BEGGAR. All in ruins! The lake of tears was drained a week ago. The stream rose, then the river, till everything was laid waste—meadows, fields and gardens.
STRANGER. And the quiet house?
BEGGAR. The old sin was washed away, but the walls in left.
STRANGER. And those who lived there?
BEGGAR. They've gone to the colonies; so that the story's now at an end.
STRANGER. Then my story's at an end too. So thoroughly at an end, that no happy memories remain. The last was fouled by the poisoner....
BEGGAR. Whose poison you prepared! You should declare your bankruptcy.
STRANGER. Yes. Now I'll have to give in.
BEGGAR. Then the day of reckoning will draw near.
STRANGER. I think we might call it quits; because, if I've sinned, I've been punished.