Tinkle, tinkle, little Shah,
Did you ever see a nigger with a white papa?
Pickaninny here and pickaninny da,
You’ll never find a single darkey, ha, ha, ha!
As they came near the line, the Colonel took from his pocket a magnifying-glass as big as the crown of a hat, and handed it to Norval, who asked—
“What am I to do with it?”
HE LIKE A SOLDIER FELL.
At this question the entire regiment burst into a tremendous guffaw, laughing till the tears ran down their cheeks, and the whole line was a scene of pocket-handkerchiefs, each being as big as a Turkish-bath towel, and as there was a high wind, of course this caused a great fluttering and shaking. The boys thought this very unlike the soldiers they had been accustomed to see, particularly as the officers and sergeants laughed and shook more than the men, and the Colonel, going off into a broad grin, laughed and grew so fat that his very steed became infected, and losing half its understanding and all its breeding, indulged in a horse-laugh, which shook it so that when the rider fattened, it sank under his weight, bringing him plump to the ground. A fatigue party had to come to his assistance, and when he had been propped up by two long crutches, one on each side of his horse, he tried to speak, but could scarcely get on for laughing.
“You want, ha, ha, ha! to know, ho, ho, ho! what the big glass is for?”