Gaspard. Oh, Thanks! a thousand Thanks, benignant Lord!
Gaspard (delightedly).
Oh, thanks! a thousand thanks, benignant lord!
Henri (to his father).
Shall Lucienne and myself gain no reward
For keeping silent, as your will decrees,
Like happy Gaspard and his Eloise?
Baron (taking one of the children's hands in each of his own).
Ah, when you wake to-morrow, both shall find
Your stockings with sweet treasures richly lined.
Hie straight to bed, and ere the day return
Let each one here a valued lesson learn:
Gaspard and I shall grant, grown more discreet,
That danger paves the pathway to deceit;
While you, Henri, Lucienne, Eloise, shall own
That oft the unknown had best remain unknown;
Nor strive as now, on Christmas-eve, to delve
In goblin mysteries, while the clock strikes twelve.
[All join hands and bow, as curtain falls.]