You returned
Upon that dismal hearing--did you not?

OSWALD Some scoffed at him with hellish mockery,
And laughed so loud it seemed that the smooth sea
Did from some distant region echo us.

MARMADUKE We all are of one blood, our veins are filled
At the same poisonous fountain!

OSWALD 'Twas an island
Only by sufferance of the winds and waves,
Which with their foam could cover it at will.
I know not how he perished; but the calm,
The same dead calm, continued many days.

MARMADUKE
But his own crime had brought on him this doom,
His wickedness prepared it; these expedients
Are terrible, yet ours is not the fault.

OSWALD The man was famished, and was innocent!

MARMADUKE Impossible!

OSWALD The man had never wronged me.

MARMADUKE Banish the thought, crush it, and be at peace.
His guilt was marked--these things could never be
Were there not eyes that see, and for good ends,
Where ours are baffled.

OSWALD I had been deceived.

MARMADUKE And from that hour the miserable man
No more was heard of?

OSWALD I had been betrayed.

MARMADUKE And he found no deliverance!

OSWALD The Crew
Gave me a hearty welcome; they had laid
The plot to rid themselves, at any cost,
Of a tyrannic Master whom they loathed.
So we pursued our voyage: when we landed,
The tale was spread abroad; my power at once
Shrunk from me; plans and schemes, and lofty hopes--
All vanished. I gave way--do you attend?

MARMADUKE The Crew deceived you?

OSWALD Nay, command yourself.

MARMADUKE It is a dismal night--how the wind howls!

OSWALD I hid my head within a Convent, there
Lay passive as a dormouse in mid winter.
That was no life for me--I was o'erthrown
But not destroyed.

MARMADUKE The proofs--you ought to have seen
The guilt--have touched it--felt it at your heart--
As I have do