“O God, help me!” said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day, should be announced to the magistrate.
“Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!” said Wilhelm: “to that thou belongest!”
The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day’s adventure.
“Poor Sidsel!” said Eva.
“In England she would be hanged,” said Wilhelm; “that would be a fine thing to see!”
“Horrible!” replied Louise; “they must die of terror in going to the gallows.”
“Nay, it is very merry,” said Wilhelm. “Now you shall hear what glorious music has been set to it by Rossini!” And he played the march from “Gazza Ladra,” where a young girl is led to the gallows.
“Is it not merry?” asked he. “Yes, he is a composer!”
“To me it seems precisely characteristic,” answered Otto. “They are not the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express; it is the joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution—to them a charming spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous tones: it is a tragic opera, and therefore he chose exactly this character of expression!”