k heart of grace with wonderful courage, when he saw that this
affair only concerned his friend Accoramboni. Pitichinaccio had put his
head, flowers and all, under Pasquale's cloak, and was clinging so
tightly about his neck that it was impossible to shake him off.

"Recover yourself," said Capuzzi to Marianna, when nothing more was to
be seen of the spectres or of the Pyramid Doctor. "Recover yourself!
Come to me, my sweet, darling little dove! My good friend Splendiano is
gone. May Saint Bernard, who was a doctor himself, stand by him and
defend him, if those revengeful painters, whom he sent to that Pyramid
of his rather before their time, are going to twist his windpipe. Ah!
who will take the bass parts in my canzonet now, I should like to know?
And this creature here, Pitichinaccio, is squeezing my throat to that
extent that, what with that, and what with the fright at seeing
Splendiano spirited away, I dare say it'll be three months good before
I can get out a single note in tune! Don't you be frightened, my own
sweetest Marianna!--it is all over."

Marianna declared that she had quite recovered from the fright, and
only begged him to let her walk by herself to enable him to get quit of
his troublesome lap-child; but he only held her the tighter, and vowed
that no consideration in the world would induce him to allow her to
venture a single step by herself in the terrible darkness.

Just then, as Capuzzi was going to step courageously forward, there
suddenly rose before him, as if from the depths of the earth, four
terrible-looking figures of devils, in short cloaks of glittering
red, who glared at him with fearful eyes, and began making a
horrible croaking and squeaking. "Hup! hup!" they cried. "Pasquale
Capuzzi!--idiotic fool!--amorous old donkey! We are comrades of yours;
we are love-devils; and we have come to carry you down to the hottest
hell, you and your bosom-friend there, Pitichinaccio!" Thus screaming,
the devils fell upon Capuzzi, and he, with Pitichinaccio, went down,
both of them raising piercing yells of distress like those of a whole
herd of beaten donkeys.

Marianna had forcibly torn herself away from the old fellow, and sprung
to one side, where one of the devils folded her softly in his arms, and
said, in a sweet voice of affection: "Oh, Marianna! my own Marianna! it
has all come right at last. My friends are taking the old man a long
distance off, while we find some place of safety to fly to.