Page:Carroll - Rhyme and Reason.djvu/176

160 Each thought he was thinking of nothing but "Snark"
 * And the glorious work of the day;

And each tried to pretend that he did not remark
 * That the other was going that way.

But the valley grew narrow and narrower still,
 * And the evening got darker and colder,

Till (merely from nervousness, not from good will)
 * They marched along shoulder to shoulder.

Then a scream, shrill and high, rent the shuddering sky,
 * And they knew that some danger was near:

The Beaver turned pale to the tip of its tail,
 * And even the Butcher felt queer.

He thought of his childhood, left far far behind—
 * That blissful and innocent state—

The sound so exactly recalled to his mind
 * A pencil that squeaks on a slate!

Tis the voice of the Jubjub!" he suddenly cried.
 * (This man, that they used to call "Dunce.")

"As the Bellman would tell you," he added with pride,
 * "I have uttered that sentiment once."