Si6 RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE
THE SHUT-EYE SENTRY
CEZ the Junior Orderly Sergeant
To the Senior Orderly Man : "Our Orderly Orf'cer's hokee-mut, 1
"You 'elp 'im all you can. "For the wine was old and the night is cold,
"An* the best we may go wrong, "So, 'fore 'e gits to the sentry-box, "You pass the word along."
So it was "Rounds ! What Rounds ? " at two of a frosty night, 'E's 'oldin on by the sergeant's fash, but, sentry, shut your eye.
An' it was "Pass ! Alfs well! Oh, ain't 'e drippin tight ! 'Ell need an affidavit pretty badly by-an'-by. "
The moon was white on the barricks,
The road was white an' wide, An' the Orderly Orf'cer took it all,
An' the ten-foot ditch beside. An' the corporal pulled an' the sergeant pushed,
An* the three they danced along, But I'd shut my eyes in the sentry-box,
So I didn't see nothin' wrong.
Though it was "Rounds ! What Rounds ?" corporal, 'old
'im up I 'E's usin' 'is cap as it shouldn't be used, but, sentry, shut
your eye.
An it was "Pass ! All's well ! Ho, shun thefoamin cup ! 'Ell need," etc.
'Very drunk.