Lighted his thumb; the saint, quite undisturbed,
Finished his treatise to the final word.
Then he looked up, and started with affright;
For lo! the thumb blazed with a lurid light.
"Your thumb is burned!" said he. The child of sin
Changed to his proper form, and with a grin
Said, "I will quench it in the martyrs' blood
Your book will cause to flow—a crimson flood!"
Triumphantly the fiend returned to hell
And told his story. Satan said, "'Tis well!