ak, in his arms, and, by compressing his neck tightly, quickly put an
end to his resistance--and his existence at the same time; while his two
wives, or rather widows, rushed back into the thick underbrush to
avoid a like fate, making a great cackling and ado over the terrible
catastrophe that had befallen their quondam lord and master.

"Bravo, Scapin! that was a clever trick indeed," cried Herode; "it
throws those you are so often applauded for on the stage quite into the
shade--a masterpiece of strategy, friend Scapin!--for, as is well known,
geese are by nature very vigilant, and never caught off their guard--of
which history gives us a notable instance, in the watchfulness of the
sacred geese of the Capitol, whose loud cackling in the dead of night at
the stealthy approach of the Gauls woke the sleeping soldiers to a sense
of their danger just in time to save Rome. This splendid big fellow here
saves us--after another fashion it is true, but one which is no less
providential."

The goose was plucked and prepared for the spit by Mme. Leonarde, while
Blazius, the tyrant, and Leander busied themselves in gathering together
a goodly quantity of dead wood and twigs, and laying them ready to
light in a tolerably dry spot. Scapin, with his large clasp-knife, cut a
straight, strong stick, stripped off the bark for a spit, and found two
stout forked branches, which he stuck firmly into the ground on each
side of the fire so that they would meet over it. A handful of dry
straw from the chariot served as kindling, and they quickly had a bright
blaze, over which the goose was suspended, and being duly turned and
tended by Scapin, in a surprisingly short space of time began to assume
a beautiful light brown hue, and send out such a savoury delicious odour
that the tyrant sprang up and strode away from its immediate vicinity,
declaring that if he remained near it the temptation to seize and
swallow it, spit and all, would surely be too strong for him. Blazius
had fetched from the chariot a huge tin platter that usually figured
in theatrical feasts, upon which the goose, done to a turn, was finally
placed with all due ceremony, and a second breakfast was partaken of,
which was by no means a fallacious, chimerical repast like the first.
The pedant, who was an accomplished carver, officiated in that capacity
on this auspicious occasion; begging the company, as he did so, to
be kind enough to excuse the unavoidable absence, which he