Mabel. Sergeant, approach! Young Frederic was to have led you to death and glory.

Police. (chanted) That is not a pleasant way of putting it.

Mabel. No matter; he will not so lead you, for he has allied himself once more with his old associates.

Police. (chanted) He has acted shamefully!

Mabel. You speak falsely. You know nothing about it. He has acted nobly.

Police. (chanted) He has acted nobly!

Mabel. Dearly as I loved him before, his heroic sacrifice to his sense of duty has endeared him to me tenfold. He has done his duty. I will do mine. Go ye and do yours.

Exit MABEL.

Police. (chanted) Right oh!

Sergeant. This is perplexing.

Police. (chanted) We cannot understand it at all.

Sergeant. Still, as he is actuated by a sense of duty –

Police. (chanted) That makes a difference, of course. At the same time, we repeat, we cannot understand it at all.

Sergeant. No matter. Our course is clear: we must do our best to capture these pirates alone. (chanted) It is most distressing to us to be the agents whereby our erring fellow-creatures are deprived of that liberty which is so dear to us all – but we should have thought of that before we joined the force.

Police. (chanted) We should!

Sergeant. (spoken) It is too late now!

Police. (chanted) It is!

Page Created 20 August, 2011