C34 THE BETROTHED. 



Open the old cigar-boxlet me consider 



awhile; 

 Here is a mild Manilla, there is a wifely smile. 



Which is the better portion bondage bought 



with a ring, 

 Or a harem of dusky beauties, fifty tied in a 



string ? 



Counselors cunning and silent comforters 



true and tried, 

 And never a one of the fifty to sneer at a rival 



bride ? 



Thought in the early morning, solace in time 



of woes, 

 Peace in the hush of the twilight, balm ere my 



eyelids close. 



This will the fifty give me, asking naught in 



return. 

 With only a Suttee's passion, to do their duty 



and burn. 



This will the fifty give me. When they are 

 spent and dead, 



Five times other fifties shall be my servants in- 

 stead. 



The furrows of far-off Java, the isles of the 



Spanish Main, 

 When they hear my harem is empty, will send 



me my bride again. 



