Away, away! my heart's on fire; Away, away! ere I expire— I burn, this base deception to I find my duty hard to do to- repay. day! This very night my vengeance dire My heart is filled with anguish dire, Shall glut itself in gore. It strikes me to the core. Away, away! Away, away! KING: With falsehood foul He tricked us of our brides. Let vengeance howl; The Pirate so decides. Our nature stern He softened with his lies, And, in return, To-night the traitor dies. ALL: Yes, yes! to-night the traitor dies! Yes, yes! to-night the traitor dies! RUTH: To-night he dies! KING: Yes, or early to-morrow. FREDERIC: His girls likewise? RUTH: They will welter in sorrow. KING: The one soft spot RUTH: In their natures they cherish— FREDERIC: And all who plot KING: To abuse it shall perish! ALL: To-night he dies, etc. (Exeunt KING and RUTH. FREDERIC throws himself on a stone in blank despair. Enter MABEL.) RECIT—MABEL All is prepared, your gallant crew await you. My Frederic in tears? It cannot be That lion-heart quails at the coming conflict? FREDERIC: No, Mabel, no. A terrible disclosure Has just been made. Mabel, my dearly-loved one, I bound myself to serve the pirate captain Until I reached my one-and-twentieth birthday— MABEL: But you are twenty-one? FREDERIC: I've just discovered That I was born in leap-year, and that birthday Will not be reached by me till nineteen forty! MABEL: Oh, horrible! catastrophe appalling! FREDERIC: And so, farewell! MABEL: No, no! Ah, Frederic, hear me. DUET—MABEL and FREDERIC MABEL: Stay, Fred'ric, stay! They have no legal claim, No shadow of a shame Will fall upon thy name. Stay, Frederic, stay! FREDERIC: Nay, Mabel, nay! To-night I quit these walls, The thought my soul appalls, But when stern Duty calls, I must obey. MABEL: Stay, Fred'ric, stay! FREDERIC: Nay, Mabel, nay! MABEL: They have no claim— FREDERIC: But Duty's name. The thought my soul appalls, But when stern Duty calls, MABEL: Stay, Fred'ric, stay! FREDERIC: I must obey. BALLAD—MABEL