The Moods of Ginger Mick | Page 8

bloke near seven feet,
Waves a bit uv naked Egyp' in the air.?An' there's squealin' an' there's shriekin' as they chased 'em down the street,
When they dug 'em out like rabbits frum their lair.?Then down into the roadway gaudy 'ouse'old gods comes fast, An' the Wazzir's Great Spring Cleanin' starts at last.
Frum the winders came pianners an' some giddy duchess pairs;
An' they piled 'em on the roadway in the mire,?An' 'eaped 'em 'igh wiv fal-de-rals an' pretty parlor chairs,
Which they started in to purify wiv fire.?Then the Redcaps come to argue, but they jist amused the mob; Fer tbe scavengers wus warmin' to their job.
When the fire-reels come to quell 'em-'struth! they 'ad no bloomin' 'ope;
Fer they cut the 'ose to ribbons in a jiff;?An' they called u'pon tbe drink-shops an' poured out their rotten dope,
While the nigs 'oo didn't run wus frightened stiff.?An' when orb wus done an' over, an' they wearied uv the strife, That old Wazzir'd 'ad the scourin' uv its life.
Now, old Gin er ain't quite candid; 'e don't say where 'e came in;
But 'e mentions that'e don't get no C.B.,?An' 'e's 'ad some pretty practice dodgin' punishment fer sin
Down in Spadger's since 'is early infancy.?So I guess, if they went after 'im, they found 'im snug in bed. Fer old Ginger 'as a reel tactician's 'ead.
An' 'e sez that when 'e wandered down the Wazzir later on
It wus like a 'ome where 'oliness reposed;?Fer its sinfulness wus 'idden, an' its brazenness wus gone,
An' its doors, wiv proper modesty, wus closed.?If a 'ead looked out a winder, as they passed, it quick drew in; Fer the Wazzir wus a wowser, scared from sin.
If old Pharaoh, King uv Egyp', 'e 'ad lived to see the day
When they tidied up 'is 'eap uv shame an' sin,?Well, 'e mighter took it narsty, fer our fellers 'ave a way
Uv completin' any job that they begin.?An' they might 'ave left 'is Kingship nursin' gravel-rash in bed. . . But old Pharaoh, King uv Egyp', 'e is dead.
VI. SARI BAIR
So, they've struck their streak o' trouble, an' they got it in the neck, An' there's more than one ole pal o' mine 'as 'anded in 'is check; But Ginger still takes nourishment; 'e's well, but breathin' 'ard. An' so 'e sends the strength uv it scrawled on a chunk uv card.
"On the day we 'it the transport there wus cheerin' on the pier, An' the girls wus wavin' hankies as they dropped a partin' tear, An' we felt like little 'eroes as we watched the crowd recede, Fer we sailed to prove Australia, an' our boastin' uv the breed.
"There wus Trent, ex~toff, uv England; there wus Green, ex-pug, uv 'Loo; There wus me, an' Craig uv Queensland, wiv 'is 'ulkin' six-foot-two: An' little Smith uv Collin'wood, 'oo 'owled a rag-time air. On the day we left the Leeuwin, bound nor'-west for Gawd-knows-where.
"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 flarnin' 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' soom.'
"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!'
"Then Sari Bair, O Sari Bair, 'twus you wot seen it done,?The day the transports rode yer bay beneath a smilin' sun.?We boasted much, an' toasted much; but where yer tide line creeps, 'Twus you, me dainty Sari Bair, that seen us play fer keeps.
"We wus full uv savage skitin' while they kep' us on the shelf - (Now I tell yeh, square an' 'onest, I wus doubtin' us meself); But we proved it, good an' plenty, that our lads can do an' dare, On the day we walloped Abdul o'er the sands o' Sari