MAFEKING.
"ADSUM!"
BY REV. A. FREWEN AYLWARD.
At the evening roll call at the "Charterhouse" School, where Baden-Powell was educated, it is customary for the boys to respond to the call of their names by saying "Adsum—I'm here!"
Oft as the shades of evening fell,
In the school-boy days of old,—
The form work done, or the game played well,—
Clanging aloft the old school bell
Uttered its summons bold;
And a bright lad answered the roll call clear,
"Adsum,—I'm here!"
A foe-girt town and a captain true
Out on the Afric plain;—
High overhead his Queen's flag flew,
But foes were many and friends but few;
Who shall guard that flag from stain?
And calm 'mid confusion a voice rang clear,
"Adsum,—I'm here!"
The slow weeks passed, and no succour came,
Famine and death were rife;
Yet still that banner of deathless fame,
Floated, unsullied by fear or shame,
Over the scene of strife;
And the voice,—though weaker—was full of cheer,
"Adsum,—I'm here!"
Heaven send, that when many a heart's dismayed,
In dark days yet in store,—
Should foemen gather; or, faith betrayed,
The country call for a strong man's aid
As she never called before,—
A voice like his may make answer clear,
Banishing panic, and calming fear,
"Adsum,—I'm here!"