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And, led by his sturdy engineer, Dave hove at them right royally. Their knives were short but their arms long, and as for skill, there were no better trained men in the army than Dave and Jarvis. They made quick work of it. The "bloomin' 'eathen," surprised by the sudden onslaught, were on their backs in a trice.
"'Blow me! 'e sez, 'if that blooming cannibal don't talk the King's English as if 'e was born in New York! 'E 'ad 'im down in the cabin to 'ave a drink, thinking 'e was a big chief. 'Oward took a cigar and smoked it and drank 'is whiskey with a gulp and a wry face like all Americans. "'I must say, sez the captain, 'you're the most intelligent 'eathen I've seen in the 'ole blooming run.
"So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan; You're a pore benighted 'eathen, but a first class fightin' man; An' 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick 'ead of 'air You big black boundin' beggar for you broke a British square!" Much of his verse is political. His opinion of questions at issue is sometimes given with much heat, but always with sincerity and true patriotism.
"Aw don't see what tha friend was doin' at Khartoum wi' Goordon." 'E was makin' Perry Davis' Pain Killer for them at 'ome who wouldn't send Gordon 'elp when the 'eathen was at 'is doors a 'underd to one. 'E was makin' it for them to soothe their bloomin' pains an' sorrers when Gordon an' Macnamara 'ad cried 'elp! for the lawst toime!"
Perhaps Kipling has described this opinion better than anybody else when he says: So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan; You're a pore benighted 'eathen but a first-class fightin' man; An' 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick 'ead of 'air You big black boundin' beggar for you broke a British square!
"Don't like to 'ear about your wicked past, do you?" continued Bill. "Wicked old yellow-faced 'eathen! Remember the 'dive' in 'Frisco, Pidgin? Wot a rough 'ouse! Remember when I come in full up I was: me back teeth well under water an' you tried to Shanghai me?" "You cutee palaber. All damn lie," muttered the Chinaman. "Ho! a lie is it?" roared the other.
And then again, and for all our later criticism, this sticks in my mind, sticks there now as quintessential wisdom: "The 'eathen in 'is blindness bows down to wood an' stone; 'E don't obey no orders unless they is 'is own; 'E keeps 'is side-arms awful: 'e leaves 'em all about An' then comes up the regiment an' pokes the 'eathen out.
"I don't know whether he's a black gentleman or not, but he's a Nindian one. He's very rich, an' he's ill, an' the gentleman of the Large Family is his lawyer. He's had a lot of trouble, an' it's made him ill an' low in his mind. He worships idols, miss. He's an 'eathen an' bows down to wood an' stone. I seen a' idol bein' carried in for him to worship.
Billy heard their remarks about the "bloody 'eathen in Hamerica," "the greatness of hall things hin Hingland," "slow horses," "bad drivers," and all such talk, and drove calmly on into Horsehoe. There the horses were changed, and the six hitched to the coach were wild Pony Express animals that had been only partially broken in as a stage team, which Billy delighted in driving.
It myde me sick to see them Bengalesey, some of 'em 'ookin' it to Suakim, some of 'em retirin' on the seraphim, which is another name for Berkshires. It ain't no sweet levee a-tryin' to rally 'eathen 'ands to do their dooty. So we 'ad to cover 'em back into the zeriba of the seraphim which is our glorious selves.
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