(_It is stated that M. KAMENEFF, on his return to Russia, having
fallen out of favour with the Soviet Government, has been appointed
Commissar at Taganrog_.)
Upon the mighty wheels of life
I'm but a very little cog,
And, when engaged in active strife,
Always the under-dog.
No honours yet have come to me
(My name is Ebenezer Blogg);
I haven't got an O.B.E.
Nor yet the Dannebrog.
A taxi-man the other night
Called me a measly little frog;
It's true that in respect of height
I can't compare with OG.
At school I was the whipping-boy
Whom every master used to flog,
Although I took no stealthy joy
In pipes or cards or grog.
The only time that I bestrode
A horse, like _Gilpin_ all agog,
The creature bolted from the road
And plunged me in a bog.
I never learned to sing or dance,
To bowl or bat, to stick or slog;
The only time I crossed to France
I struck a Channel fog.
I'm old and poor and rather deaf;
I'm often very short of prog;
Yet still I grudge not KAMENEFF
His post at Taganrog.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _First Bookie_. "I MUST 'AVE TAKEN TWO 'UNDRED QUID
TO-DAY. MARVELLOUS! I CAN'T THINK WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM."
_Second Bookie_. "FROM ME MOSTLY."]
* * * * *