THE WOMAN. No, the community did not give them to me; but at my emancipation I took these things secretly from the casket of my husband, for he was my enemy, the enemy of freedom, and had long held me enslaved! THE MAN. Citizeness, I wish you a most agreeable promenade! They pass on. Who is this marvellous-looking warrior leaning upon a two-edged sword, with a death's head upon his cap, another upon his badge, and a third upon his breast? Is he not the famous Bianchetti, a condottiere employed by the people, as the condottieri once were by the kings and nobles? THE BAPTIZED. Yes, it is Bianchetti; he has been with us for the last eight or ten days. THE MAN (_to Bianchetti_). What is General Bianchetti considering with so much attention? BIANCHETTI. Look through this opening in the woods, citizen, and you will see a castle upon a hill: with my glass I can see the walls, ramparts, bastions, etc. THE MAN. It will be hard to take, will it not? BIANCHETTI. Kings and devils! it can be surrounded by subterranean passages, undermined, and.... THE BAPTIZED (_winking at Bianchetti_). Citizen general.... THE MAN (_in a whisper to the Baptized_). Look under my cloak how the cock of my pistol is raised! THE BAPTIZED (_aside_). Oh woe!--(_Aloud._) How do you mean to conduct the siege, citizen general? BIANCHETTI. Although you are my brother in freedom, you are not my confidant in strategy. After the capitulation of the castle, my plans will be made public. THE MAN (_to the Baptized_). Take my advice, Jew, and strike him dead, for such is the beginning of all aristocracies. A WEAVER. Curses! curses! curses! THE MAN. Poor fellow! what are you doing under this tree, and why do you look so pale and wild? THE WEAVER. Curses upon the merchants and manufacturers! All the best years of my life, years in which other men love maidens, meet in wide plains, or sail upon vast seas, with free air and open space around them, I have spent in a narrow, dark, gloomy room, chained like a galley slave to a silk loom! THE MAN. Take some food! Empty the full cup which you hold in your hand! WEAVER. I have not strength enough left to carry it to my lips! I am so tired; I could scarcely crawl up here--it is the day of freedom! but a day of freedom is not for me--it comes too late, too late!--(_He falls, and gasps out_:) Curses upon the manufacturers who make silks! upon the merchants, who buy them! upon the nobles, who wear them! Curses! curses! curses! He writhes on the ground and dies. THE BAPTIZED. What a ghastly corpse! THE MAN. Baptized Jew, citizen, poltroon of freedom, look upon this lifeless head, shining in the blood-red rays of the setting sun! Where are now your words and promises; the equality, perfectibility, and universal happiness of the human race?