Page:Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads (1892).djvu/203

An’ I seed her first a-smokin’ of a whackin’ white cheroot,
An’ a-wastin’ Christian kisses on an ’eathen idol’s foot:

   Bloomin’ idol made o’ mud—
   What they called the Great Gawd Budd—
   Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed ’er where she stud!
   On the road to Mandalay, etc.

When the mist was on the rice-fields an’ the sun was droppin’ slow,
She’d git ’er little banjo an’ she’d sing ‘Kulla-lo-lo!’
With ’er arm upon my shoulder an’ ’er cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an’ the hathis pilin’ teak.

   Elephints a-pilin’ teak
   In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
   Where the silence ’ung that ’eavy you was ’arf afraid to speak!
   On the road to Mandalay, etc.