Page:Poems Curwen.djvu/253

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Just then an ugly goblin came,
 And, with a wicked leer
That set poor Mabel's pearly teeth
 All chattering with fear,
Said,"Come, you've got to go with me;
 Get up, my pretty dear."

But Mabel answered in affright,"
 I can't; see how it snows;
I'll catch my death, if I go out
 In these, my thin night-clothes;
And Old Jack Frost will surely see,
 And nip my poor bare toes."

The goblin laughed derisively,
 "Ha, ha! You did not care
When you saw poor little children
 With their feet all blue and bare."
And seizing Mabel by the hand,
 He dragged her down the stair.

The men and maids were laughing loud,
 Down in the servants' hall,
And as they passed the drawing-room,
 Mab tried her best to call,
But her ready tongue somehow seemed tied,
 And would not act at all.

The goblin opened wide the door,
 And Mab's unwilling feet
Followed him down the slippery steps
 Into the frozen street;