'Then adopt the
urchin; rear him to fatten on the blood of his fellows!' It was mockery to
trifle with such a spirit. When his head fell, if still bad on its fierce
features traces of the infernal triumph with which his spirit departed!"
"The monster was a just sacrifice to the laws of the canton!" exclaimed
the single-minded bailiff. "Thou seest, Herr Melchior, that we do well in
arming the hand of the executioner, in spite of all the sentiment of the
weak-minded. Such a wretch was surely unworthy to live."
This burst of official felicitation from Peterchen, who rarely neglected
an occasion to draw a conclusion favorable to the existing order of
things, like most of those who reap their exclusive advantage, and to the
prejudice of innovation, produced little attention; all present were too
much absorbed in the facts related by Balthazar, to turn aside; to speak,
or think, of other matters.
"What became of the boy?" demanded the worthy clavier, who had taken as
deep an interest as the rest, in the progress of the narrative.
"I could not desert him, father; nor did I wish to.
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