* * * * *

There were three friends that buried the fourth,
The mould in his mouth and the dust in his eyes,
And they went south and east and north--
The strong man fights but the sick man dies.

There were three friends that spoke of the dead--
The strong man fights but the sick man dies--
'And would he were here with us now,' they said,
'The sun in our face and the wind in our eyes.'

* * * * *

Yet at the last, ere our spearmen had found him,
Yet at the last, ere a sword-thrust could save,
Yet at the last, with his masters around him,
He spoke of the Faith as a master to slave.
Yet at the last, though the Kafirs had maimed him,
Broken by bondage and wrecked by the reiver,
Yet at the last, tho' the darkness had claimed him,
He called upon Allah, and died a Believer!




GALLIO'S SONG

(And Gallio cared for none of these things.--ACTS xviii. 17)