‘I beg your pardon, sir, but by this warrant I am to take you prisoner, and hand you over to—to the executioner.’
‘Pooh, pooh, my good man!—Stop, I say,—ho!—hulloa!’ was all that this luckless Prince was enabled to say, for Hedzoff’s guards seizing him, tied a handkerchief over his mouth and face, and carried him to the place of execution.
The King, who happened to be talking to Glumboso, saw him pass, and took a pinch of snuff and said, ‘So much for Giglio. Now let’s go to breakfast.’
The Captain of the Guard handed over his prisoner to the Sheriff, with the fatal order,
‘AT SIGHT CUT OFF THE BEARER’S HEAD. ‘VALOROSO XXIV.’
‘It’s a mistake,’ says Bulbo, who did not seem to understand the business in the least.
‘Poo—poo—pooh,’ says the Sheriff. ‘Fetch Jack Ketch instantly. Jack Ketch!’
And poor Bulbo was led to the scaffold, where an executioner with a block and a tremendous axe was always ready in case he should be wanted.
But we must now revert to Giglio and Betsinda.