Families by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives—
Followed the Piper for their lives.
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step for step they followed dancing,
Until they came to the river Weser,
Wherein all plunged and perished!”
Robert Browning.
As the rats were all dead, and there was no chance of their returning to plague them, the people of Hamelin refused to pay the promised reward, and braving the piper’s anger bade him do his worst. A few moments later the magic flute again began to play, and the astonished parents saw all their children gaily swarm out of the houses and merrily follow the piper.
“There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling