Page:Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads (1892).djvu/177

   With ’is mussick^[1] on ’is back,
   ’E would skip with our attack,
An’ watch us till the bugles made ‘Retire,’
   An’ for all ’is dirty ’ide
   ’E was white, clear white, inside
When ’e went to tend the wounded under fire!
    It was ‘Din! Din! Din!’
 With the bullets kickin’ dust-spots on the green.
    When the cartridges ran out,
    You could hear the front-files shout,
 ‘Hi! ammunition-mules an’ Gunga Din!’

   I sha’n’t forgit the night;
   When I dropped be’ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should ’a’ been.
   I was chokin’ mad with thirst,
   An’ the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin’, gruntin’ Gunga Din.
   ’E lifted up my ’ead,
   An’ he plugged me where I bled,
An’ ’e guv me ’arf-a-pint o’ water-green:
   It was crawlin’ and it stunk,
   But of all the drinks I’ve drunk,
I’m gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.

1. Water skin.