How I Kept The Bridge.

"Daddy, dear Daddy, Oh tell me true,
In the great big war what did you do?
Tell me about the terrible foe,
The bullets and shells, and tales of woe
About the awful sights you have seen
In those desert places, where you've been."

"Now, listen, my son, and you shall hear:
I guarded the bridge at Ismailia,
And stood at attention by the line
As the prisoners passed from Palestine.
Was I frightened? No, I felt serene,
With polished buttons and badges clean.

"Yes, guarding the bridge by day and night,
I tackled men who were awfully tight.
Dangerous work, my laddie, and hard,
Out at the bridge where I stood on guard,
Eying each tunic to find a split,
For such might give the Colonel a fit.

"Plenty of work and peril, my dear,
Guarding the bridge at Ismailia."

Egypt. "Horatio."