On Fort-Duty
(March 28, 1884.)
There's tumult in the Khyber,
There's feud at Ali Kheyl;
For the Maliks[1] of the Khyber
Are at it tooth and nail—
With the stolen British carbine
And the long Kohat jezail.[2]
And I look across the ramparts
To the northward and the snow—
To the far Cherat cantonments;
But alas! I cannot go
From the dusty, dreary ramparts
Where the cannons grin arow!
There's fighting in the Khyber,
But it isn't meant for me,
Who am sent upon "Fort-duty"
By this pestilent Ravi,
With just one other subaltern,
And not a soul to see.
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