4
Then, summoning all himself, with tightened lip,
With desperate coolness and attentive air,
He touched between his thumb and finger tip,
Each in its turn, the four legs of his chair,
Then back again in haste—there!—that one there
Had been forgotten ... once more! ... safer now;
That’s better! and he smiled and cleared his brow.
5
Yet this was but a moment’s ease. Once more