has lit his pipe in the morning calm
That follows the midnight stress--
He hath sold his heart to the old Black Art
We call the daily Press.

Who once hath dealt in the widest game
That all of a man can play,
No later love, no larger fame
Will lure him long away.
As the war-horse smelleth the battle afar,
The entered Soul, no less,
He saith: 'Ha! Ha!' where the trumpets are
And the thunders of the Press.

Canst thou number the days that we fulfil,
Or the _Times_ that we bring forth?
Canst thou send the lightnings to do thy will,
And cause them reign on earth?
Hast thou given a peacock goodly wings
To please his foolishness?
Sit down at the heart of men and things,
Companion of the Press!

The Pope may launch his Interdict,
The Union its decree,
But the bubble is blown and the bubble is pricked
By Us and such as We.
Remember the battle and stand aside
While Thrones and Powers confess
That King over all the children of pride
Is the Press--the Press--the Press!

In The Presence

(1912)

'So the matter,' the Regimental Chaplain concluded, 'was correct; in
every way correct. I am well pleased with Rutton Singh and Attar Singh.
They have gathered the fruit of their lives.'

He folded his arms and sat down on the verandah. The hot day had ended,
and there was a pleasant smell of cooking along the regimental lines,
where half-clad men went back and forth with leaf platters and
water-goglets. The Subadar-Major, in extreme undress, sat on a chair, as
befitted his rank; the Havildar-Major, his nephew, leaning respectfully
against the wall. The Regiment was at home and at ease in its own
quarters in its own district which takes its name from the great
Muhammadan saint Mian Mir, revered by Jehangir and beloved by Guru Har
Gobind, sixth of the great Sikh Gurus.

'Quite correct,' the Regimental Chaplain repeated.

No Sikh contradicts his Regimental Chaplain who expounds to him the Holy
Book of the Grunth Sahib and who knows the lives and legends of all
the Gurus.

The Subadar-Major bowed his grey head. The Havildar-Major coughed
respectfully to attract attention and to ask leave to speak. Though he
was the Subadar-Major's nephew, and though his father held twice as
much land as his uncle, he knew his place in the scheme of things. The
Subadar-Major