The Lifeguard talked to the Under-cook
An’ the girl she talked to ’im.’
The audience, men and women together, yelled the chorus at the top of their voices.
‘Don’t try for things that are out of your reach
And that’s what the girl told the soldier.’
Between verses the singer broke into a little routine, prancing about so that the large brass spurs at his heels jingled. Making fun of the Lifeguard with his fine uniform and his ambitions.
‘My idea, that,’ Rud called into her ear.
She turned to smile back at him and saw his face was blazing, triumphant.
With the final stanza she saw, the song was a story, a simple moral tale and this audience liked it for that. It was all about courting and finding a match. Trying for the well-paid undercook was too ambitious, so the soldier had to mak
