Chapter 110 SCHOOL FENCIBLES

We come in arms, we stand ten score,

Embattled on the castle green;

We grasp our firelocks tight, for war

Is threatening, and we see our Queen.

And 'Will the churls last out till we

Have duly hardened bones and thews

For scouring leagues of swamp and sea

Of braggart mobs and corsair crews?'

We ask; we fear not scoff or smile