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29
BAFFLED
When lunch was over, John and Jake, being truly startled men,
Linked arms, to hold each other up while walking round the field,
And spoke in undertones of what had happened in the tent
To mystify the pair of them. No wonder that they reeled!
“The fellow's not a mortal; he's a blinking demi-god,”
Said John in consternation. “You can bet your income, Jake,
The like of this has not been known since oily Aaron's rod
Completely flummoxed Pharaoh by its appetite for snake.”
Linked arms, to hold each other up while walking round the field,
And spoke in undertones of what had happened in the tent
To mystify the pair of them. No wonder that they reeled!
“The fellow's not a mortal; he's a blinking demi-god,”
Said John in consternation. “You can bet your income, Jake,
The like of this has not been known since oily Aaron's rod
Completely flummoxed Pharaoh by its appetite for snake.”
“My single satisfaction is the thought that if I bat,
And chance to send the ball to him, I'm bound to score a run;
For miracles are out of date, and if he quickly stoops
To gather and return her, then a miracle is done.
It's not alone his flourishes with salad, pastry, cheese,
And nearly half a cottage loaf that made me gasp and stare.
Good Lord! he wolfed three helpings of a steak-and-kidney pie
And fifteen new potatoes, for I counted them with care.”
And chance to send the ball to him, I'm bound to score a run;
For miracles are out of date, and if he quickly stoops
To gather and return her, then a miracle is done.
It's not alone his flourishes with salad, pastry, cheese,
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Good Lord! he wolfed three helpings of a steak-and-kidney pie
And fifteen new potatoes, for I counted them with care.”
Jake wobbled on the turfing for a moment. Then he said,
“Perhaps he snored in bed too long and had to take the road
Without his fill of sausages. That trouble would explain
Your demi-god's ability to bite an over-load.
We found at School that Hercules, when nasty jobs were done,
Was such a trencherman as shook beholders to the core;
But even he could scarcely hope, if cricketing to-day,
To equal anywhere on turf this hefty luncheon score.”
“Perhaps he snored in bed too long and had to take the road
Without his fill of sausages. That trouble would explain
Your demi-god's ability to bite an over-load.
We found at School that Hercules, when nasty jobs were done,
Was such a trencherman as shook beholders to the core;
But even he could scarcely hope, if cricketing to-day,
To equal anywhere on turf this hefty luncheon score.”
Imagine how we stood about with pipes and cigarettes
Beneath a sky of Oxford blue to note our famous pair!
Imagine how we chuckled when the demi-god sent down
Three wides, then stamped a savage foot and tugged a hank of hair!
Amusedly we saw him rush to sling along the next,
Believing we were hand in glove, because of food, with Luck.
The next arrived. The next returned, as if a red grenade
To blow the trundler off the field. He grabbed her, and she stuck!
Beneath a sky of Oxford blue to note our famous pair!
31
Three wides, then stamped a savage foot and tugged a hank of hair!
Amusedly we saw him rush to sling along the next,
Believing we were hand in glove, because of food, with Luck.
The next arrived. The next returned, as if a red grenade
To blow the trundler off the field. He grabbed her, and she stuck!
How tragic was the sequel! I defy an acrobat
To utilize on any stage his arms and legs and hips
So well as he that blunted there a Century of jokes
By fury at the bowling crease and sinew in the Slips.
When John, a dismal victim of the only ball he had,
Returned to us, he whispered, as he crumbled in a chair,
The blighter wolfed three helpings of a steak-and-kidney pie
And fifteen new potatoes, for I counted them with care.
To utilize on any stage his arms and legs and hips
So well as he that blunted there a Century of jokes
By fury at the bowling crease and sinew in the Slips.
When John, a dismal victim of the only ball he had,
Returned to us, he whispered, as he crumbled in a chair,
The blighter wolfed three helpings of a steak-and-kidney pie
And fifteen new potatoes, for I counted them with care.
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