Puss! puss! lamps! Bart. Follow that! follow that! Where is Victorian? Oh, those hateful Come with me. (Exeunt. On the opposite side enter the COUNT OF LARA and gentlemen, with FRANCISCO.) Lara. The gate is fast. Over the wall, Francisco, And draw the bolt. There, so, and so, and over. Now, gentlemen, come in, and help me scale Yon balcony. How now? Her light still burns. Move warily. cisco. They glare upon me like an evil eye. cannot stay. Hark! how they mock at me! I How late is it, Dolores? It is midnight. Prec. We must be patient. Smooth this pillow for me. Make fast the gate, Fran- (She sleeps again. Noise from the garden, and voices.) SONG (continued). Thy deceits Give us clearly to comprehend, All thy pleasures, all thy sweets! Thorns below and flowers above. Perjured, false, treacherous Love! Vict. A very pretty song. I thank Hyp. It suits thy case. Indeed, I think it does. Try to forget this lady of thy love. Vict. I will forget her! All dear rec-And ollections Pressed in my heart, like flowers within a book, Shall be torn out, and scattered to the winds! strong; And, like the Spartan boy, to smile, and smile, While secret wounds do bleed beneath: I will forget her! But perhaps hereafter, All this the dead feel not, world, A voice within her will repeat my name, friend!" O, would I were a soldier, not a scholar, That the loud march, the deafening beat of drums, The shattering blast of the brass-throated trumpet, The din of arms, the onslaught and the storm, alone! Would I were with them! the dead We shall all be soon. Vict. It cannot be too soon; for I am Some form of loveliness, that smiles, and | And, like an idle mariner on the main, Whistles the quail. Come, let us hasten beckons, Pancho. Make room, ye vagabonds Make room for the Alcalde and for me! and Gypsy thieves ! Pedro C. Keep silence all! I have an edict here From our most gracious lord, the King of Spain, Jerusalem, and the Canary Islands, (Enter the PADRE CURA at the door of his Good day! and, pray you, hear this edict read. Padre C. Good day, and God be with you! Pray, what is it? Pedro C. An act of banishment against the Gypsies! (Agitation and murmurs in the crowd.) Pancho. Silence! Pedro C. (reads). "I hereby order and command, That the Egyptian and Chaldean strangers, Known by the name of Gypsies, shall henceforth Be banished from the realm, as vagabonds And beggars; and if, after seventy days, Any be found within our kingdom's bounds, They shall receive a hundred lashes each; The second time, shall have their ears cut off; The third, be slaves for life to him who takes them, Or burnt as heretics. Signed, I, the King." Vile miscreants and creatures unbaptized! You hear the law! Obey and disappear! Pedro C. Good reasons, good, substantial reasons all! No matter for the other ninety-five. They should be burnt, I see it plain enough, They should be burnt. (Enter VICTORIAN and HYPOLITO playing.) Padre C. And pray, whom have we here? Pedro C. More vagrants! By Saint Lazarus, more vagrants! Hyp. Good evening, gentlemen! Is this Guadarrama? Padre C. Yes, Guadarrama, and good evening to you. Hyp. We seek the Padre Cura of the village And, judging from your dress and reverend mien, You must be he. Padre C. I am. Pray, what's your pleasure? |