[_Fights fiercely and wounds_ LAERTES.

_Queen._ Oh! I am poisoned! [_Dies._

_Ham._ What, treachery! Ah, thou brute!

[_Rushes up and kills King with his foil._

_Laertes._ I am dying! Forgive me, HAMLET. It was the doing of the
King. [_Dies._

_Ghost_ (_as before_). Twenty and nine minutes have expired! The time
is all but up!

_Ham._ (_aside, with difficulty_). Rest, perturbed spirit! Farewell,
farewell, a long farewell to all my--

_Ghost_ (_as before_). Ring down! The time is up!

(_Quick Curtain_)

* * * * *

[Illustration: A GENTLE EGOTIST.

_The Brilliant Jones_ (_who likes an appreciative audience--to his
Hostess_). "OH, THERE!--IT'S NO USE--I GIVE IT UP! CONVERSATION'S
IMPOSSIBLE, WHEN PEOPLE _WILL_ TALK!"]