The lovers agreed
  That the hazardous deed
Should be done in the dark and with very great speed,
For Mr. McNair—­when the fellow came back—­
Might go crazy and foolishly follow their track. 
  So at midnight should wait
  At her garden-gate
A carriage to carry the dear, precious freight
Of Mrs. McNair who should meet Captain Brown
At the Globe Hotel in a neighboring town. 
  A man should be hired
  To convey the admired. 
And keep mum as a mouse, and do what was desired.

Wearily, wearily half the night
  The lady watched away;
At times in a spirit of sadness quite,
But fully resolved on her amorous flight,
  She longed to be under way;
Yet with sad heaving heart and a tear, I declare,
As she sorrowfully thought of poor Mr. McNair.

  “Poor fellow,” she sighed,
  “I wish he had died
Last spring when he had his complaint in the side
For I know—­I am sure—­it will terribly grieve him
To have me elope with the Captain and leave him. 
  But the Captain—­dear me! 
  I hardly can see
Why I love the brave Captain to such a degree: 
But see—­there’s the carriage, I vow, at the gate! 
I must go—­’tis the law of inveterate fate.” 
  So a parting look
  At her home she took,
While a terrible conflict her timid soul shook;
Then turned to the carriage heart-stricken and sore,
Stepped hastily in and closed up the door. 
  “Crack!” went the whip;
  She bit her white lip,
And away she flew on her desperate trip. 
She thought of dear Brown; and poor Mr. McNair—­
She knew he would hang himself straight in despair.

She sighed
  And she cried
  All during the ride,
And endeavored—­alas, but she could not decide. 
  Three times she prayed;
  Three times she essayed
To call to the driver for pity and aid—­
  To drive her straight
  To her garden-gate,
And break the spell of her terrible fate. 
  But her tongue was tied—­
  She couldn’t decide,
And she only moaned at a wonderful rate.

  No mortal can tell
  “What might have befell,”
Had it been a mile more to the Globe Hotel;
But as they approached it she broke from her spell. 
  A single hair
  For Mr. McNair
She vowed to herself that she did not care;
  But the Captain so true
  In his coat of blue—­
To his loving arms in her fancy she flew. 
  In a moment or more
  They drove up to the door,
And she felt that her trials and troubles were o’er. 
The landlord came hastily out in his slippers,
For late he had sat with some smokers and sippers. 
  As the lady stepped down
  With a fret and a frown,
She sighed half aloud, “Where is dear Captain Brown?”
“This way, my dear madam,” politely he said,
And straightway to the parlor the lady he led.