Josephine Preston Peabody,
The Piper: A Play in Four Acts
“ CHEAT-THE-DEVIL No, growling,—growling dreary psalms All on a sunny day! Behind the hedges, I saw them go. They go from Hamelin, now; And I know why!— [The PIPER beckons him away from the Children. The mayor's Barbara Must go to Rudersheim, to be a Nun!PIPER To be a Nun!CHEAT-THE-DEVIL A penance for them all. She weeps; but she must go! All they, you see, Are wroth against him.—He must give his child—PIPER A nun!CHEAT-THE-DEVIL [nodding] Forever!—She, who smiled at Michael. Look you, she weeps! They are bad people all;— Nothing like these. ”
