THE TWO MERCHANTS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 235, 15 December 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE TWO MERCHANTS.

.The kindly (prison gates are opened wide And, softly humming a Teutonic ditty, Hans Schmidt, in whose good faith his guards confide, Strolls forth to do his business in the City; For anyone of average discernment Must see that this accords with strict internment.

I - : gentle speech and rigid self-control Hans is, indeed, a most confirmed l>el iever, And though it possibly may vex his soul To find his profits banked by a receiver, The business still is there, and its (survival After the war will gall each British rival.

He s?es the line, "Another Zeppelin Raid," On many a journal's bold contentsbill showing, And though his tongue 1«? mute, his manner staid, His eyes with patriotic zeal are glowing The while he thinks of future days of raiding Not wholly unconnected with our trading.

Meanwhile John Smith, a British merchant. pent Within a loose-l>ox in a German stable. Counts the slow hours of foul imprisonment And bears his lot as well as he able, Lucky in this —that he is spared from learning How Hans in London keeps the Hunfires burning. —TOUCHSTONE, in the "Daily Mail."