And who went and 'listed in the Dragoons.

His khaki was much the worse for wear,

Soiled and crumpled and needing repair,

And he hadn't unlearned since his office days

His gruff laconic turn of phrase.

So I had to drag it out by degrees

That he hadn't been in the lap of ease,

But from Mons to Ypres, out at the Front,

Had helped to bear the battle's brunt.

Rest? Well, they had to do without it;