original characters,—the slave warning him that he may come to rue it yet. The warning soon comes true. Before he can get to the palace, he is seized upon by a brace of infernal landladies, at whose establishments Hercules, on his previous visit, has left some little bills unpaid. "Hallo!" says one lady, "here's the fellow that ate me up sixteen loaves!""And me a score of fried cutlets at three-halfpence apiece," says the other, "And all my garlic!""And my pickled fish, and the new cream-cheeses, which he swallowed rush-baskets and all! and then, when I asked for payment, he only grinned and roared at me like a bull, and threatened me with his sword.""Just like him!" says Xanthias. After abusing poor Bacchus, and shaking their fists in his face, they go off to fetch some of the infernal lawyers; and Bacchus once more begs Xanthias to stand his friend, and play Hercules again,—he shall really be Hercules for the future,—the part suits him infinitely better. The slave consents, and again they change dresses, when Æacus comes in with the Plutonian police. He points out to them the representative of Hercules—"Handcuff me this fellow that stole the dog!" But Xanthias is not easily handcuffed; he stands on his defence; protests that "he wishes he may die if he was ever that way before;"—he "never touched a hair of the dog's tail." If Æacus won't believe him, there stands his slave—he may take and torture him, after the usual fashion, and see whether he can extract any evidence of guilt. This seems so fair a proposal that Æacus at once agrees to it.
