
sit by a camp fire in the evening, you have to sit by nothing in the dark,
which is a most unsociable way of spending your time. They found a
comfortable nook under the hedge, where there were plenty of dry
leaves to rest on, and there they built a fire, and put the billy on, and
made tea. The tea and sugar and three tin cups and half a pound of
mixed biscuits were brought out of the bag by Sam, while Bill cut
slices of steak-and-kidney from the Puddin'. After that they had boiled
jam roll and apple dumpling, as the fancy took them, for if you wanted
a change of food from the Puddin', all you had to do was to whistle
twice and turn the basin round.
After they had eaten as much as they wanted, the things were put away
in the bag, and they settled down comfortably for the evening. "This is
what I call grand," said Bill, cutting up his tobacco. "Full-and-plenty to
eat, pipes goin' and the evenin's enjoyment before us. Tune up on the
mouth-organ, Sam, an' off she goes with a song."
They had a mouth-organ in the bag which they took turns at playing,
and Bill led off with a song which he said was called

SPANISH GOLD
"When I was young I used to hold I'd run away to sea, And be a Pirate
brave and bold On the coast of Caribbee.
"For I sez to meself, `I'll fill me hold With Spanish silver and Spanish
gold, And out of every ship I sink I'll collar the best of food and drink.
"`For Caribbee, or Barbaree, Or the shores of South Amerikee Are all
the same to a Pirate bold, Whose thoughts are fixed on Spanish gold.'
"So one fine day I runs away A Pirate for to be; But I found there was
never a Pirate left On the coast of Caribbee.
"For Pirates go, but their next of kin Are Merchant Captains, hard as
sin, And Merchant Mates as hard as nails Aboard of every ship that
sails.
"And I worked aloft and I worked below, I worked wherever I had to
go, And the winds blew hard and the winds blew cold, And I sez to
meself as the ship she rolled,
"`O Caribbee! O Barbaree! O shores of South Amerikee! O, never go
there: if the truth be told, You'll get more kicks than Spanish gold.'"
"And that's the truth, mate," said Bill to Bunyip Bluegum. "There ain't
no pirates nowadays at sea, except western ocean First Mates, and
many's the bootin' I've had for not takin' in the slack of the topsail
halyards fast enough to suit their fancy. It's a hard life, the sea, and Sam
here'll bear me out when I say that bein' hit on the head with a belayin'
pin while tryin' to pick up the weather earring is an experience that no
man wants twice. But toon up, and a song all round."
"I shall sing you the `The Penguin Bold,'" said Sam, and, striking a
graceful attitude, he sang this song--
"To see the penguin out at sea, And watch how he behaves, Would
prove that penguins cannot be And never shall be slaves. You haven't

got a notion How penguins brave the ocean, And laugh with scorn at
waves.
"To see the penguin at his ease Performing fearful larks With stingarees
of all degrees, As well as whales and sharks ; The sight would quickly
let you know The great contempt that penguins show For stingarees
and sharks.
"O see the penguin as he goes A-turning Catherine wheels, Without
repose upon the nose Of walruses and seals. But bless your heart, a
penguin feels Supreme contempt for foolish