Omnes.
Twenty years in slumber's chain,
Is the fate that we ordain.
He comes! he comes! let silence reign!—
Let silence reign! let silence reign!
The Spirits retire up and station themselves in motionless attitudes.
Music.—[Swaggrino][126] ascends by the opening in the rear followed by Rip, with the keg.—Rip advances on the left, and, with the assistance of his conductor, places the cask on the rock.—
The Spirits remain immovable.
Rip.
I'm a dead man, to a certainty. Into what strange company have I tumbled! crikey, what will become of me? Dear, dear! would I were home again, even though along with [Dame][127] Van Winkle.