No, no, it is black![1469] ’Tis the devil’s device—
He’s claiming a soul as a sacrifice.
Great God! Is this death?[1470] The blood-hound again!
Take him off![1471] Take him off![1472] Do I call you in vain?
He clutches my throat[1473]—he chokes out my life![1474]
Won’t some of you fellows go after my wife?
Must I die here alone? See! they beckon to me.
Oh! if Bessie, my heart-broken wife, could but see
That I kept my word. Won’t—you—kindly—say
I “swore off” for good on the New Year’s Day.[1475]