XII.

Then there came down from Langdale Pike A cloud, with lightning, wind and hail; It swept over the mountains like An ocean,--and I heard it strike The woods and crags of Grasmere vale.

And I saw the black storm come Nearer, minute after minute; Its thunder made the cataracts dumb; With hiss, and dash, and hollow hum, It neared as if the Devil was in it.

The Devil _was_ in it:--he had bought Peter for half-a-crown; and when The storm which bore him vanished, nought That in the house that storm had caught Was ever seen again.