_Bl._ Gone! Ah, I am rightly punished! What would I not give now to have homely little BRUNETTE, and dear old wooden-headed TIMBURINA back again! _She_ wouldn't melt in the sun.... Where are they now? Great Heavens! that threat--that rash resolve ... I remember all! 'Twas in the direction of the Pond they vanished. (_Peeping anxiously between trees._) Are they still in sight?... Yes, I see them! BRUNETTE has reached the water's edge.... What is she purposing! Now she kneels on the rough gravel; she is making TIMBURINA kneel too! How calm and resolute they both appear! (_Shuddering._) I dare not look further--but, ah, I must--_I must!_... Horror! I saw her boots flash for an instant in the bright sunlight; and now the ripples have closed, smiling over her little black stockings!... Help!--save her, somebody!--help!... Joy! a gentleman has appeared on the scene--how handsome, how brave he looks! He has taken in the situation at a glance! With quiet composure he removes his coat--oh, _don't_ trouble about folding it up!--and why, _why_ remove your gloves, when there is not a moment to be lost? Now, with many injunctions, he entrusts his watch to a bystander, who retires, overcome by emotion. And now--oh, gallant, heroic soul!--now he is sending his toy terrier into the seething water! (_Straining eagerly forward._) Ah, the dog paddles bravely out--he has reached the spot ... oh, he has passed it!--he is trying to catch a duck! Dog, dog, _is_ this a time for pursuing ducks? At last he understands--he dives ... he brings up--agony! a small tin cup! Again ... _this_ time, surely--what, only an old pot-hat!... Oh, this dog is a fool! And still the Round Pond holds its dread secret! Once more ... yes--no, yes, it _is_ TIMBURINA! Thank Heaven, she yet breathes! But BRUNETTE? Can she have stuck in the mud at the bottom? Ha, she, too, is rescued--saved--ha-ha-ha!--saved, saved, saved!
[_Swoons hysterically, amid deafening applause._
_Enter_ FRANK MANLY, _supporting_ BRUNETTE, _who carries_ TIMBURINA.
_Bl._ (_wildly_). What, do I see you safe, beloved BRUNETTE?
_Br._ Yes, thanks to his courage, I'm not even _wet_!
_Frank_ (_modestly_). Nay, spare your compliments. To rescue Beauty, When in distress, is every hero's duty!