Page:Backblock Ballads and Later Verses (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/100

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With purpose vile and with a file My window he attacked. A stealthy scratch upon the catch Awoke me to the fact. Softly, with sudden fear amazed, A corner of the blind I raised.

I saw his face! . . . Oh, that a man His manhood should degrade, And seek to rob (I checked a sob) Except in honest trade! A predatory face I saw That showed no reverence for Law.

With whirring head I slid from bed, Crept from my peaceful couch; Forsook my trousers hanging there, Red gold within their pouch. Out through my chamber door I fled And up the hallway softly sped.

Into the murky night I stole To seek a certain cop, Whose forthright feet patrol the beat A stone's throw from my shop. In my pyjama suit went I. .. . Across the moon dark clouds swept by.