while a complete silence settles over the stage and house,--a
_pastoral_ silence, if it is possible to suggest it--before they
begin to speak.

When Columbine comes in, looking for her hat, she picks up the hat
from her chair, now in the centre of the stage near the footlights,
in a direct line with Pierrot's, which is centre back, just in front
of Cothurnus,--the shepherds having set them in these positions, back
to back, in order to have their aid in weaving the wall. After
taking her hat, Columbine stands looking at the shepherds to see
what is going on. They do not look at her. After a moment Thyrsis,
slowly, with his eyes steadfastly on Corydon's, says, "Take it, and
go." When Columbine comes in in the final scene, she is wearing the
hat. She takes it off, however, as she sits down again at the table,
so that the second beginning of the play may recall as vividly as
possible to the audience the first beginning.