That rang through the chill and gloom;

And he asked me, "Highty-tighty,"

"What the deuce do you do in my room?"

And never of warning mildly

A word had the stranger said,

Ere he took up a bootjack wildly,

And hurled it at my head;

And down with a noise and clatter

It fell o'er the winding stair,

And some one cried, "What's the matter?"