20                    “THE O-PIP”
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[cartoon at top of page]
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BOYS OF THE BLUE.

You are wonders! We watch you fly
   And glide and dip and loop-the-loop
In altitudes where you defy
   The dirty Hun to come and shoot.
You care not for his Fokker fast,
   Nor for his heavy battle plane;
You chase him till he’s fought his last
   And tumbles down a mass of flame.

You watch our fire with careful eye,
   Though flooded with a stream of steel:
It helps us out when you reply,
   “You shot a battery all to hell.”
And then you sweep the narrow trench
   And fill the Heinie’s full of lead;
Then give the Zepp a nasty wrench
   By setting fire to its shed.

You care not for the wind and rain
   Your work must go on just the same,
You take a chance to make a gain
   And smile and fight—it’s all the game!
So while the ocean blue you sail
   Alone, or with a bus or two
We hope good luck rides on your tail—
   Bravo! Bravo! boys of the blue.