The Animals Rebellion | Page 2

never known
Such preparations to be shown;

Indeed, they'd never had, somehow,
A great Rebellion until now.
[Illustration: PREPARING FOR THE FRAY]
Next day took place the Grand Review,
Before His Majesty,
The
troops marched past in order true--
A splendid sight to see.
The speech he made filled all with pride,
As brave as brave could be:

"For Country and for King," he cried,
"On, on to victory!"

The Advance Guard.
Then marched they forth unto the fray
A battle fierce took place next
day;
I'm told it was a fearful fight,
That lasted quite from morn till
night.
Through hail of shot and rain of lead,
His Rebel band the Tiger led;

And found that when the fight was done
A brilliant victory was won.
In vain King Leo's gallant band
(The Prince of Tails was in command)

Essayed the Rebel force to beat--
The effort ended in defeat.
Their cocoa-nuts, with deadly aim,
The Monkeys threw, but all the
same;
Though Jumbo streams of water poured,
The enemy a victory
scored.
[Illustration: THE FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY]
The Elephant Wounded.
Alas! for he so bravely fought,
Poor Jumbo wounded lay;
The
ambulance they quickly brought
To where he fell that day.
"To Hospital this instant!" cried
The Surgeon in command;
"Don't
let them say he would have died
If we'd not been at hand!"
"But, wait," he said, "till I with care
Have quite examined him!"
He
probed him here, and probed him there,
And tested every limb.
"It's but a nervous shock!" he said,
"Since he's so large and fat;
You
can't take him, and so, instead,
You'd better take his hat!"
[Illustration: A WOUNDED HERO]
Ere dusk the King's troops had retreated,
By Tiger's Rebel band
defeated;
They ran pell-mell and helter-skelter,
For any place to

give them shelter.
The Elephant, though he was wounded,
Ran faster than the big
Baboon did;
The Owl to Camp flew like a bird
To tell the King
what had occurred.
Rejoicings in the Rebel Camp
Rejoicings in the Rebel Camp
Were great indeed that night;
Each
tent hung out a Chinese lamp
To celebrate the fight.
They sang and shouted, o'er and o'er,
Until their throats were tired;

They let off fireworks by the score,
A "feu de joie" was fired.
When Wolf, who's not a marksman good,
Shot holes in Bear's new
hat,
Bear never even said, "You should
Apologise for that!"
In short, they would, as like as not,
Have kept it up till day;
Had
someone not found out they'd shot
Their powder all away.
[Illustration: REJOICINGS IN THE REBEL CAMP]
Marching on the King's Capital.
Next morn, with victory elate,
"Why should we wait or hesitate?

We'll march at once, without delay,
Upon the Capital!" cried they.
"That's capital!" a Monkey said,
(But he at once was sent to bed!)

But, all the same, it was agreed,
So General Tiger took the lead.
With flying flags and drums rat-tan
The Rebels' onward march began.

Cried Tiger, "Leoville one mile!"
"That's nothing!" said the
Crocodile.
But Wolf, who kept a good look-out,
Saw Private Whiskers out on
scout.
"Ha, ha," cried he, "I've caught a spy--
That means

promotion by and by!"
[Illustration: MARCHING ON THE KING'S CAPITAL]
"Great victory!" said Wolf, with pride,
And showed his prize with
rapture;
"Well done, indeed," the Tiger cried,
"A most important
capture!"
The Battle.
Soon with the Lion's gallant troops
The Rebels were engaged;
This
way and that, 'midst wildest whoops
The tide of battle raged.
The Elephant first sounded "Charge!"
And valiant deeds performed;

The Rebels saw his trunk so large,
And trembled when he stormed.
At first, though, neither side gained much;
But when 'twas paw to
paw,
The Owl, in his report, said, "Such
A fight I never saw!"
Said Wolf, "No more at war I'll scoff,
I think I'd best begone!"
And
when the foe's last gun went off
The battle still went on.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE]
The Cavalry Charge.
But, oh! the finest sight to see
Was Leo's Giraffe Cavalry;
As down
the battle plain they tore,
The Rebels saw that all was o'er.
As on the Monkey troopers swept,
The Bunnies to their holes all
crept;
The foe who set triumphant out
Was first a rabble, then a
rout!
The Owl, in "Zooland," said, next day:
"Our troops like chaff swept
them away;
Their praises let us loudly sing,
Who won the day for
Leo, King!"

[Illustration: THE CHARGE OF THE GIRAFFE CAVALRY]
The leader, Tiger, soon was caught,
And into Camp a prisoner
brought;
A warning to this very day,
To all who at Rebellion play.
The Court-Martial.
Field Marshal Leo then and there
A stern Court-Martial held;
The
prisoner, with defiant air,
Explained why he rebelled.
"Such conduct," said the President,
"Admits of no defence;
But
since you ask it, I'll consent
To hear the evidence."
'Twas heard--in "Zooland" of that week
You'll find the Owl's report;

The President then rose to speak,
The sentence of the Court.
"On all counts guilty he appears--
The prisoner's sentenced to
A
lenient term--a hundred years
Confinement in the Zoo!"
[Illustration: THE COURT-MARTIAL]
The Rebels Surrender.
The other Rebels, when they heard
Of what to Tiger had occurred,

Surrendered everyone next day,
And threw down arms without delay.
The Bear said, "I don't want to keep
My blunderbuss--'twas much too
cheap!"
The Leopard and the Crocodile
Threw theirs upon the
growing pile.
Of