"Maybe. I don't know anything about music. But a banjo seems to talk. It's the thing for the tunes that everybody knows."
"You and Kipling agree, then. You know his 'Song of the Banjo':
"And the tunes that mean so much to you alone—
Common tunes that make you choke and blow your nose,
Vulgar tunes that bring the laugh that hides the groan—
I can rip your very heartstrings out with those."
"Yes, that's the idea. He's right enough there."
"And how about:
"'But the word, the word is mine
When the order moves the line,
And the lean, locked ranks go roaring down to die,'?"
she asked curiously.
"The only music to fight with and to die to is the pipes," Angus said.
"The pipes? You mean the bagpipes."
"Of course."