My pockets are slimpsy as pockets can be;
And short is the space twixt the poorhouse and me;
But while there’s a copper that hasn’t been spent,
I’ll mortgage my shoes for the price of the rent!
(They both make their exit as Pierrot sings.)
After a moment, Pierrette opens the inner door softly, and seeing that no one is there, steps in. She has on a cloak and a hood over her head. She is very sad.
She first takes the tea things from the table. Then, hesitating, she goes to the screen, pulling it softly aside. She leans over the crib for a merest moment. Then she pulls the screen to again, whispering:
Up in the sky are the firefly stars;
Sleep, Kittikins, sleep!
Father will catch them in crystal jars—