Slim Dusty – Taking His Chance (Guitar)

     C            F           G          C
They stood by the door of the Inn on the Rise;

    F             C                      G
May Carney looked up in the bushranger's eyes:

     F           G              C           Am
'Oh! why did you come? — it was mad of you, Jack;

    F             G                        C
You know that the troopers are out on your track.'

  F           G            C         Am
A laugh and a shake of his obstinate head

   F        C               G              C
'I wanted a dance, and I'll chance it,' he said.

     G                      F            C
Some twenty-odd bushmen had come to the 'ball',

    D                                          G
But Jack from his youth had been known to them all,

    F           G            C        Am
And bushmen are soft where a woman is fair,

       F           C         G          C
So the love of May Carney protected him there;

        F             G            C             Am
Through all the short evening — it seemed like romance

    F             C          G          C
She danced with a bushranger taking his chance.

      C              F             G        C
'Twas midnight — the dancers stood suddenly still,

F               C                        G
Hoof beats were heard on the side of the hill!

    F           G        C            Am
Ben Duggan, the drover, along the hillside

     F         C      G           C
Came riding as only a bushman can ride.

   F               G             C         Am
He sprang from his horse, to the dances he sped

     F                        G          C
'The troopers are down in the gully!' he said.

      G                       F             C
Quite close to the shanty the troopers were seen.

       F                                      G
'Clear out and ride hard for the ranges, Jack Dean!

   F                G            C           Am
Be quick!' said May Carney — her hand on her heart

       F           C                 G          C
'We'll bluff them awhile, and 'twill give you a start.'

   F          G           C            Am
He lingered a moment — to kiss her, of course

     F          C                G           C
Then ran to the trees where he'd hobbled his horse.

    C          F             G             C
She ran to the gate, and the troopers were there —

    F         C                         G
The jingle of hobbles came faint on the air —

     F          G                C       Am
Then loudly she screamed: it was only to drown

    F           C          G              C
The treacherous clatter of slip-rails let down.

    F            G              C        Am
But troopers are sharp, and she saw at a glance

     F           C        G         C
That someone was taking a desperate chance.

     G                          F               C
They chased, and they shouted, 'Surrender, Jack Dean!'

     D                                         G
They called him three times in the name of the Queen.

     F             G            C           Am
Then came from the darkness the clicking of locks;

    F            C          G            C
The crack of the rifles was heard in the rocks!

  F             G           C            Am
A shriek and a shout, and a rush of pale men —

    F             C           G           C
And there lay the bushranger, chancing it then.

        C          F            G            C
Oh, the sergeant dismounted and knelt on the sod —

      F             C                             G
'Your bushranging's over — make peace, Jack, with God!'

        F         G               C          Am
Oh, the dying man laughed — not a word he replied,

    F             C              G           C
But turned to the girl who knelt down by his side.

   F            F           C          Am
He gazed in her eyes as she lifted his head:

      F            C                   C
'Just kiss me — my girl — and — I'll — chance it,' he said.