'Taught me the gipsy-folks' bolee;*

Kind o' volcano she were,

For she knifed me one night 'cause I wished she

was white,

And I learned about women from 'er.

Then I come 'ome in the trooper,

'Long of a kid o' sixteen

Girl from a convent at Meerut,
The straightest I ever 'ave seen.
Love at first sight was 'er trouble,
She didn't know what it were;

An' I wouldn't do such, 'cause I liked 'er too much,
But--I learned about women from 'er!

I've taken my fun where I've found it,
An' now I must pay for my fun,

For the more you 'ave known o' the others
The less will you settle to one;

An' the end of it's sittin' and thinkin',

An' dreamin' Hell-fires to see;

So be warned by my lot (which I know you will not),

An' learn about women from me!

* Slang.

What did the colonel's lady think?
Nobody never knew.

Somebody asked the sergeant's wife,

An' she told 'em true.

When you get to a man in the case,
They're like as a row of pins-

For the colonel's lady an' Judy O'Grady
Are sisters under their skins!

BILL 'AWKINS.

"As anybody seen Bill 'Awkins ?"

"Now 'ow in the devil would I know ?”

"E's taken my girl out walkin',

An' I've got to tell 'im so

Gawd-bless-'im !

I've got to tell 'im so."

"D'yer know what 'e's like, Bill 'Awkins ?" "Now what in the devil would I care ?" "'E's the livin', breathin' image of an organgrinder's monkey,

With a pound of grease in 'is 'air—
Gawd-bless-'im!

An' a pound o' grease in 'is 'air."

"An' s'pose you met Bill 'Awkins, Now what in the devil 'ud ye do ?"

"I'd open 'is cheek to 'is chin-strap buckle,

An' bung up 'is both eyes, too-
Gawd-bless-'im!

An' bung up 'is both eyes, too!"

66

"Look 'ere, where 'e comes, Bill 'Awkins! Now what in the devil will you say?"

'It isn't fit an' proper to be fightin' on a Sunday,

So I'll pass 'im the time o' day

Gawd-bless-'im!

I'll pass 'im the time o' day!"

THE MOTHER-LODGE.

THERE WAS Rundle, Station Master,
An' Beazeley of the Rail,
An' 'Ackman, Commissariat,
An' 'Donkin o' the Jail;
An' Blake, Conductor-Sargent,

Our Master twice was 'e,

With 'im that kept the Europe shop,

Old Framjee Eduljee.

Outside-" Sergeant! Sir! Salute! Salaam!" Inside-" Brother," an' it doesn't do no 'arm.

We met upon the Level an' we parted on the Square,

An' I was Junior Deacon in my Mother Lodge out there!

We'd Bola Nath, Accountant,

An' Saul the Aden Jew,

An' Din Mohammed, draughtsman
Of the Survey Office too;