TWO MEN AND A MAID by W.T. Goodge

Two little dudes from the George-street block,
   Up for a brief vacation!
One little girl in a neat print frock,
   Maid of the Mulga Station!
Two little dudes with walking-sticks,
Two little heads that the collars fix!
Two little hats at nine-and-six,
   Two little dudes on a station.


One little maid with a bashful smile,
   Given for a salutation;
Two little dudes of the nan-nan style,
   Bent on a captivation.
One little maid with a smile so true,
Curly hair of a nut-brown hue;
Eyes of a liquid violet blue,
   One little maid on a station.


“Didn’t she fear her walks to take
   Over the grassy clearing?”
“Didn’t she fear some nasty snake
   His ugly head a-rearing?”
“Sirs,” she said, with an arching brow,
And a smile that was hardly a smile somehow,
“There are so many jackasses ‘round here now,
   That the snakes are disappearing!”

"W. T. Goodge"
Australian Town and Country Journal, 24 June 1899, p57