"If I had bowed my head on my breast, as I have held it high, The kite that whistles above us now were gorged till she could not fly." Lightly answered the Colonel's son:-" Do good to bird and beast, 66 But count who come for the broken meats before thou makest a feast. "If there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away, "Belike the price of a jackal's meal were more than a thief could pay. 66 'They will feed their horse on the standing crop, their men on the garnered grain, "The thatch of the byres will serve their fires when all the cattle are slain. "But if thou thinkest the price be fair, and thy brethren wait to sup, "The hound is kin to the jackal-spawn,-howl, dog, and call them up! "And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack, "Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!" Kamal has gripped him by the hand and set him upon his feet. "No talk shall be of dogs," said he, "when wolf and grey wolf meet. 66 May I eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath. "What dam of lances brought thee forth to jest at the dawn with death? Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "I hold by the blood of my clan; "Take up the mare for my father's gift-she will carry no better man!" The red-mare ran to the Colonel's son, and nuzzled against his breast, "We be two strong men," said Kamal then, "but she loveth the younger best. "So she shall go with a lifter's dower, my turquoisestudded rein, 66 'My broidered saddle and saddle-cloth, and silver stirrups twain." The Colonel's son a pistol drew and held it muzzle end, "Ye have taken the one from a foe," said he; "will ye take the mate from a friend?" “A gift for a gift," said Kamal straight; “a limb for the risk of a limb, Thy father hast sent his son to me, I'll send my son to him!" With that he whistled his only son, that dropped from a mountain crest He trod the ling like a buck in spring and he looked like a lance in rest. "Now here is thy master," Kamal said, "who leads a troop of the Guides, "And thou must ride at his left side as shield to shoulder rides. "Till Death or I cut loose the tie, at camp and board and bed, Thy life is his-thy fate it is to guard him with thy head. "And thou must eat the White Queen's meat, and all her foes are thine, And thou must harry thy father's hold for the peace of the Border-line, "And thou must make a trooper tough and hack thy way to power "Belike they will raise thee to Ressaldar when I am hanged in Peshawur." They have looked each other between the eyes, and there they found no fault, They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on leavened bread and salt; They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on fire and fresh-cut sod, On the hilt and the haft of the Khyber knife, and the wondrous names of God. The Colonel's son he rides the mare and Kamal's boy the dun, And two have come back to Fort Monroe where there went forth but one. And when they drew to the Quarter-Guard, full twenty swords flew clear There was not a man but carried his feud with the blood of the mountaineer. 66 Ha' done! Ha' done!" said the Colonel's son. "Put up the steel at your sides! "Last night ye had struck at a Border thief-to-night 'tis a man of the Guides!" Oh, east is east, and west is west, and never the two shall meet Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat. But there is neither east nor west, border or breed or birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth. MANDALAY By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea, There's a Burma girl a-settin', an' I know she thinks o' me; For the wind is in the palm-trees, an' the temple-bells they say: Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!” Come you back to Mandalay Where the old Flotilla lay: Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Oh, the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin'-fishes play, An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay! 'Er petticut was yaller an' 'er little cap was green, An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat-jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen, An' I seed her fust a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot, An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot: Bloomin' idol made o' mud Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud! On the road to Mandalay— 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' her cheek agin my cheek We uster 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— But that's all shove be'ind me-long ago an' fur away, An' there ain't no 'buses runnin' from the Benk to Mandalay; An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year sodger tells: "If you've 'eard the East a-callin', why, you won't 'eed nothin' else." No! you won't 'eed nothin' else But them spicy garlic smells An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple bells! On the road to Mandalay I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gutty pavin'stones, An' the blasted Henglish drizzle wakes the fever in my bones; Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand, An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand? Beefy face an' grubby 'and Law! wot do they understand? I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land! On the road to Mandalay Ship me somewheres east of Suez where the best is like the worst, Where there aren't no Ten Commandments, an' a man can raise a thirst; For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the seaOn the road to Mandalay, Where the old Flotilla lay, |