Agreement, we know, may be carried too far, And after agreeing all round For years--in this soldierly "maid of the bar," A bone of contention they found. "On the day that you marry her," muttered PREPERE (With a pistol he quietly played), "I'll scatter the brains in your noddle, I swear, All over the stony parade!" "I cannot do _that_ to you," answered LA GUERRE, "Whatever events may befall; But this _I can_ do--if you wed her, _mon cher_! I'll eat you, moustachios and all! [Illustration] The rivals, although they would never engage, Yet quarrelled whenever they met; They met in a fury and left in a rage, But neither took pretty FILLETTE. "I am not afraid," thought MAKREDI PREPERE: "For my country I'm ready to fall; But nobody wants, for a mere Vivandière, To be eaten, moustachios and all! "Besides, though LA GUERRE has his faults, I'll allow He's one of the bravest of men: My goodness! if I disagree with him now, I might disagree with him then!" "No coward am I," said LA GUERRE, "as you guess-- I sneer at an enemy's blade; But I don't want PREPERE to get into a mess For splashing the stony parade!" One day on parade to PREPERE and LA GUERRE Came CORPORAL JACOT DEBETTE, And, trembling all over, he prayed of them there To give him the pretty FILLETTE. [Illustration] "You see, I am willing to marry my bride Until you've arranged this affair; I will blow out my brains when your honours decide Which marries the sweet Vivandière!" "Well, take her," said both of them in a duet (A favourite form of reply), "But when I am ready to marry FILLETTE, Remember you've promised to die!" He married her then: from the flowery plains Of existence the roses they cull: He lived and he died with his wife; and his brains Are reposing in peace in his skull. [Illustration] LIFE IS LOVELY ALL THE YEAR When the buds are blossoming, Smiling welcome to the spring, Lovers choose a wedding day-- Life is love in merry May! Spring is green--Fal lal la! Summer's rose--Fal lal la! It is sad when Summer goes, Fal la! Autumn's gold--Fal lal la! Winter's grey--Fal lal la! Winter still is far away-- Fal la! Leaves in Autumn fade and fall; Winter is the end of all. Spring and summer teem with glee: Spring and summer, then, for me! Fal la! In the Spring-time seed is sown: In the Summer grass is mown: In the Autumn you may reap: Winter is the time for sleep.