not within'; and I shook my head,
And while I yet spoke _the men were_ within.

They did not appear to wish to intrude;
They did not attempt to frighten me now;
They did not push by me; they were not rude;--
But _somehow_ they enter'd--I know not how.

'It's no use trying to 'ide 'im, my dear,'
Said one, in a really fatherly way;
'In course we knows that the gen'leman's 'ere;
And till he turns up we shall 'ave to stay.'

'The gentleman's here? but no one has come;
And no one _can_ come--it is much too late.
Mr. Vane is out--he will soon be home;
But I really must ask you not to wait.'

The man laid a finger against his nose;
With a horrible slyness look'd at me:
'We understands all that 'ere, I suppose;
But you'd _better_ come to terms,' said he.

I stared at the man with my vacant eyes,
That dreamily question'd him how he dared?
And suddenly saw, with extreme surprise,
It was a policeman at whom I stared.

The five of us stood in the pleasant hall;
And four were policemen, and one was I;
And Harry had never come home at all;
And the clock struck one with a gasping sigh.

My heart grew cold, and my courage ran down;
I pinch'd my finger--I tried _not_ to scream--
I felt like a creature about to drown,
And I cried aloud 'It MUST be a dream!'
I angrily spoke,--and I spoke out loud;
I _knew_ 'twas a dream and nothing in it;
I spurn'd the dream with a gesture proud,
And ORDERED myself to wake that minute.

Of course, I just fell asleep where I sat,
And this is a dream--yes I know it is--
But O it is stranger than dreaming, that
Harry has not waken'd me with a kiss!

I looked at the men, who are searching round,
And taking a note of all they can find;
Examining ceiling and walls and ground,--
--I am surely going out of my mind!

I said to myself in a coaxing way--
'I am wide awake, and he _has_ come back;
Harry is acting a sort of a play:
He has dress'd himself up, and so has Jack.'

A glance or a signal dispers'd the men:
Two went upstairs, and another below;
The leader sat down in the hall; and then--
What am _I_ to do? Where am _I_ to go?

I rush'd to the door, and I flung it wide--
A frighten'd creature can anything dare--
And I saw the darkness that lay outside,
And I heard the silence--and nothing was there.

'Harry! Harry! Harry!' was all my cry,
As I stood alone at the ope