A VACILLATING POLICY.
(A Warning against dealing with Disreputable Companies.)
When the Man of Insurance made his rounds
I "covered" my house for a thousand pounds;
Then someone started a fire in the grounds
At the end of a wild carouse.
The building was burnt; I made my claim
And the Man of Insurance duly came.
Said he, "Always
Our Company pays
Without any fuss or grouse;
But your home was rotted from drains to flues;
I therefore offer you as your dues
Seven hundred pounds or, if you choose,
A better and brighter house."
I took the money; I need not say
What abuse I hurled at his head that day;
But, when he began in his artful way
To talk of Insurance (Life),
And asked me to take out a policy for
My conjugal partner, my cordium cor,
"No, no," said I,
"If my spouse should die
We should enter again into strife;
You would come and say at the funeral, 'Sir,
Your wife was peevish and plain; for her
I offer six hundred or, if you prefer,
A better and brighter wife.'"