_William_ (_sings_). In his downward course arrest him! (He may take a virtuous tack); Pause awhile, ere you digest him, Make an effort--bring him back! [_The_ Man-trap _is convulsed by a violent heave_; WILLIAM and BENJAMIN _bend forward in an agony of expectation, until a small shoe and the leg of_ THOMAS’S _pantaloons are finally emitted from the_ Monster’s _jaws._ _Benj._ (_exultantly_). See, William, now he’s coming ... here’s his shoe for you! _The Man-trap_ (_with an accent of genuine regret). I’m sorry--but that’s all that I can do for you!_ _Wm._ (_raising the shoe and the leg of pantaloons, and holding them sorrowfully at arm’s length_). He’s met the fate which moralists all promise is The end of such depraved careers as Thomas’s! Oh, Benjamin, take warning by it _be_-time! (_More brightly_). But now to wash our hands--’tis nearly tea-time! [_Exeunt_ WILLIAM and BENJAMIN, _to wash their hands, as Curtain falls. N.B. This finale is more truly artistic, and in accordance with modern dramatic ideas, than the conventional “picture.”_ IV.--THE FATAL PIN. Our present example is pure tragedy of the most ambitious kind, and is, perhaps, a little in advance of the taste of a Music-hall audience of the present day. When the fusion between the Theatres and the Music Halls is complete--when Miss Bessie Bellwood sings “_What Cheer, ’Ria?_” at the Lyceum, and Mr. Henry Irving gives his compressed version of _Hamlet_ at the Trocadero; when there is a general levelling-up of culture, and removal of prejudice--then, and not till then, will this powerful little play meet with the appreciation which is its due. The main idea is suggested by the Misses Taylor’s well-known poem, _The Pin_, though the dramatist has gone further than the poetess in working out the notion of Nemesis. THE FATAL PIN. _A TRAGEDY._ DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. _Emily Heedless._ By either Miss VESTA TILLEY or Mrs. BERNARD BEERE. _Peter Paragon._ Mr. FORBES ROBERTSON or Mr. ARTHUR ROBERTS (only he mustn’t sing “_The Good Young Man who Died_”). _First and Second Bridesmaids._ Miss MAUDE MILLETT and Miss ANNIE HUGHES. SCENE.--EMILY’S _Boudoir, sumptuously furnished with a screen and sofa,_ C. _Door_, R., _leading to_ EMILY’S _Bed-chamber. Door,_ L. EMILY _discovered in loose wrapper, and reclining in uncomfortable position on sofa._ _Emily_ (_dreamily_). This day do I become the envied bride Of Peter, justly surnamed Paragon; And much I wonder what in me he found (He, who Perfection so personifies) That he could condescend an eye to cast On faulty feather-headed Emily! How solemn is the stillness all around me! [_A loud bang is heard behind screen._