'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.

669

''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 organ

grinder'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!"

"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;