Lead, Master! We follow ... follow ... home!
[Even while speaking they sink down on the ground near the cave, and close their eyes as if in sleep. The Emperor and his suite approach, as if they had been looking on, near by, and fall reverently on their knees, their example being followed by the multitude, while the chant rises ever more clear and sweet. The Seven Schoolboys pluck brightly flowering branches and lay these beside the Sleepers and shower blossoms over them. And so the scene fades from our sight.]
PRINCESS MOSS-ROSE
For Every Child’s Birthday
GREETING
TO THE AUDIENCE
Spoken in front of the curtain
by
THE CHILD WHOSE BIRTHDAY IT IS
To-day it is my birthday. Yes! Now who this group among
Can guess, I wonder, just how old I am, or just how young: