And then he was darting from eye-lids so sly,
Half squinting, half winking such gold beaming light;
Let them say what they will, I could read in his eye,
“Here’s a bait for you, Peel, if you know how to bite.”
So on Treasury benches I mingled my feet,
I felt a pulsation I cannot tell whether
Of joy shame or guilt—’twas bitter yet sweet;
But my heart and my face got as tough as cow’s leather.
At length when arrived in my office I sat,
And I heard of its tricks, with a slight twinge of pain,