The King sat on his Throne one day,
His Crown upon his brow;
To him, in most obsequious way,
The Tiger made his bow.
His long petition he unrolled,
With names all written down;
The courtiers stared--their blood ran cold--
King Leo gave a frown.
"What have we here?" demanded he,
"And what does he require?"
The Elephant said, "Here I see
A traitor, royal sire!"
The Brown Bear murmured, "So do I--
He's right, without a doubt!"
The monarch cried, with flashing eye,
"Turn this intruder out!"
[Illustration: PRESENTING A PETITION TO THE KING]
At midnight, in an empty hut,
Deep in the forest old,
The Rebels met with doors close shut,
Their dark schemes to unfold.
"Friends!" Tiger cried, "no more we'll brook
This despot's cruel reign;
Our charter lies before us--look!
The plan of our campaign!"
Mr. Fox's Armoury.
Directly Brother Fox was told,
He ransacked all his stores,
And soon was making bags of gold
And selling guns in scores.
The Brown Bear bought a blunderbuss;
And when they saw the arm,
The Bunnies all cried, "Don't shoot _us_!
We've not done any harm!"
The Tiger thought revolvers best,
So he bought half a score;
"No guns I've had," said Fox, with zest,
"_Went off_ so well before!"
"Don't fear, my Bunnies, you'll be shot,
Though each has bought a gun;
I'll whisper this," said Fox: "they've got
Blank cartridge ev'ry one!"
[Illustration: THE ARMORY]
Raising the Standard.
From lair to lair the news soon spread,
And one and all leapt out of bed,
And sallied forth, with loud hurrays,
The Standard of Revolt to raise.
The Bear looked fierce, the Crocodile
Put on his most bloodthirsty smile;
The Leopard and the Wolf were there,
And cheers resounded in the air.
The Tiger roared a lengthy speech,
And called, in loudest tones, on each
To do his best when came the fray,
Not be afraid, nor run away.
Cried he: "Now, onward to the field,
To make this tyrant monarch yield!"
"Charge, Leopard, charge--on, Tiger, on!"
Were the first words of Rebellion.
[Illustration: RAISING THE STANDARD OF REVOLT]
Next morn a Scout the Camp alarms,
The Lion's soldiers fly to arms.
"The enemy advance!" he cries,
"And means to take you by surprise!"
In Leo's Camp, on Zootown plains,
The utmost consternation reigns.
In Leo's Camp.
This startling news the peaceful Camp
With preparation fills,
Resounding with the soldiers' tramp,
The noise of many drills.
The Sergeants shout, the General storms;
All round one sees and hears
The trying on of uniforms,
The clank of swords and spears.
The Fox pretended, by and by,
To be deaf, dumb and lame;
But Jacko, with a placard "Spy,"
Quite spoilt his little game.
Field Marshal Hippo shouted out,
"Arrest him on the spot!"
If he had not escaped, no doubt
He'd promptly have been shot.
[Illustration: A SPY IN CAMP]
Preparing for the Fray.
Preparing for the coming fray,
The Camp was busy night and day;
The Rhino had his horn re-ground,
Because it had got blunt he found.
The Elephant had his tusks, too,
Re-sharpened till they looked like new;
In fact, the Ape's new grindstone strong
Was working nearly all day long.
All day the Camp was never still--
With marching to and fro, and drill;
And quite right too, since it appears
They hadn't been to war for years.
The oldest there had 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.