And the Arabs howled at that bang and that puff,
But they knew not that handful of tars so tough,
Nor the Man who Mended the Boiler!
Whilst the jubilant Arabs did howl and dance,
He surveyed the smash with a workman’s glance,
And saw at once that they couldn’t advance,
With a big blank hole in the boiler.
Did he turn up the job like a muff? Oh, no!
That wasn’t the fashion of brave Benbow,
Midstream and still