"'Tis the Abbot," he thought,

"And I now shall be caught,

Like a frog or a toad in a rat-trap.

In this cupboard I'll go,

And mind, dame, you say 'No,'

If about me he happen to ask.

'Tis really provoking,

And far beyond joking!

To evade him 's become quite a task."

O Conscience! how truly the proverb declares,