"I don't suppose it's real," said William gloomily. "Well, where're we got to?"
He turned quickly, and the fern-pot descended sharply, extinguishing his head. He struggled with it without success.
"Can't anyone do anything?" said his muffled voice from inside the fern-pot. "I can't go on acting like this—people can't see me. Well, isn't anyone going to do anything?"
The caste pulled without success.
"I didn't say pull my head off," said the stern, sarcastic voice from inside the pot, "I said pull the thing off!"
The Great Man arose from his packing-case and came to the rescue. Finally William's face appeared. William put his hands to his head. "Any one'd think you wanted to pull my nose an' ears off—the way you did it," he said. "Now let's get on." He turned to the heroine. "'No, I will not spare thee. I hatest thy mother and thy father and the young gentleman thou ist going to marry. Thy mother, thy father, and the young gentleman thou ist going to marry wilt see thy lifeless body dangling on my remote mountain lair ere dawn dawns. Gadzooks!' Now go on! Scream!"
The heroine screamed.
The crowd took off his top hat and cheered.
"'I will keep thee in a deep, dark dungeon, with all sorts of rats an' things crawling about till even, and then—and then——'" He consulted his exercise-book, "'and then I'll'—I've forgot this bit, and I can't read wot comes next——"
"Yah!" yelled the heroine in shrill triumph.