The Steam-Shovel Man

by Ralph Delahaye Paine

It's true he's sometimes busy

And has other things to do;

But come on Sunday morning

And line up with the rest,

You'll maybe feel some better

With that grievance off your chest."

The colonel was listening gravely to a difference of opinion between a black Jamaican laborer and his buxom wife, touching the ownership of seventeen dollars which she had earned by washing and ironing. The wise judge ruled that the money belonged to her and ordered the husband to return it. He muttered:

"I'se a British subjeck, sah, an' mah property rights is protected by de British laws, sah."

"All right," and the colonel's blue eyes snapped. "If you like, I'll deport you. You can get all the English law you want in Jamaica."