Yes, let her come. If she feels like that, she
ought to come.
SINGER (with a very winning smile). We will take great care of her,
Madame, as if she were our own sister.
MOTHER (surprisingly to JOHANNES). What do you think of cider as
a drink, Master Johannes?
TALKER (who had not expected it, but is always ready). Cider--ah,
there's a drink! Oh, I can talk to you about cider, glum body as I
am by nature, having been as it were taciturn from birth. Yet of
cider I could talk you--
MOTHER. Ours is considered very good cider. (To her daughter) Take
them, child, and give them such refreshment as they want. They have
deserved it for their entertainment.
DAUGHTER. Why, of course, Mother. Come this way please.
[She leads the way, and the others follow, the TALKER coming last
and murmuring "Cider" to himself.]
MOTHER. Master Johannes. (He turns round.) A word with you, if
you please, sir.
TALKER. But certainly, Madame. The cider will be all the better for
the expectation.
MOTHER. Sit down, please. (He does so.) Master Johannes, who are
you, all of you?
TALKER. I thought I had explained, Madame. Her Royal Sweetness
Princess Carissima, His Flutiness the Duke of Bogota, and myself a
humble Marquis. We may be referred to collectively as the Red
Feathers. For myself I am sometimes called Silent John, being of a
close disposition.
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