OLD CLAUS
—I saw it with these eyes!
He piped away the children.
[Horror in the crowd. They bring out lanterns and candles.
VERONIKA holds up the forgotten crutch'
VERONIKA
Jan—my Jan!
KURT [to her] Thy boy! But mine, my three, all fair and straight.—
AXEL'S WIFE
[furiously to him]
'T was thy false bargain, thine; who would not pay
The Piper.—But we pay!
PETER the Sacristan
Bewitched, bewitched!
The boys ran out—and I ran after them,
And something red did trip me—'t was the Devil.
The Devil!
OLD URSULA
Ah, ring on, and crack the bell:
Ye'll never have them back.—I told ye so!
[The bell clangs incessantly]
Curtain