[00:05.50]Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
[00:10.45]the Cat of the Railway Train
[00:15.17]
[00:15.58]There's a whisper down the line
[00:17.36]at eleven thirty-nine
[00:18.97]When the Night Mail's ready to depart
[00:22.13]Saying, \"Skimble, where is Skimble?
[00:23.91]Has he gone to hunt the thimble?
[00:25.45]We must find him or the train can't start\"
[00:28.67]All the guards and all the porters
[00:30.53]And the station master's daughters
[00:32.20]Would be searching high and low
[00:35.30]Saying \"Skimble where is Skimble
[00:37.23]For unless he's very nimble
[00:38.82]Then the night mail just won't go\"
[00:41.88]At eleven forty-two
[00:43.47]with the signal overdue
[00:45.32]And the passengers all frantic to a man
[00:48.53]That's when I would appear
[00:50.29]and I'd saunter to the rear
[00:52.20]I'd been busy in the luggage van!
[00:56.51]Then he gave one flash
[00:58.77]of his glass-green eyes
[01:00.46]And the signal went \"All Clear!\"
[01:03.68]They'd be off at last
[01:05.39]to the northern part
[01:06.94]of the Northern Hemisphere!
[01:09.19]Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
[01:13.82]The Cat of the Railway Train
[01:18.60]
[01:18.88]You could say that by and large
[01:20.69]It was me who was in charge
[01:22.33]Of the Sleeping Car Express
[01:25.54]From the driver and the guards
[01:27.32]to the bagmen playing cards
[01:28.97]I would supervise them all more or less
[01:31.97]Down the corridor he paces
[01:33.83]and examines all the faces
[01:35.30]Of the travellers in the first and the third
[01:38.53]He established control
[01:40.20]by a regular patrol
[01:41.94]And he'd know at once if anything occurred
[01:44.98]He would watch you without winking
[01:46.81]and he knows what you were thinking
[01:48.64]And it's certain that he didn't approve
[01:51.86]Of hilarity and riot
[01:53.58]so that folk were very quiet
[01:55.33]When Skimble was about and on the move
[01:59.78]You could play no pranks
[02:01.81]with Skimbleshanks!
[02:03.51]He's a cat that can not be ignored
[02:06.64]So nothing went wrong
[02:08.38]on the Northern Mail
[02:10.06]When Skimbleshanks was aboard
[02:13.69]
[02:15.51]It was very pleasant
[02:16.73]when they'd found their little den
[02:18.30]With their name written up on the door
[02:21.57]And the berth was very neat
[02:23.38]with a newly folded sheet
[02:25.05]And not a speck of dust upon the floor
[02:28.17]There was every sort of light
[02:29.98]You could make it dark or bright
[02:31.79]And a button you could turn to make a breeze
[02:34.97]And a funny little basin
[02:36.74]you're supposed to wash your face in
[02:38.39]And a crank to shut the window should you sneeze
[02:41.61]Then the guard looked in politely
[02:43.46]and would ask you very brightly,
[02:45.45]\"Do you like your morning tea weak or strong?\"
[02:48.44]But I was just behind him
[02:50.30]and was ready to remind him
[02:52.15]For Skimble won't let anything go wrong
[02:56.46]When they crept into
[02:58.54]their cosy berth
[03:00.12]and pulled up the counterpane
[03:03.47]They all could reflect
[03:05.12]that it was very nice
[03:06.86]To know that they wouldn't be bothered by mice
[03:09.85]They could leave all that
[03:11.52]to the Railway Cat
[03:13.33]The Cat of the Railway Train
[03:15.99]Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
[03:20.87]The Cat of the Railway Train
[03:25.65]
[03:25.97]In the watches of the night
[03:27.56]I was always fresh and bright
[03:29.17]Every now and then I'd have a cup of tea[!--empirenews.page--]
[03:32.41]With perhaps a drop of scotch
[03:34.12]while I was keeping on the watch
[03:35.76]Only stopping here and there to catch a flea
[03:38.96]They were fast asleep at Crewe
[03:40.48]and so they never knew
[03:42.06]That I was walking up and down the station
[03:45.39]They were sleeping all the while
[03:46.80]I was busy at Carlisle
[03:48.61]Where I met the station master with elation
[03:51.84]They might see me at Dumfries
[03:53.42]if I summoned the police
[03:55.21]There was anything they ought to know about
[03:58.60]When they got to Gallowgate
[04:00.16]there they did not have to wait
[04:01.91]For Skimbleshanks would help them to get out!
[04:10.86]And he gives you a wave
[04:13.67]of his long brown tail
[04:15.37]Which says \"I'll see you again!
[04:18.39]You'll meet without fail
[04:20.14]on the Midnight Mail
[04:22.13]The Cat of the Railway Train!\"