But the thought of Lucy's good-will and confidence kept her, and
when the cry came she answered with a ringing shout, rushed down the
ten-foot precipice, and charged upon the foe with an energy that
inspired her followers, and quite satisfied the princess struggling
in the demon's grasp.
With clashing of arms and shrill war-cries the rescuers of innocence
assailed the sooty fiends who fell before their unscientific blows
with a rapidity which inspired in the minds of beholders a suspicion
that the goblins' own voluminous tails tripped them up and gallantry
kept them prostrate. As the last groan expired, the last agonized
squirm subsided, the conquerors performed the intricate dance with
which it appears the Amazons were wont to celebrate their victories.
Then the scene closed with a glare of red light and a "grand
tableau" of the martial queen standing in a bower of lances, the
rescued princess gracefully fainting in her arms, and the vanquished
demon scowling fiercely under her foot, while four-and-twenty
dishevelled damsels sang a song of exultation, to the barbaric music
of a tattoo on their shields.
All went well that night, and when at last the girls doffed crown
and helmet, they confided to one another the firm opinion that the
success of the piece was in a great measure owing to their talent,
their exertions, and went gaily home predicting for themselves
careers as brilliant as those of Siddons and Rachel.
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