The Outpost Vol 1 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

THE OUTPOST.
THIS is a sorrowful sort of a song.
A sorrowful sort of a song;
A nymph of the flood called Cly(ie,
Three syllables in that name there bc,
Fell in love wi th Apollo. and he.
As you may infer.
Had no time for her.
This is a sorrowful sort of a song.
A sorrowful sort of a song;
Apollo turned her amorous head.
At last the deities found her dead;
The Gods soon settled her case, and said:
" She shall rise from the tomb
As a sunflower bloom! "
i{eally. this is a sorrowful song.
A sorrowful sort of a song;
Her head still turns. as the wise attest,
East at the dawn, at night towards the west;
Apollo. the SUll. still does his best,
As the ancients said,
To twist oft her head.
ESQUIRE.
t t t
Letter from the Front.
THE Army has suffered an awful rout
In the terrible battle of--(name left out),
But the enemy's hordes have been defeated
On the banks of the river~--~~(name deleted),
The Austrians under General Dank
Attacked the Russians at-~~-~-(name left blmtk).
On the (blank) road they fled in fear,
But they turned and fought at--(blue pencil here).
In Asia. I hear, three thousand Japs
Have taken some Forts (consult tlte maps).
Our men have had buL little rest
Since the fighting began at--~(name suppressed).
But a funny thing happened, we had to laugh,
'.Vhen ~--(word gone) we --(missing paragraph).
'Ve.laughed and laughed, it was lots of fun,
In spite of the awful---(sentence go"ne).
If the Censor destroys this letter. well
I wish the Censor would go to --- (the rest of the
page has been torn off by the Censor).
C.W. L.
Reflections ofa Sick Parader.
I AM roused from an uneasy slumber by yawns.
and a vigorous upheaval of bed-clothes.
followed by a neck-and-neck race for the bathroom.
Dawn is breaking. The rain patters
quickly on the window pane. and through the
narrow slot50f the blind I discern grey clouds
hurrying across the sky. With a little shiver of
satisfaction I turn on my side and go to sleep,
\Vhen I wake again there is a fire burning
brightly in the grate, and presently I am
balancing on my knees a tray laden with good
things. Suddenly I hear, far off, the note of
the bagpipe, and then the tramp, tramp of
many feet as the Battalion starts off on a route
march.
My mind wanders from the tray; the eggs
seem less toothsome, the rolls insipid. Then, as
the sound of the pipes melts away in the distance,
a deathlike stillness broods over all, and,
forgetful of breakfast, I stare across the sea,
speculating idly on where the Battalion is going.
if the platoon is singing the same old songs. if
the section still upholds its reputation for
grumbling. and when I shall be well and able to
grumble with the best of them. As 1 lie
watching the shadows on the water I dream of
mv old civilian life-how remote it seems t­
aIi'd fall to wondering if an existence so tame
would ever "satisfy me again. So, with an
occasional meal and a visit from the Doctor,
who tells me to stay in bed, the day passes.
Towards evening an unwonted bustle in the
kitchen and a tremendous clatter of plates,
together with a savoury smell that creeps
insidiously upstairs, proclaim the return of the
Battalion, and in a few minutes the house h,
invaded by a hungry mob who wolfishly
consume everything they see and ask me
between mouthfuls why I'm not eating.
With growing jealousy I listen to tactless
discussions as to how they mean to spend the
evening, and the girls they are going to meet.
At length, I retire bedwards. hate smouldering
in my heart, and lie dozing and tossing fitfully
and listening to the hurrying of feet now bent
on pleasure, but when. some hours later, they
follow me to bed, 1 pretend to be fast asleep,
though in reality I am drinking in the aroma
of strange tales and stranger waters.
Healthy, happy savages, they fall asleep
almost before their heads touch the pillow.
But they do envy me, these mornings!
BEE.
* * * * *
A tobacconist near Prestwick Cross intimates
that some swagger canes, which had been lost during
night manceuvres on the Links, have been handed
in to await claimants.
be more lynx.eyed.
Some of the bhoys should