Explore "The Madness of Private Ortheris" by Rudyard Kipling on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Oh! Where would I be when my froat was dry? / Oh! Where would I be when the bullets fly? / Oh! Where would I be when I come to die? / Why, / Somewheres anigh my chum. / If 'e's liquor 'e'll give me some, / If I'm dyin' 'e'll 'old my 'ead, / An' 'e'll write 'em 'Ome when I'm dead. -- / Gawd send us a trusty chum! / _Barrack Room Ballad._
My friends Mulvaney and Ortheris had gone on a shooting-expedition for one day. Learoyd was still in hospital, recovering from fever picked up in Burma. They sent me an invitation to join them, and were genuinely pained when I brought beer -- almost enough beer to satisfy two Privates of the Line. and Me.