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Project Gutenberg Australia HomeReturn to Index of Poems
“ ‘Tisn’t well at Sunny Corner,
Or at Portland.” says Malome.
Who’s a typical sojourner
In the Tantanoola zone.
He is troubled with the jumps.
‘Mong the trees and logs and stumps.
When necessity impels him from his lair;
For as anyone can see
Just by perspicacity,
He’s afflicted with the Tantanoola scare.
“You have heard of Tantanoola,
And the tiger?” says Malone,
To the man from Tambaroora,
In a reverential tone.
“He was lost some years ago,
By some careless trav’lin’ show,
An’ he bobs up now an’ sometimes here an’ there.
Though there’s some as sez its rot,
They’re a circumspective lot,
When report revives the Tantanoola scare.
“He’s about ‘ere, make no blunder,”
He’s a monster,” says Malone.
“I ‘ave heard him roar like thunder,
An’ I’ve heard him crunchin’ bone.
There’s his tracks on Daley’s flat
Just as plain as this ‘ere hat,
An’ there’s Medlow’s cow an’ Lach McPherson’s mare,
Not to mention Casey’s calf,
Which he killed— an’ left but half,
Yet you laugh at this ‘ere Tananoola scare!
“Well, ‘tis hoped you’ll never meet him,
For your own sake,” says Malone.
“You would ‘ave no show to beat him,
If he caught you out alone.
For that reason you’ll assist
Me with this subscription list,
If you’ve got a pound or two or more to spare;
‘Tis to offer a reward
For a regerlated squad
To go forth an’ slay the Tantanoola scare
“There is goin’ to be rejoicings
In this country,” says Malone:
“An’ you’ll hear ecstatic voicings
When they’ve laid the tiger prone,
We’ll parade him up an’ down
In a trolly through the town,
While the drums will beat an cornets toot an’ blare;
Then we’ll tuff his bloomin’ hide,
An’ by showin’ far an’ wide,
Make our fortunes with “The Tantanoola Scare.’
“ ‘Tisn’t well at Sunny Corner,
Just at present,” says Malone.
“In the dusk an’ just at dawn a
Man can’t even trust a stone;
While the bushes ‘bout the sheds
Look like crouchin’ quadrupeds,
An’ the rustlin’ grasses makes me start an’ stare;
But one thing gives me content,
‘Tis the grand advertisement
We are getting for ‘The Tantanoola Scare.’ ”
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