"Molly!" he called, "Molly!"
But the empty theatre gave him nothing but echoes in reply.
The Poet's Allegory
I
The boy came into the town at six o'clock in the morning, but the baker at the corner of the first street was up, as is the way of bakers, and when he saw the boy passing, he hailed him with a jolly shout.
"Hullo, boy! What are you after?"
"I'm going about my business," the boy said pertly.
"And what might that be, young fellow?"
"I might be a good tinker, and worship god Pan, or I might grind scissors as sharp as the noses of bakers. But, as a matter of fact, I'm a piper, not a rat-catcher, you understand, but just a simple singer of sad songs, and a mad singer of merry ones."
"Oh," said the baker dully, for he had hoped the boy was in search of work. "Then I suppose you have a message."