him, and the old soldier still keep his cross? To-day there is a public
fete in the gardens yonder: that showman must be going thither; why not
go too? What! he the old soldier,--he stoop to show off a dog! he! he!
The dog looked at him deprecatingly and stretched himself on the floor--
lifeless.

Yes, that is the alternative--shall his child die too, and he be too
proud to save her? Ah! and if the cross can be saved also! But pshaw!
what did the dog know that people would care to see? Oh, much, much.
When the child was alone and sad, it would come and play with her. See
those old dominos! She ranged them on the floor, and the dog leaped up
and came to prove his skill. Artfully, then, the Comedian had planned
that the dog should make some sad mistakes, alternated by some marvellous
surprises. No, he would not do: yes, he would do. The audience took it
seriously, and became intensely interested in the dog's success; so sorry
for his blunders, so triumphant in his lucky hits. And then the child
calmed the hasty irritable old man so sweetly, and corrected the dog so
gently, and talked to the animal; told it how much they relied on it, and
produced her infant alphabet, and spelt out "Save us." The dog looked at
the letters meditatively, and henceforth it was evident that he took more
pains. Better and better; he will do, he will do! The child shall not
starve, the cross shall not be sold. Down drops the curtain.
End of Act I.


Act II. opens with a dialogue spoken off the stage. Invisible dramatis
persona, that subsist, with airy tongues, upon the mimetic art of the
Comedian. You understand that there is a vehement dispute going on. The
dog must not be admitted into a part of the gardens where a more refined
and exclusive section of the company have hired seats, in order to