Explore "Hard Luck" by Andrew Barton Paterson on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I left the course, and by my side / There walked a ruined tout -- / A hungry creature evil-eyed, / Who poured this story out.
'You see,' he said, 'there came a swell / To Kensington to-day, / And if I picked the winners well, / A crown at least he'd pay.
'I picked three winners straight, I did, / I filled his purse with pelf, / And then he gave me half-a-quid, / To back one for myself.
'A half-a-quid to me he cast, / I wanted it indeed. / So help me Bob, for two days past / I haven't had a feed.
'But still I thought my luck was in, / I couldn't go astray, / I put it all on Little Min, / And lost it straightaway.
'I haven't got a bite or bed, / I'm absolutely stuck, / So keep this lesson in your head: / Don't over-trust your luck!'
The folks went homeward, near and far, / The tout, Oh! where was he? / Ask where the empty boilers are, / Beside the Circular Quay.