His faithful little friend, Chiquita, stood motionless at his side, as downcast as himself.

But the farce of the false brigands so tickled the fancy of the players that it seemed as if they never would have done laughing over it, and they were evidently inclined to deal leniently with the ingenious rascal who had devised it.
The tyrant, who had loosened, but not quitted, his hold upon the bandit, assumed his most tragic air and voice, and said to him, "You have frightened these ladies almost to death, you scoundrel, and you richly deserve to be strung up for it; but if, as I believe, they will consent to pardon you--for they are very kind and good---I will not take you to the lock-up.

I confess that I do not care to furnish a subject for the gallows.

Besides, your stratagem is really very ingenious and amusing--a capital farce to play at the expense of cowardly travellers--who have doubtless paid you well for the entertainment, eh?
As an actor, I appreciate the joke, and your ingenuity inclines me to be indulgent.

You are not simply and brutally a robber, and it would certainly be a pity to cut short such a fine career." "Alas!" answered Agostino mournfully, "no other career is open to me, and I am more to be pitied than you suppose.