Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/348

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
164
BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS

An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a piece o' twisty rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment e' could find.
When the sweatin' troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"[1]
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?
You put some juldee[2] in it
Or I'll marrow[3] you this minute
If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!


'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,

'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
  1. Mr. Atkins' equivalent for "O brother."
  2. Be quick.
  3. Hit you.