_Mount--march, Ikonas! Stand to your ’orses again! Mop off the frost on the saddles, mop up the miles on the plain. Out go the stars in the dawnin’, up goes our dust to the sky, Walk--trot, Ikonas! Trek jou,[3] the old M. I.!_ [1] Number according to taste and service of audience. [2] Horse-holders when in action, and therefore generally under cover. [3] Get ahead. COLUMNS [Page 72] (MOBILE COLUMNS OF THE LATER WAR) Out o’ the wilderness, dusty an’ dry (_Time, an’ ’igh time to be trekkin’ again!_) ’Oo is it ’eads to the Detail Supply? (_A section, a pompom, an’ six ’undred men._) ’Ere comes the clerk with ’is lantern an’ keys (_Time, an’ ’igh time to be trekkin’ again!_) ‘Surplus of everything--draw what you please ‘_For the section, the pompom, an’ six ’undred men_.’ ‘What are our orders an’ where do we lay?’ (_Time, an’ ’igh time to be trekkin’ again!_) ‘You came after dark--you will leave before day, ‘_You section, you pompom, an’ six ’undred men!_’ Down the tin street, ’alf awake an’ unfed, ’Ark to ’em blessin’ the Gen’ral in bed! Now by the church an’ the outspan they wind-- Over the ridge an’ it’s all lef’ be’ind _For the section_, etc. Soon they will camp as the dawn’s growin’ grey, Roll up for coffee an’ sleep while they may-- _The section_, etc. Read their ’ome letters, their papers an’ such, For they’ll move after dark to astonish the Dutch _With a section_, etc. ’Untin’ for shade as the long hours pass, Blankets on rifles or burrows in grass, _Lies the section_, etc. Dossin’ or beatin’ a shirt in the sun, Watching chameleons or cleanin’ a gun, _Waits the section_, etc. With nothin’ but stillness as far as you please, An’ the silly mirage stringin’ islands an’ seas _Round the section_, etc. So they strips off their hide an’ they grills in their bones, Till the shadows crawl out from beneath the pore stones _Towards the section_, etc. An’ the Mauser-bird stops an’ the jackals begin, An’ the ’orse-guard comes up and the Gunners ’ook in _As a ’int to the pompom an’ six ’undred men_.... Off through the dark with the stars to rely on-- (Alpha Centauri an’ somethin’ Orion) _Moves the section_, etc. Same bloomin’ ’ole which the ant-bear ’as broke, Same bloomin’ stumble an’ same bloomin’ joke _Down the section_, etc. Same ‘which is right?’ where the cart-tracks divide, Same ‘give it up’ from the same clever guide _To the section_, etc. Same tumble-down on the same ’idden farm, Same white-eyed Kaffir ’oo gives the alarm _Of the section_, etc. Same shootin’ wild at the end o’ the night, Same flyin’ tackle an’ same messy fight _By the section_, etc. Same ugly ’iccup an’ same ’orrid squeal, When it’s too dark to see an’ it’s too late to feel _In the section_, etc.