A space at a time as a risin’ flood grows;
And if they were hungry, they thought not of that;
If they wanted for sleep, still, they wide-awake sat.
They feared that some madness would seize them while there,
For they felt a great dreading of something so dire
That menaced and seemed like the haunting of fate,
And frowned with a visage as ugly as hate.
The threats of the weak brought alarm to the stronger,
For to some the suspense was unbearable longer,
And a murmur was heard of a way that was brief,