others say,
"Hullo, Soldier! How's the boy?" as we drill and shoot and hike,
They must hear us answer, "Ready!"
Ev'ry day,
_It's this nation's debt to France we've
Come to pay!_

BEANS

A simple ditty Private Smithy sang for me,
Entitled "Beans."... The tune was not a joy;
The words were commonplace as they could be,
But just to hear his earnest voice--"Oh, Boy!"

When first I went a-sojerin'
I couldn't eat the stuff
The cookies gave the bunch of us,
For it was rough and tough.
But since I've been a-sojerin'
And learned what _livin'_ means
The grub we get tastes mighty good,
E-special-lee th' beans,
Especially th' beans!

We all were soft and flabby--
Our hands and muscles, too--
We had been used to easy things
To eat, to think, to do.
But when we tackled trench work,
With all that diggin' means,
We learned to like the sojer grub,
E-special-lee th' beans,
Especially th' beans.

So now we're very diff'rent
When mess-call comes around;
We've got our appetites all set
A-waitin' for that sound;
It's always "second helpin's"
Behind the mess-tent screens;
We're glad for Uncle Sam's good grub,
E-special-lee th' beans,
Especially th' beans!

A very simple ditty, you'll agree with me;
A commonplace production; but the joy
And unction that he puts into the melody,
The _splendid appetite_ he sings--Oh, Boy!

BEHIND THE LINES

We number hundreds of thousands, and we're nowhere near the front;
We're pen and pencil pushers, or "serving" the adding machines;
We'll never reach the firing-line, nor bear its hellish brunt--
But where'd _they_ be if it weren't for us, workers behind the scenes?

Book-keeper, paymaster, spectacled clerk,
Doing our bit, though it's every day work--
We're all of us part of The Service!

We're the backwash whirl of the pool of War gathering in the men,
We cannot fight as others fight, though just as loyal and true;
We're the silent corps of the Men Behind, over and over again
Doing our part in the war for Right, small though it seem to you.

Figuring, checking-up, testing all day,
Knowing no hours--and not too much pay--
We're all of us part of The Service.

If it takes ten men behind the front to put one on the Line,
(We all remember the speech that cheers the backwash, anyhow!)
We're putting them there--and do not ask for furloughs.... That'