173. DECAPITATIONS
The ship rode in an ....... bay,
Asleep ...... the master lay.
A ..... and rugged man was he
And, like a .... at home at sea.
Like swooping ... he caught his prey
Whene’er an .. came his way.
But while due . the needle kept
He in his cabin lay and slept.
The missing word in the first line has seven letters; its first letter is cut off to form the second missing word, and this process is repeated throughout the seven lines.