nap.

'Tis, now, high time to let you know
That the obstetrick Doctor Crow
Awoke in the beginning of this matter,
By Toby's _tintinnabulary_ clatter:

And, knowing that the bell belong'd to Shove,
He listen'd in his bed, but did not move;

He only did apostrophize;--
Sending to hell
Shove, and his bell,
That wouldn't let him close his eyes.

But when he heard a thundering _knock_,--says he,
"That's, certainly, a messenger for _me_;--
Somebody ill, in the Brick House, no doubt;"--
Then mutter'd, hurrying on his dressing-gown,
"I wish my Ladies, out of town,
Chose more convenient times for crying out!"

Crow, in the dark, now, reached the stair-case head;
Shove, in the dark, was coming up to bed.

A combination of ideas flocking,
Upon the pericranium of Crow,--
Occasion'd by the hasty knocking,
Succeeded by a foot he heard below,--

He did, as many folks are apt to do,
Who argue in the dark, and in confusion;--
That is, from the Hypothesis, he drew
A false conclusion:

Concluding Shove to be the person sent,
With an express, from the brick tenement;
Whom Barber Twizzle, torturer of hairs,
Had, civilly, let in, and sent up stairs.

As Shove came up, tho' he had, long time, kept
His character, for patience, very laudably,
He couldn't help, at every step he stepp'd,
Grunting, and grumbling, in his gizzard, audibly.

For Isaac's mental feelings, you must know,
Not only were considerably hurt,
But his corporeal, also--
Having no other clothing than a shirt;--
A dress, beyond all doubt, most light and airy,
It being, then, a frost in January.

When Shove was deep down stairs, the Doctor heard,
(Being much nearer the stair top,)
Just here and there, a random word,
Of the Soliloquies that Shove let drop;--

But, shortly, by progression, brought
To contact nearer,
The Doctor, consequently, heard him clearer,--
And then the fag-end of this sentence caught:

Which Shove repeated warmly, tho' he shiver'd:--
"Damn Twizzle's house! and damn the Bell!
And damn the fool who rang it!--Well,
From all such plagues I'll quickly be deliver'd."

"What?--quickly be deliver'd!" echoes Crow;--
"Who is it?--Come, be sharp;--reply, reply;
Who wants to be deliver'd? let me know."
Recovering his surprise, Shove answer'd, "I."

"_