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    her embrace , that she was obliged to set him down . When set on the floor he knelt on one knee before her , and said : ' Madam , the honour you have done me is indelibly Engraven on my heart / Miss Clara curtsied very low and gracefully ; then taking off her scarf , she would have bound it around him , but the little man receded two steps and , placing his hand upon his breast , said solemnly , * Confer not your

    favours , madam , upon one so unworthy : for I * he hesitated , sighed deeply , took the white riband , which Mary had tied round his jaws , pressed it to his lips , made a scarf of it , and then drawing his sword rushed boldly towards his troops . Then the whistlings , and squeakings , and scratchings recommenced . The battalions of rats and mice were getting into motion , and above all were seen the frightful seven heads of the crowned rat .

    Chapter IV . —The Battle . 4 Drummer , beat to arms ! ' cried Nutcracker , in a loud voice . The drummer made the room resound again . A great noise was heard within the cabinet , and Mary saw the boxes in which Frederick kept his infantry fly open , and the soldiers rushed out tumultuously . Nutcracker

    went through the ranks , and spoke a few inspiring words to the troops . Then turning to Punch , he addressed him gravely , thus : ' General , I know your courage and experience ; all will depend upon precision of sight and movement . I confide to you the command of the cavalry and artillery . I trust—I am assured—you will do your duty . '

    Punch put his hand to his mouth , and gave out a noise like the sound of twenty trumpets . The cuirassiers , the dragoons , the lancers , having at their head Frederick ' s new-formed regiment of hussars , issued out from the cabinet , and formed into line upon the floor . Afterwards , regiment defiled after regiment , with their colours flying and bands

    playing . Then came the artillery , who formed a battery of heavy cannon upon a footstool , and commenced the action by firing with destructive effect on an advancing column of the enemy . The rats deployed in larger and larger masses , and the little silver balls which they threw began to fall quite close to the cabinet . Clara and Gertrude ran about in despair , wringing their hands .

    ' Must I then die in the flower of my days—I , the handsomest of dolls ? ' cried Clara . ' Is it my fate to perish within these four walls ? ' moaned Gertrude . Forgetting feminine jealousies , in mutual trouble , they threw their arms round each other ' s necks , and their lamentations were heard even above the din of battle . Gentle and courteous reader , what a sight was before them , partly obscured by the smoke and dust ! J 3 ang-bang-bom —pouf-piff-bang . Amidst the roaring of cannon , and- the noise of

    drums and trumpets , were heard the squeaks of the rat-king and his followers , and the powerful voice of Nutcracker , who gave his orders , and , at the head of his battalions , dared the fire of the enemy . Punch made many brilliant charges with his cavalry , and covered liiniseh' with glory . On observing his dauntless courage , his truncheon waving high in the thickest ot the fight , we might , to use the words of Tacitus , have forgotten in our admiration of the hero , the private vices of the man ; ' —we mi" lit have forgotten that public report accused him

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    The Nutcracker . 15

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1835, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2641/page/15/