NAPOLEON [_dropping the pistol and covering his eyes_] Quarter! Kamerad! Take it, madam [_he kicks it towards her_]: I surrender. THE ORACLE. Give me that thing. Do you expect me to stoop for it? NAPOLEON [_taking his hands from his eyes with an effort_] A poor victory, madam [_he picks up the pistol and hands it to her_]: there was no vector strategy needed to win it. [Making a pose of his humiliation] But enjoy your triumph: you have made me--ME! Cain Adamson Charles Napoleon! Emperor of Turania! cry for quarter. THE ORACLE. The way out of your difficulty, Cain Adamson, is very simple. NAPOLEON [_eagerly_] Good. What is it? THE ORACLE. To die before the tide of glory turns. Allow me [_she shoots him_]. _He falls with a shriek. She throws the pistol away and goes haughtily into the temple._ NAPOLEON [_scrambling to his feet_] Murderess! Monster! She-devil! Unnatural, inhuman wretch! You deserve to be hanged, guillotined, broken on the wheel, burnt alive. No sense of the sacredness of human life! No thought for my wife and children! Bitch! Sow! Wanton! [_He picks up the pistol_]. And missed me at five yards! Thats a woman all over. _He is going away whence he came when Zoo arrives and confronts him at the head of a party consisting of the British Envoy, the Elderly Gentleman, the Envoy's wife, and her daughter, aged about eighteen. The envoy, a typical politician, looks like an imperfectly reformed criminal disguised by a good tailor. The dress of the ladies is coeval with that of the Elderly Gentleman, and suitable for public official ceremonies in western capitals at the XVIII-XIX fin de siècle._ _They file in under the portico. Zoo immediately comes out imperiously to Napoleon's right, whilst the Envoy's wife hurries effusively to his left. The Envoy meanwhile passes along behind the columns to the door, followed by his daughter. The Elderly Gentleman stops just where he entered, to see why Zoo has swooped so abruptly on the Emperor of Turania._ ZOO [_to Napoleon, severely_] What are you doing here by yourself? You have no business to go about here alone. What was that noise just now? What is that in your hand? _Napoleon glares at her in speechless fury; pockets the pistol; and produces a whistle._ THE ENVOY'S WIFE. Arnt you coming with us to the oracle, sire? NAPOLEON. To hell with the oracle, and with you too [_he turns to go_]! THE ENVOY'S WIFE} [_together_] {Oh, sire!! ZOO} {Where are you going?} NAPOLEON. To fetch the police. [_He goes out past Zoo, almost jostling her, and blowing piercing blasts on his whistle_]. ZOO [_whipping out her tuning-fork and intoning_] Hallo Galway Central. [_The whistling continues_]. Stand by to isolate. [_To the Elderly Gentleman, who is staring after the whistling Emperor_] How far has he gone? THE ELDERLY GENTLEMAN. To that curious statue of a fat old man.