he spoke
And his great heroic deed.

"Thou Lascaro!" cried the clerk,
As he mopped his streaming brow
With his bright tri-coloured sash--
"Thou Lascaro! thou that hast

"Freed Hispania and France
From that monster Atta Troll,
By both lands shalt be acclaimed the
Pyreneean Lafayette!"

When Lascaro in official
Wise thus heard himself announced
As a hero, then he smiled
In his beard and blushed for joy.

And in stammering syllables
And in broken phrases he
Stuttered forth his gratitude
For the honour shown to him.

Wonder-smitten then stood all
At the unexpected sight,
And in low and timid tones
Thus the ancient women spoke:

"Did you hear Lascaro laugh?
Did you see Lascaro blush?
Did you hear Lascaro speak?
He the witch's perished son!"

On that very day they flayed
Atta Troll. At auction they
Sold his hide. A furrier bid
Just an even hundred francs.

And the furrier decked the skin
Handsomely, and mounted it
All on scarlet. For this work
He demanded twice the cost.

From a third hand Juliet
Then received it. Now it lies
As a rug before her bed
In the city by the Seine.

Oh, how many nights I've stood
Barefoot on the earthly husk
Of my hero great and true,
On the hide of Atta Troll!

Then by sorrow deeply touched
Would I think of Schiller's words:
"That which song would make eternal
First must perish from the Earth."

[Illustration]

CANTO XXVI

What of Mumma? Mumma, ah!
Is a woman. Frailty
Is her name! Alas, that women
Should be frail as porcelain!

Now when Fate had parted her
From her great and noble mate,
Did she perish of her woe,
Sinking into hopeless gloom?

Nay, contrarywise, she lived
Merrily as ever--danced
For the public as before,
Eager for their plaudits too.

And at last a splendid place
And support for all her days
Was procured for her in Paris
At the old Jardin-des-Plantes.

There, last Sunday as I strolled
Through that place with Juliet,
Baring Nature's realms to her--
Animal and vegetable,--

Tall giraffes, and cedars brought
Out of Lebanon, the huge
Dromedary, golden pheasants,
And the zebr