"On a
tombstone
in a distant land.
Kipling - Poems
"
"Give us the 'Ganges Pilot'; you sang that in the square the night
before El-Maghrib. By the way, I wonder how many of the chorus are alive
tonight," said Dick.
Torpenhow considered for a minute. "By Jove! I believe only you and I.
Raynor, Vicery, and Deenes--all dead; Vincent caught smallpox in Cairo,
carried it here and died of it. Yes, only you and I and the Nilghai. "
"Umph! And yet the men here who've done their work in a well-warmed
studio all their lives, with a policeman at each corner, say that I
charge too much for my pictures. "
"They are buying your work, not your insurance policies, dear child,"
said the Nilghai.
"I gambled with one to get at the other. Don't preach. Go on with the
'Pilot. ' Where in the world did you get that song? "
"On a tombstone," said the Nilghai.
"On a tombstone in a distant land. I
made it an accompaniment with heaps of base chords. "
"Oh, Vanity! Begin. " And the Nilghai began--
"I have slipped my cable, messmates, I'm drifting down with the tide, I
have my sailing orders, while yet at anchor ride. And never on fair June
morning have I put out to sea With clearer conscience or better hope, or
a heart more light and free.
"Shoulder to shoulder, Joe, my boy, into the crowd like a wedge. Strike
with the hangers, messmates, but do not cut with the edge. " Cries
Charnock, "Scatter the faggots, double that Brahmin in two, The tall
pale widow for me, Joe, the little brown girl for you! "
"Young Joe (you're nearing sixty), why is your hide so dark? Katie has
soft fair blue eyes, who blackened yours? --Why, hark! "
They were all singing now, Dick with the roar of the wind of the open
sea about his ears as the deep bass voice let itself go.
"The morning gun--Ho, steady! the arquebuses to me! I ha' sounded the
Dutch High Admiral's heart as my lead doth sound the sea.
"Give us the 'Ganges Pilot'; you sang that in the square the night
before El-Maghrib. By the way, I wonder how many of the chorus are alive
tonight," said Dick.
Torpenhow considered for a minute. "By Jove! I believe only you and I.
Raynor, Vicery, and Deenes--all dead; Vincent caught smallpox in Cairo,
carried it here and died of it. Yes, only you and I and the Nilghai. "
"Umph! And yet the men here who've done their work in a well-warmed
studio all their lives, with a policeman at each corner, say that I
charge too much for my pictures. "
"They are buying your work, not your insurance policies, dear child,"
said the Nilghai.
"I gambled with one to get at the other. Don't preach. Go on with the
'Pilot. ' Where in the world did you get that song? "
"On a tombstone," said the Nilghai.
"On a tombstone in a distant land. I
made it an accompaniment with heaps of base chords. "
"Oh, Vanity! Begin. " And the Nilghai began--
"I have slipped my cable, messmates, I'm drifting down with the tide, I
have my sailing orders, while yet at anchor ride. And never on fair June
morning have I put out to sea With clearer conscience or better hope, or
a heart more light and free.
"Shoulder to shoulder, Joe, my boy, into the crowd like a wedge. Strike
with the hangers, messmates, but do not cut with the edge. " Cries
Charnock, "Scatter the faggots, double that Brahmin in two, The tall
pale widow for me, Joe, the little brown girl for you! "
"Young Joe (you're nearing sixty), why is your hide so dark? Katie has
soft fair blue eyes, who blackened yours? --Why, hark! "
They were all singing now, Dick with the roar of the wind of the open
sea about his ears as the deep bass voice let itself go.
"The morning gun--Ho, steady! the arquebuses to me! I ha' sounded the
Dutch High Admiral's heart as my lead doth sound the sea.
