But the Captain--dear me!
I hardly can see
Why I love the brave Captain to such a degree:
But see--there's the carriage, I vow, at the gate!
I must go--'tis the law of inveterate fate."
So a parting look
At her home she took,
While a terrible conflict her timid soul shook;
Then turned to the carriage heart-stricken and sore,
Stepped hastily in and closed up the door.
"Crack!" went the whip;
She bit her white lip,
And away she flew on her desperate trip.
She thought of dear Brown; and poor Mr. McNair--
She knew he would hang himself straight in despair.
She sighed
And she cried
All during the ride,
And endeavored--alas, but she could not decide.
Three times she prayed;
Three times she essayed
To call to the driver for pity and aid--
To drive her straight
To her garden-gate,
And break the spell of her terrible fate.
But her tongue was tied--
She couldn't decide,
And she only moaned at a wonderful rate.
No mortal can tell
"What might have befell,"
Had it been a mile more to the Globe Hotel;
But as they approached it she broke from her spell.
A single hair
For Mr. McNair
She vowed to herself that she did not care;
But the Captain so true
In his coat of blue--
To his loving arms in her fancy she flew.
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