Re-enter Gaoler
And pray him set his hand, about
This distance; his seal, too[Shows him a writing
Gao. If't be no more70
Mel. Tell him that Iphigene and I desire it.[Exit Gaoler
I'll send by Strathocles his servant
A letter to Morat thus sign'd and seal'd,
That shall inform the sudden execution;
Command him, as the only means75
To save his life, to sally out this night
Upon his quarters, and endeavour prisoners.
Name you as most secure and slightest guarded,
Best pledge of safety; but charge him that he kill
Not any, if it be avoidable;80
Lest 't should enrage the king yet more, and make
His death more certain.
Re-enter Gaoler with the writing
Gao. He understands you not, he says, but he
Has sent it.
Mel. So.85
Iph. But should Morat mistrust now, or this miscarry?
Mel. Come,
Leave it to me: I'll take the pilot's part,
And reach the port, or perish in the art.[Exeunt
ACT II
Scene I
Enter Almerin, in prison
Alm. Sleep is as nice as woman: the more I court it,
The more it flies me. Thy elder brother will
Be kinder yet: unsent-for death will come.
To-morrow! well, what can to-morrow do?
'Twill cure the sense5
Of honour lost: I and my discontents
Shall rest together. What hurt is there in this?
But death against the will
Is but a slovenly kind of potion;
And, though prescrib'd by heaven, it goes against10
Men's stomachs.
