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Updated: June 16, 2025
Bobby Wick stormed through the tents of his Company, rallying, rebuking, mildly, as is consistent with the Regulations, chaffing the faint-hearted; haling the sound into the watery sunlight when there was a break in the weather, and bidding them be of good cheer for their trouble was nearly at an end; scuttling on his dun pony round the outskirts of the camp, and heading back men who, with the innate perversity of British soldiers, were always wandering into infected villages, or drinking deeply from rain-flooded marshes; comforting the panic-stricken with rude speech, and more than once tending the dying who had no friends the men without 'townies'; organising, with banjos and burnt cork, Sing-songs which should allow the talent of the Regiment full play; and generally, as he explained, 'playing the giddy garden-goat all round.
Night after night we had sing-songs accompanied on the piano in proper style, and used to give forth with the full strength of our lungs "The Germans are coming Hurrah! Hurrah!" The "harmony" of this stunt used to be wafted on the silent night air to the German trenches, and we soon saw how it upset Fritz and Karl.
What are your movements, Standish? Keep somewhere near us, so that we can have our sing-songs of an evening sometimes." "We'll follow," replied the India-rubber Man. "Nebuchadnezzar ought to have a day's rest to-morrow, and then we'll pick up the trail. Your old caravan oughtn't to be difficult to trace. Did you do any good on the river this evening...?"
Yes, it was real talk, quite, quite different from the loud, imperious "MIAUW!" with which Eleanor asked for her milk. This was the softest, prettiest kind of conversation, all little murmurs and chirps and sing-songs. Why, Betsy could almost understand it!
I noticed that the Germans were inclined to treat our soldiers the worst, frequently shouting threats at them in their guttural language. In the evenings I sometimes managed to get downstairs with the men, and in this way was able to join in some impromptu sing-songs. Sanitary arrangements were very bad and disinfectants unknown.
We never heard any more about this episode, perhaps some were punished, we were never told. Attempts were made to keep us occupied, unofficially cards were played and money changed hands, usually from mine into someone else's. Housey was often played and at times shows were put on consisting of stand-up comedy, solo singing and sing-songs where we all joined in.
As recreation we used to play occasional games of cricket on a very hard and uneven pitch, and for social entertainments had frequent sing-songs and "buck dances" that is, dances in which there were no ladies to take part at Faahan's Club Hotel in the town, some one and a half miles distant.
That did not seem to matter much to my shipmates, who, being snugly housed from blinding blizzards, settled down to amuse themselves with sing-songs and story-tellings and readings.
They'd withdrawn all the troops they could, but I nucleused about forty Pathans, recruits chiefly, of my regiment, and sat tight at the base-camp while the road-parties went to work, as per Political survey." "Had some rippin' sing-songs in camp, too," said Tertius. "My pup" thus did Dick Four refer to his subaltern "was a pious little beast.
There are little incidents in life that engrave themselves deep in the memory. Of all the sing-songs I have attended, there is one that is still vivid the brush of time has washed away the outlines and edges of the others.
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