There was not one among them all Could say from whence he came ; Nor beardless boy, nor ancient man, Could tell that stranger's name. All silent as the sheeted dead, In spite of sneer and frown, Fast by a gray-haired senior's side He sat him boldly down. There was a look of horror flashed A murmur broke along the crowd, Through sounding aisle, o'er grating stair, That fearful stranger! down he sat, And on his lip a rising smile Of scorn or pleasure played. He took his hat and hung it up, He stripped his coat from off his back, Then from his nearest neighbor's side How fled the sugar from the bowl! They vanished like the shapes that float A long, long draught, an outstretched hand, - Then clouds were dark on many a brow, And, in a bitter agony, They clasped their buttered rolls. A whisper trembled through the crowd, And some were silent, for they thought What if the creature should arise, For he was stout and tall, All sullenly the stranger rose; He took his hat from off the peg, Four freshmen fainted on the seat, There is full many a starving man, Yet often at the sunset hour, The freshman lingers on the steps, THE SPECTRE PIG. A BALLAD. T was the stalwart butcher man, And oh! it was the gentle Pig Lay stretched upon the ground, And ah! it was the cruel knife They took him then, those wicked men, They trailed him all along; They put a stick between his lips, And through his heels a thong; And round and round an oaken beam Now say thy prayers, thou sinful man, For if his sprite should walk by night, That thou wert mouldering in the ground, It was the savage butcher then, It was the butcher's youngest son,· All young and ignorant was he, And, in his soft simplicity, Out spoke the tender child : "Q father, father, list to me; And men have hung him by his heels, It was the bloody butcher then, That laughed as he would die, Yet did he soothe the sorrowing child, And bid him not to cry; "O Nathan, Nathan, what's a Pig, It was the butcher's daughter then, That sobbed as if her heart would break, And thus she spoke in thrilling tone, - The Pig! The Pig! The Pig!" Then did her wicked father's lips Ye need not weep, ye gentle ones, The bright sun folded on his breast And softly over all the west The shades of evening came. |