[She exits.Danielfinishes, and puts up his napkin. He observes that the window-shades have not been drawn. Attends to that R. Facing L., with his hand on the shade of the window L., he pauses to look out.Pearl Hennigenters. Pearl is 25, and her clothes are cheaply flashy. An experienced eye should lose no time in appraising her. She has an air of alarm. She looks around forDan,and then isn't quite sure of him in the shadows up stage.]
[She exits.Danielfinishes, and puts up his napkin. He observes that the window-shades have not been drawn. Attends to that R. Facing L., with his hand on the shade of the window L., he pauses to look out.Pearl Hennigenters. Pearl is 25, and her clothes are cheaply flashy. An experienced eye should lose no time in appraising her. She has an air of alarm. She looks around forDan,and then isn't quite sure of him in the shadows up stage.]
Pearl
[Uncertainly]: Mr. Gilchrist? [He half turns] Don't stand by that window!
Daniel
Hello, Pearl! [He draws the shade] How well you're looking. [Comes down] What's the matter with the window?
Pearl
It ain't safe.
Daniel
[Smiling]: Areyougoing to advise me to carry a pistol?
Pearl
No. Just to keep out o' sight of people that do.
Daniel
Meaning?
Pearl
Meaning Joe Hennig.
Daniel
I thought Joe was in Black River.
Pearl
He ain't. I told you he was ashamed to go home. I told you he was gonna stay here an' get you!
Daniel
[Sits on bench in front of table]: Well?
Pearl
[Down stage R. of table]: Well ... he stayed. I went to him ... like I told you ... an' said it wasn't you ... an' ast him to take me back. An' hesaid I was a liar an' he was gonna get you. I told you all that!
Daniel
Yes; I guess you did.
Pearl
While he was workin' up town I didn't hear nothin' about him. But a little while ago he lost his job, an' began hangin' around down here. An' he's been drinkin', an' talkin' wild, an' I come in to tell you.
Daniel
That's kind of you, Pearl, but I'm not afraid of Joe.
Pearl
I am.... He's got his gang.... Iknow.
Daniel
Howdo you know?
Pearl
[Hesitates]: Well, last night I met up with one of his pals.... An'he'dbeen drinkin'. An' he said Joe said you was livin' on women, an' this place was a blind, an' nobody's wife was safe while you was in the neighborhood. An' this man said they was gonna get together, an' drive you out. They're dang'rous, Mr. Gilchrist. For God's sake, believe me! For God's sake, telephone the police!
Daniel
There's no telephone here, Pearl. But there's always an officer at hand, and I'm among friends. Don't worry. Sit down, and wait for the meeting. I haven't seen you in ages.
Pearl
[Doesn't sit. She is restless]: Two weeks.
Daniel
What are you doing?
Pearl
I'm workin' at Macy's.
Daniel
Like it?
Pearl
[Defiantly]: Better than bein' with Joe.
Daniel
If you'd stayed with Joe, maybe he wouldn'tbedrinking.
Pearl
He always did. That's why I ast you to stick around in Black River. That's one reason I quit.
Daniel
Onereason.
Pearl
[Admitting it grudgingly]: They was others.... I wanted good clothes, an' a good time ... jus' like other women.
Daniel
[Thinking ofClare]: Yes ... like other women.
Pearl
[Indicating her costume]: An' I've got 'em!
Daniel
Yes; you've "got 'em." But don't you think ... sometimes ... you and the other women ... that they cost you too much?
Pearl
I don't get you.
Daniel
I only mean isn't there something worth more than good clothes and a good time? A good home, maybe, with love in it ... and little children.
[Pearlhesitates, and then the uneasiness she has never lost takes her up to peep out of the curtain.]
Pearl
We oughtn't to be here talkin'.
Daniel
Why not?
Pearl
I'm frightened of Joe.
Daniel
You needn't be.
Pearl
I am. I can't help it. I got a hunch. I ain't told you all this man said, an' I ain't told you how he come to say it, but he said it was gonna be soon, an' I got a hunch sumpin's gonna happentonight. Please let me go out an' phone! Please let me get the police! [Daniellaughs] You're crazy, Mr. Gilchrist! You're just crazy! [An infinitesimal pause. She turns.] An' I'm goin'! [She runs to the door, which opens before her, and admitsClare Goodkind.Clareis smartly gowned, in street attire, but somehow, she has the appearance of being disheveled ... of having dressed in haste.]
Daniel
Clare—Mrs. Goodkind! [A pause] Mrs. Hennig's just going.
Clare
Mrs. Hennig?
Daniel
PearlHennig. You've heard your husband mention her name.
Pearl
I know your husband.
Clare
I know you do. [Her tone tells how much she knows.]
Pearl
[Quails]: I guess you ain't got much use for me.
Clare
Why? What's the difference between us?
Pearl
[Unable to make it out]: Well ... good-night! [She exits.]
Daniel
Clare, I asked you....
Clare
I'd nowhere else to go. I've left him.
Daniel
Left ... Jerry?
Clare
Yes. For good. He struck me.
Daniel
No!!
Clare
Here ... in the breast! And he's lying now ... brandy-soaked and half-conscious ... across the foot of my bed!
Daniel
I can't ... believe....
Clare
He's been drinking ... more and more! And, of course, there've been women ... from the beginning! All kinds of women!Thatwoman, salesgirls, stenographers, women of our own class! Do you remember ... in your church ... a Mrs. Thornbury? He's been quite open abouther! Tonight we were going out to dinner! He came to my room ... drunk ... and babbled that he'd refused to go until she was invited! ThenIrefused to go, and he accused me ...of you... and struck me with his fist!
Daniel
He accused ...you?
Clare
Yes. And then he tried to take me in his arms! Night after night he's come to me ... drunk ... and held me in his arms. And I said once there was nothing more degrading than poverty! In the past two years I've learned what degradation means! I've come to see your way at last! I've come to realize that the material things are nothing, and that love is all! It isn't too late?
Daniel
It's never too late!
Clare
I knew you'd say that! I'll share your work ... your want ... if need be ... gladly! Only take me away!
Daniel
[Not yet comprehending]: But my work is here!
Clare
We can't stay here! Jerry suspects us! He's made his father suspect us! Do you know what they're planning to do now? [He nods] Jerry wants to send you to an asylum! He said so tonight! And he'll do it, too! The strange thing about Jerry is that, with his mind going, and his health gone, he still gets what he wants! Take me away, and "we'll have five or six rooms, and each other!"
Daniel
Clare!
Clare
Don't you understand that I'm offering myself to you?
Daniel
Yes; I understand!
Clare
I love you! I need you! I've always loved you, and needed you, even when I lied to you, and myself! This is our last chance for happiness! I've been blind, and stupid, and cruel, but it isn't too late! Take me, and hold me, and we'll both forget!
Daniel
Forget?
Clare
Forget everything! Won't you take me, dear?
Daniel
No!
Clare
Don't you want me?
Daniel
No!
Clare
That's not true! You love me! You've always loved me! Look at me, and deny it if you can!
Daniel
I don't deny it! I love you!
Clare
Then take me!
Daniel
I love the good in you ... the good you're trying so hard to kill! I love you because you're big enough to do what's right!
Clare
Whatisright?
Daniel
Go back to your husband!
Clare
I'd rather die!
Daniel
I'd rather you died ... thanthis!
Clare
Oh, you fanatic! You blind fanatic!
Daniel
I love you!
Clare
Love! You don't know what love means! You're only half a man!
Daniel
And I'm praying to God, with all my strength, to save us from the other half!
Clare
For what?
Daniel
For you ... and HIM ... and for MY PEOPLE. [Off R., very softly, as she goes down the hall,Mary Margaretis heard singing "I'm a Pilgrim; I'm a Stranger."] For the little girl out there.
Clare
And for them you'd send me back to degradation?
Daniel
That little girl's known degradation that you and I will never know. And she's singing. Her constant companions are poverty and pain. And she's singing. She's crippled. She may never walk again. And still she can say God's will be done. She believes in me. I can't disappoint her and the rest. I'm going on with my job, and you're going back to yours!
Clare
You mean to Jerry?
Daniel
Yes.
Clare
You thinkthat'sGod's will?
Daniel
I know it's your job. You took it with your eyes open. It's up to you to see it through.
Clare
Must I go on forever paying for one mistake?
Daniel
Somebody must pay for our mistakes. That it was wrong to make a bargain doesn't make it right to break the bargain when we get tired of it.
Clare
I don't know what to do.
Daniel
Play the game. Go back to that poor, mistaken man lying across the foot of your bed—his mind going and his health gone. Bear your punishment and help him to bear his. That's your duty!
Clare
Duty! Duty!! What about happiness?
Daniel
Thereisno other happiness. Oh, don't you see, my dear,that'sbeen yourgreatmistake? You're always crying—you and the world—"I want to be happy!" Happiness is service! Happiness is clean-living, and clear-thinking, and self-forgetfulness, and self-respect!
Clare
And love?
Daniel
Loveisn'tall. Not the love you mean. You said: "Take me, and we'll both forget." Could we have forgotten promises unkept, faith disappointed, aspirationsunrealized? No, my dear, love isn't all; nor even happiness. There's something bigger, and better, and more important, and that something is ... DUTY!
Clare
The world doesn't think that!
Daniel
That's what's wrong with the world! [A pause.]
Clare
You want me to go back?
Daniel
I want you to be right!
Clare
Well, then ... I'm going through. I'm going back, and play the game ... with you in my heart always. You don't forbid that, do you?
Daniel
You are in mine always.
Clare
And this isn't good-bye. Sometime ... somewhere ... in this world ... or out of it ... there must be a moment ... and a place ... to retrieve mistakes.... Good-night.
[She starts up. He passes her, and opens the door.]
Daniel
Clare ... good-night. [She takes his hand. Then she exits. The outer door slams. Then a cab door... faintly. He sinks ... tired with the effort of renunciation. Afterward he comes down, slowly, and drops on the bench in front of the table.Mary Margaretenters, singing "I'm a Pilgrim," in a higher key, to march tempo, keeping time with her crutches. She is down R. when she seesDaniel.]
Mary Margaret
Ain't you well, Mr. Gilchrist?
Daniel
Just tired.
Mary Margaret
Maybe you ain't believin' hard enough. [He looks up.] It's 'most time for the meetin'. [Grubbyenters with a tray.]
Grubby
I brung the sandwiches.
[Mrs. Mulliganenters. She is the worse for liquor, and glad of a warm place to enjoy it. She slinks in rather furtively, and sits R. end of table. She is followed on byMr.andMrs. Henchley.He is a middle-aged and respectable locksmith. She is larger than he, and somewhat formidable.]
[Mrs. Mulliganenters. She is the worse for liquor, and glad of a warm place to enjoy it. She slinks in rather furtively, and sits R. end of table. She is followed on byMr.andMrs. Henchley.He is a middle-aged and respectable locksmith. She is larger than he, and somewhat formidable.]
Mary Margaret
Good evening, Mrs. Mulligan.
Mrs. Mulligan
[With a hiccough]: It is not!
Grubby
[Aside toMary Margaret]: Bums ... like that ... ain't got no business here.
Mr. Henchley
Good evening, Mary Margaret. [She nods.]
Mrs. Henchley
Good evening, Mr. Gilchrist.
Daniel
Good evening, and welcome.
Mr. Henchley
[ToDaniel]: I guess we're early.
Mrs. Henchley
[ToDaniel]: Yes. I wanted to speak to you ... about Mr. Henchley's pants.
Daniel
Mr. Henchley'swhat?
Mrs. Henchley
Pants. I took out a spot ... with gasoline ... and hung 'em on the fire-escape that runs across from this house, and tonight they was gone, and I think you ought to look into your lodgers.
Daniel
I will.
[EnterMiss Levinson.She is a Jewess—a garment-worker; thoughtful, studious, spectacled.]
Miss Levinson
Good evening, everybody!
Daniel
Good evening, Miss Levinson.
[The others, too, acknowledge the greeting.]
Miss Levinson
I've brought back your book.
Mrs. Henchley
What've you been reading?
Miss Levinson
George Bernard Shaw.
Mrs. Henchley
I s'pose you ain't read "The Sheik"?
Miss Levinson
[With justifiable pride]: I've been reading "Cæsar and Cleopatra."
Daniel
[Taking the volume]: That's where we got the quotation on the board. I've jumbled it a bit. [Reads] "And so, to the end of history, hate shall breed hate, murder shall breed murder, until the gods create a race that can understand."
Miss Levinson
That's it; isn't it? A race that can—
[The door is opened violently, and enterPearl Hennig.]
Pearl
Mr. Gilchrist!
Daniel
Oh, Pearl; I thought you'd gone.
Pearl
No; I've been watchin', an' I've got to speak to you ...quick!
Daniel
In just a few minutes.
Pearl
Now!Joe's out there!
Mrs. Mulligan
Ah, shut up!
Daniel
Mrs. Mulligan!... Pearl; you're interrupting!... You were saying, Miss Levinson?
Miss Levinson
We seem always to have hated everything different from ourselves ... in station, or race, or religion.
Daniel
Yes. It's stupid ... and instinctive. I've noticed we're inclined to blame a man for a pug nose ... if ours is Roman. Some day we'll get over the idea that all who differ from us are villains, and that we should hate each other instead of trying to understand eachother. It was on the battlefields that I came to believe a man's life might well be given to teaching and to preaching ... love! [A solid half-brick crashes through a practical pane of glass in the window L. Everybody screams and rises.] Don't be alarmed. It's only some hoodlum!
Pearl
Mr. Gilchrist ... it's Joe! I seen him in front! That's why I couldn't get out! Somebody go get the police! [A general movement.]
Daniel
No!
Pearl
He's got other men with him! He'll kill you![The front door slams. Pearl hurls herself against the door R.] Here he comes! Don't let him in! Somebody help me hold this door! [In spite of her, the door slowly opens.]
Daniel
Pearl! Stand aside! [EnterGoodkind.] It's only Mr. Goodkind!
Goodkind
Yes. And your neighbors are calling.
Mr. Henchley
What's the matter? [Together]
Mrs. Henchley
Is there any danger? [Together]
Mary Margaret
I'll get the cops. [Together]
Voices in the Gang
[Off stage]: The fake! The damned pimp! Drive him out! Come on.... Rush him!
[Suddenly there is the noise of the oncoming.Pearlthrows herself beforeDan.Mary Margaretis just behind him. The others retreat to the platform. Headed byJoe Hennig...drunk...the rowdies enter—Jimmie Curran,a big dockman, his wife and half a dozen hangers-on of the neighborhood.]
[Suddenly there is the noise of the oncoming.Pearlthrows herself beforeDan.Mary Margaretis just behind him. The others retreat to the platform. Headed byJoe Hennig...drunk...the rowdies enter—Jimmie Curran,a big dockman, his wife and half a dozen hangers-on of the neighborhood.]
Joe
[En route] Come on, fellows! We'll show this guy! We'll show—[He confronts them] By God! Caught in the act! [To his gang] That's my wife!
Daniel
Caught in what act, Joe?
Joe
Why ... caught ... in the act....
Daniel
Tell him what we're here for.... You, Grubby.
Grubby
[Following the example ofPeter]: I don' want to get in no trouble!
Mary Margaret
I'll tell you.
Daniel
No, Mary Margaret!
Umanski
[Who has come through the crowd unobserved; claps his hand onJoe'sshoulder, forcing him to his knees]: I tell you!
Joe
Umanski!
Umanski
I tell you, Hennig! Mr. Gilchrist been friend to everybody! And now, whenheneed friend, nobody knows nothing! Well,Iknow! I know anybody hurt him gotta lick me!
Daniel
No ... please ... Umanski!
Joe
Lickin' people ain't gonna hide facks!
Umanski
[Threatening with his free fist]: Shall I?
Daniel
No ... no!
[UmanskisetsJoeon his feet.Joeturns eloquently to his gang.]
Joe
I'll show you the kind of fake that's been foolin' you! He was a preacher, an' he got kicked out of his church!
Voices in the Gang
Kicked out! They got onto you, did they? Caught him with the goods!
Joe
He was a spy for the people that live on labor, and he came to the mines, where we was on strike, and ran away with my wife!
Voices in the Gang
The dirty bum! Maybe he didn't get much!
Pearl
Itwasn'thim!
Joe
She says that 'cause she's stuck on him!
Pearl
I ain't!
Joe
Well, you're workin' for him, ain't you?
Pearl
No!
Daniel
Your wife's working in a store uptown!
Voices in the Gang
We know different! What's she doing here? That's a good one! What're you giving us? Everybody in the neighborhood knows what she's doing!
Joe
My wife's walking the streets!
Daniel
That's a lie!
Joe
I heard from a pal she picked up las' night ... an' Iseenher comin' here!
Jimmie
She's workin' Sixth Avenue!
Mrs. Mulligan
I can't believe it! I can't believe it!
Daniel
Pearl!!!... Itisa lie?
Pearl
Oh, no!... It's true. [A momentary silence; the gang jeers; she turns on them; then a momentary defiance.] Well! Well, why wouldn't it be? I tried to live straight ... like you told me ... an' Ihada job ... but when the other girls got wise.... They ain't no better than I am! [She slowly gives way before his calm, steady gaze.] Anyway ... I lied. Iamwalkin' the streets. I ain't no good. I ain't fit to live. [She starts to sink at his feet. He raises her.]
Daniel
Pearl!
Pearl
For Christ's sake, ain't you done with me now?
Daniel
For Christ's sake ... no! [And he takes her in his arms.]
Joe
It's all fake! Ain't you fellows on? He's got every rotten woman in the neighborhood workin' for him. Your wives ain't safe! Your kids ain't safe! Ask Jimmie Curran! He knows what's goin' on here! [EnterTony Malduca.] Ask Tony Malduca!
A Voice
Here's Tony!
Tony
Why you send for me? What do you want?
Joe
We want to know what happened to your kid! Did he bring her in here ... an' keep her ... against her will? Did he?
Tony
That's what he done!
Voices in the Gang
You remember Teresa Malduca? You see! Sure; everybody knows that! She was here a week!
Umanski
You damned wop!
Daniel
Umanski!
Voices in the Gang
There ain't no woman safe! He's a damned fake! Beat him up! Kill him!
Joe
That's it! Don't let this big guy buffalo you! Come on! Drive him out! [ToDaniel] I said I'd get you, an' I have! [The gang presses closer, butUmanski'smenacing bulk still holds them off.]
Mary Margaret
[Kneeling on the platform L.]: Oh, dear God, please listen! [And she begins the Lord's Prayer.]
Pearl
Get the police!
Miss Levinson
[Crying out of the window L.]: Police! Police!
Jimmie
[ToUmanski]: Get out of the way ... you!
A Voice
Bust him in the jaw!
Goodkind
[Forcing his way through]: Listen to me! No violence! You're dealing with a lunatic! Leave him alone! I've got a doctor coming in a few minutes! Leave him to me, and I give you my word I'll have this place closed tonight!
Voices in the Gang
Yes, and he'll open another one! Sure he will! Of course he will! Ah-h-h! Beat him up!
Goodkind
Leave him alone! You can't beat a crazy man!
Pearl
Mr. Gilchrist ain't crazy! He ain't a man! Ain't you seen what he just done to me?
A Woman
Hire a hall! [All laugh.]
Pearl
Ain't you heard? I lied to him, an' he's give me another chance, an'I'm gonna take it! He ain't no man! He's a Saint! I tell you he's like God!
A Voice
Where's his wings? [All laugh.]
Joe
Like God!
Jimmie
That's blasphemy!
Joe
That's what it is, an' that's what he's been tellin' 'em! Ain't it ... you ... Grubby? Didn't he tell you that, Jimmie? Didn't he tell you he was a Son of God?
Voices in the Gang
Sure he did! That's right!
Joe
You see, that's what he's told 'em all! That's how he gets 'em! [ToDaniel]: Didn't you tell 'em you was a Son of God? [There is a momentary silence, broken only byMary Margaret'sprayer.]
Daniel
I am!
Voices in the Gang
He admits it! And I'm Mary Magdalene! Pipe Mary Magdalene! Son of God!
Daniel
And so are we all! [Jeers] In you ... and me ... and all of us ... deep down ... is something of Him! We may try to hide it—[Jeers]—or kill it, but, in spite of ourselves, weareDivine!
Voices in the Gang
Chuck it! Hell! Cut the gab! He's crazy! Come on; smash the place!
Tony
[FacingDaniel]: If you're a Son of God ... save yourself! If you're ... what you say ... give us a sign!
Joe
Ah, hell! Come on!