Little Poems in Prose

mouth as if to breathe convulsively, staggered a step forward, a step backward, and fell stone dead upon the boards. Had indeed the hiss, swift as a sword, really cheated the hangman? Had the Prince himself divined the murderous efficacy of his ruse? One may suspect so. Did he regret his beloved, his inimitable Fanciullo? it is pleasant and admissible to be- lieve it. The guilty nobles had enjoyed the comedy for the last time; in the same night they were wiped out of life. Since then many a mime, justly appreciated in divers countries, has come to play before the Court of His Highness, but not one has been able to equal the marvellous talent of Fanciullo, nor to obtain the same degree of fa- vour.