Part 51 (1/2)
Roll on, thou ball, roll on!
Through pathless realms of s.p.a.ce Roll on!
What though I'm in a sorry case?
What though I cannot meet my bills?
What though I suffer toothache's ills?
What though I swallow countless pills?
Never _you_ mind!
Roll on!
Roll on, thou ball, roll on!
Through seas of inky air Roll on!
It's true I've got no s.h.i.+rts to wear; It's true my butcher's bill is due; It's true my prospects all look blue; But don't let that unsettle you.
Never _you_ mind!
Roll on!
(_It rolls on._)
_W. S. Gilbert._
ETIQUETTE
The _Ballyshannon_ foundered off the coast of Cariboo, And down in fathoms many went the captain and the crew; Down went the owners--greedy men whom hope of gain allured: Oh, dry the starting tear, for they were heavily insured.
Besides the captain and the mate, the owners and the crew, The pa.s.sengers were also drowned excepting only two: Young Peter Gray, who tasted teas for Baker, Croop, and Co., And Somers, who from Eastern sh.o.r.es imported indigo.
These pa.s.sengers, by reason of their clinging to a mast, Upon a desert island were eventually cast.
They hunted for their meals, as Alexander Selkirk used, But they couldn't chat together--they had not been introduced.
For Peter Gray, and Somers, too, though certainly in trade, Were properly particular about the friends they made; And somehow thus they settled it, without a word of mouth, That Gray should take the northern half, while Somers took the south.
On Peter's portion oysters grew--a delicacy rare, But oysters were a delicacy Peter couldn't bear.
On Somer's side was turtle, on the s.h.i.+ngle lying thick, Which Somers couldn't eat, because it always made him sick.
Gray gnashed his teeth with envy as he saw a mighty store Of turtle unmolested on his fellow-creature's sh.o.r.e.
The oysters at his feet aside impatiently he shoved, For turtle and his mother were the only things he loved.
And Somers sighed in sorrow as he settled in the south, For the thought of Peter's oysters brought the water to his mouth.
He longed to lay him down upon the sh.e.l.ly bed, and stuff: He had often eaten oysters, but had never had enough.
How they wished an introduction to each other they had had When on board the _Ballyshannon_! And it drove them nearly mad To think how very friendly with each other they might get, If it wasn't for the arbitrary rule of etiquette!
One day, when out a-hunting for the _mus ridiculus_, Gray overheard his fellow-man soliloquising thus: ”I wonder how the playmates of my youth are getting on, M'Connell, S. B. Walters, Paddy Byles, and Robinson?”
These simple words made Peter as delighted as could be; Old chummies at the Charterhouse were Robinson and he.
He walked straight up to Somers, then he turned extremely red, Hesitated, hummed and hawed a bit, then cleared his throat, and said: