"Wouldst read the secret? wouldst hear thy doom?"
"I would, an I were able!"
"If thou wert Abel, then I were Cain!
But, 'fore I tell thee, swear—"
And he swore and he swore and he swore again,
Till on end arose our hair;
And I couldn't help thinking what fines he'd have paid
If there'd been a magistrate there.
And that very night, when a somnolent snooze
Was exciting the murderer's nose,