Scarce had he ope'd the vast and mammoth thing,—
When, from the trunk's interior Phlegethon,
Came forth a horrid phantom, with a spring!
"It was a dreadful monster, without flesh,
Made up of ever-less'ning, perfect hoops;
More terrible to vision than secesh,
With all his ragged, whiskey-drinking troops.
"The wretched Sergeant started back with fear,
And would have 'scaped the penalty incurred;
But, ah! the spectre caught him by an ear,