Page:Carroll - Sylvie and Bruno Concluded.djvu/305

XVII]

He has loaded with bullet and powder:
 * His footfall is noiseless as air:

But the Voices grow louder and louder,
 * And bellow, and bluster, and blare.

They bristle before him and after,
 * They flutter above and below,

Shrill shriekings of lubberly laughter, Weird wailings of woe! They echo without him, within him:
 * They thrill through his whiskers and beard:

Like a tectotum seeming to spin him,
 * With sneers never hitherto sneered.