“Oh! won’t the girl be glad, my men!” The Captain said with glee, “When she comes down to do her wash, And finds it done! He! He!” Now Jane, the girl, had common sense, And so she kept on hand, From that time forth, a Borax stock— The 20-Mule-Team-Brand. [Illustration: “And three or four with hearty cheer, jumped in like jolly frogs.”] THE BRIGADE TAKES A BATH From room to room these warriors marched, And waged a warfare keen, Against the power of old King Dirt, Till all the house was clean. Then having finished well their work, Again they climbed the stair, In broken ranks with mulish pranks, A welcome bath to share. They filled the tub with water clear, And slipped outside their togs, And three or four with hearty cheer, Jumped in like jolly frogs. Jumped in, I say, but that was all; For, friends, what do you think! The water was so very hard, They found they could not sink! A situation queer as this Is wrong, you must admit; And so they sprinkled Borax in The water—just a bit. This made it soft, and in they sank And kicked and splashed it high, Till ordered out that others might Their places occupy. [Illustration: “Ere long their Captain shouted: ‘March!’”] AN APRIL FOOL ON THE MARCH Out in the yard these veterans Now stood with colors spread. How oft their mettle had been tried, When bravely they were lead! Ere long their Captain shouted: “March!” Then spake a private, cool: “It isn’t March; it’s April, sir— Someone’s an April Fool!” Which was a very saucy thing, Indeed, for him to say. And so his mouth was well rinsed out With Borax, right away. A NIGHT ATTACK That night they camped within a wood And built a fire with oak, Against a hollow tree that served To carry off the smoke. But so it chanced that in the tree A swarm of bees were caged, And when the smoke disturbed their rest, They sallied forth, enraged. And how they chased those twenty mules, And punctured well their hide! But, lo! their smarts were straightway eased, When Borax was applied.