Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/240

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
222
RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE

A health to the Native-born (Stand up!),
We're six white men arow,
All bound to sing o' the little things we care about,
All bound to fight for the little things we care about
With the weight of a six-fold blow!
By the might of our cable-tow (Take hands!),
From the Orkneys to the Horn
All round the world (and a little loop to pull it by)
All round the world (and a little strap to buckle it),
A health to the Native-born!



THE LOST LEGION

1895

THERE'S a Legion that never was 'listed,
That carries no colours or crest.
But, split in a thousand detachments,
Is breaking the road for the rest.
Our fathers they left us their blessing
They taught us, and groomed us, and crammed;
But we've shaken the Clubs and the Messes
To go and find out and be damned
(Dear boys!),
To go and get shot and be damned.

So some of us chivvy the slaver,
And some of us cherish the black,
And some of us hunt on the Oil Coast,
And some on the Wallaby track:
And some of us drift to Sarawak,
And some of us drift up The Fly,
And some share our tucker with tigers,
And some with the gentle Masai,
(Dear boys!),
Take tea with the giddy Masai.