Chapter CLXXXIX: Act IV: Again the scene changes. On the border of the desert stands

the asylum of the young women consecrated to God in which _Sulamith_ has found rest from the deceitful world. _Assad_ staggers hither; a weary, banished man. And again the _Queen of Sheba_ appears before him offering him her love. But he flees from the false woman for whom he had sacrificed _Sulamith_, the noble one. A desert storm arises, burying _Assad_ in the sand. When the sky becomes clear again _Sulamith_, taking a walk with her maidens, finds her lover. She pardons the dying man and points out to him the eternal joys which they will taste together.

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH

Opera in three acts, by Carl Goldmark, text by M. Willner,
after the story by Charles Dickens. Produced, Berlin, 1896;
in this country, 1910.

CHARACTERS

JOHN _Baritone_
DOT, his wife _Soprano_
MAY _Soprano_
EDWARD PLUMMER _Tenor_
TACKLETON _Basso_
THE CRICKET _Soprano_

_Time_--Early Part of 19th Century.

_Place_--An English Village.

Act I. Room in _John's_ house. Invisible chorus of elves. To the _Cricket_, the guiding spirit of the house, _Dot_ confides her secret. She hopes soon to have a child. _May_, a pretty young girl, a toymaker, is to be married the next day to _Tackleton_, her employer. She bemoans her fate. She still loves _Edward Plummer_, who disappeared several years before. After _May's_ departure _John_ appears with _Edward_, disguised as a sailor, and is not recognized either by _John_ or the villagers.

Act II. A garden. _May_ and _Tackleton_ are supping together. _John_ makes _Tackleton_ jealous of the stranger, _Edward_, who, seeing that _May_ is only marrying _Tackleton_ because his wealth will save her old foster-father from want, reveals his identity to _Dot_. _Tackleton_ now makes _John_ jealous of _Edward_, but _John_ is lulled to sleep by the _Cricket_, and dreams of himself as a happy father.