Cor.So pray we all.
Her.Is this our scene?
Cor.Not here.Come you this way, my friends. We'll cast the wineTo yon cascade, and let the waters bear itDown to my capital.
[All go off upper right, except two officers, who remain centre, and a guard who walks to and fro by wall rear, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden by the wood and rocks]
First Off.This peace will proveAs stout as any spider's thread that swingsIn a blowing rain. Fah!
Second Off.Climb what hill you please,You see the rebels' smoke.
First Off.But where in nameOf magic does Bolderez get his gold?The rebels we pick up have lost no meals.
Second Off.Enough he gets it. Goldusan sleeps well.Bolderez is so near that if his menWere eagles they could pick out Cordiaz' eyesAnd he'd not wake to miss 'em.
First Off.CordiazIs not asleep, but so bedimmed and fooledBy a thievish Cabinet that what he seesTakes any name they give it.
Second Off.He is old.
First Off.Ah, there you hit it. Warriors should die young.When age unsoldiers them their field-worn heartsHave no defence against a crafty peace,And falling power will seize on any propBe 't foul or fair, to keep on legs.
Second Off.My faith!His crutches are so villanous, a fallWere better than his gait.
[Enter Ziralay, lower right]
First Off.Well, Ziralay,What news?
Zir.Where's Cordiaz?
Second Off.He comes.
[Re-enter group from the cascade]
Zir.[To Cordiaz]My lord,The Assarian prince is captured, and is heldWithin the town.
Cor.What? Chartrien?
Zir.Yes, my lord.
Cor.Fit period to this dedicated day!Our gentle bonds are now forged whole. The manWho was Bolderez' hope, most luminousOf all who drew rebellion to him, nowIs darkly fallen.
Rub.This golden aid cut off,Bolderez stands so bare his nakednessWill sprint to nearest cover.
Cor.I'll see his face.Bring here the prisoner.
Off.I'll speed the order,Your majesty. [Exit]
Rub.Shall he be shot, my lord?
Cor.Shot? No. But kept close prisoned.
Rub.That is mercyYou have denied the blood of Goldusan.Why grant it to Assaria?
Var.In him swellsA strength was never in LeVal. I urgeHis instant death.
Cor.No, friends. He is a sonOf our great neighbor, and his death would woundThe courtesy of nations that is keptBy lenience unabraded.
Var.Breath so boldWill from a prison fan the treacheryWhose flame would die without it.
Her.Father, speak!
Cor.We'll hear our friend, Assaria's majesty,If he have word for us.
Hud.I pray your highnessTo let no ghostly and unfounded fearOf my Assaria——
Cor.Fear, my lord?
Hud.I meanNo more than ask you to be just, nor letMy presence here enforce your chivalryTo do your country wrong. Think of your people,Not the approval of a gazing landWhose distant nod is given in ignoranceOf your stern cause.
Her.Here's not my father! SoThe clock runs backward, and time ends.
Meg.[To Cordiaz]Your highness,My voice is not so loud as others here,But could I send it far as sound may go,It should take mercy's part in this debate.
Var.You need no trump, my lord. A limpet's whistleWould tell us where you stand.
Meg.I stand with Cordiaz,His majesty of Goldusan!
Cor.This matterIs not for open market. Come, my friends,Let us go in. Please you to walk before.
[Rubirez, Ziralay, Vardas, and Megario enter the house, upper left. Their majesties linger at entrance. Guildamour retreats on path, upper right. Officers go off, lower left. Hernda and Señora Ziralay wait unnoticed, right]
Cor.Is 't kindly done, my lord, to pose your stationIn public against mine?
Hud.My neutral wordsYou've packed with import all your own. I striveTo bend not right or left, but keep my wayAs even as Justice.
Her.[To Señora] Justice! There's a stoneThat was my father.
Cor.Yet, my lord, this princeIs of your house.
Hud.Is it for CordiazTo teach me mercy?
Cor.By my soul!
Hud.I knowWhence starts this softness. Mercy has no faneWhere you leave offering.
Cor.I know you too!By holy Heaven, your head was never baredIn Justice' temple! You now seek my fall,Because I've turned at last to check the handThat rifles Goldusan. Is 't not enoughThat I've unjewelled all her treasured hillsTo alien avarice—that her forests bleedThe priceless sap of all primeval SpringsInto your golden stream? But I must layMy people under bond,—sell them as slavesTo buy your stolen railways!
Hud.Stolen, sir?I've paid——
Cor.I know what you have paid! You've sentYour henchmen creeping in the night, to buyAt beggar's price our toil-built roads, and whereYou could not buy, you bribed and thieved, till allWas yours!
Hud.What ofmytoil, that built the linesThrough half your provinces?
Cor.You paid yourself!Took from my governors, half gulls, half thievesOf your own breed, a hundred times the worthOf every graded foot, in lands and minesAnd water-power that holds the prisoned lightOf robbed futurity! Now we must buyOnce more those tracks, long over-bought,—pay youA value centuple for every mile,—Pay you in bonds—bonds in hell's verity—Whose interest will outrun each reckoned yearThe summed returns from our fool's purchase! No!That is my word while I am Goldusan!
Hud.You wake too late. I'll tell you so, my lord,Since this imprudent burst thrusts courtesyFrom court. Your ministers have given assent——
Cor.Havegiven! You'll over-steal enoughTo quit their boldest price!
Hud.I'll not defendYour chosen servants, sir.
Cor.Myservants! Oh,What State is free from scuttling greed that boresFor treasure through the stanchest hold?
Hud.This moral chant comes late from you, my lord,Who've fingered heavily in many a pieSpiced in the devil's kitchen.
Cor.But to sellMy people! Pay you this devouring priceFor stock that hardy yields the groaning thirdOf interest on your bonds! What shall we doTo pay it? Rob our treasury, and askOur worn-out slaves to fill it up again?Not ask, but goad and lash,—for you must haveYour own—you honest mortgagees of babesUnborn——
Hud.Is all the scarlet on our hands?What of that mountain province, sold entireTo foreign pockets, and the dwellers thereTorn up like shrieking roots and cast abroadTo fasten where they could?
Cor.And where was thatBut in your hell-mouthed mines? You wanted slavesAnd got them.
Her.I shall die, Señora!
Señ.Listen!
Hud.The tyrant Cordiaz grown pitiful?Then stones are butter, alabaster isUncrumpled down. You should have wept beforeThe Pueblo strike, then fewer corpses hadGone out to sea.
Cor.Don't name that thing to me!Don't speak of it! I will not bear that curse!
Hud.Mine aged convert, lies it in your will,Or juster Heaven's?
Cor.'Twas your propertyMy troops defended—and Rubirez lied.Swore that the men foamed mad as tuskèd beasts,And must be trashed to place,—men who had askedNo more than bread when you shut up your doors——
Hud.Not I, my friend.
Cor.Your tool then. One of allYour million hookèd hands fast in the heartOf my poor country, shut your doors, therebyTo starve the wretches till they crawled to youAnd begged their chains again. But they—their veinsWere not all tapped—they'd blood left, and aroseFrom their dumb prayers tofightfor life—and then....
Hud.You sent the troops.
Cor.Because Rubirez lied!
Hud.Because you knew there'd be no after-saleFor your high favors, once let titles driftUnguaranteed. And when your work was done—Yourwork, my tear-washed saint, why weary patienceCould not take further time to count the dead,Or dig so many graves. They were piled upAnd carted to the sea——
Cor.Oh, every tideBrings back their faces—staring, staring up!Will God not answer them? I dare not shutMy eyes....
Hud.And this is why you weep so late?Come, Cordiaz, you're broken. Leave a throneYour own fears shake. You know that I must win.Own you are mastered——
Cor.Mastered! While I've breathI am a king. If I win peace of God,And his white angel let my dark soul out,'Twill be for this—the last throe of my strengthWas spent against you!
Hud.Madly you've uncasedYour madness, and I know my weapons.
Cor.So!I too, my lord, know how to sleep and wakeWith hand on steel.
Hud.Then is there more to say?
Cor.All's said. We're waited for. Assaria,Will 't please you enter?
Hud.I thank you, Goldusan. [They go in]
Her.Don't comfort me, Señora. Not a breath.I'll not disfigure shame with comfort's patch,But droop as low as leprous dust, and takeSome pride in that. 'Tis dark here, dark. Pray GodI am asleep!
Señ.Dear princess!
Her.Men do wellTo keep the women blind. If once they knew,They'd breed no more, but let a bairnless worldEscheat to God. Yet you, Señora, knew,And you have children. By your motherhoodYou've bound you Life's accomplice,—given it heartAnd veins and an accepting soul!
Señ.I have!Deny our hearts these babes, and we denyThe future that we fight for. Ah, defeatMay be endured by those who hold in lapThe victors of to-morrow!
Her.Oh, my father!
Señ.This truth was edged and swift. You should have hadLove's lips to teach you——
Her.I've been taught, my friend,But would not learn. [Rising] Señora, it was IBetrayed your brother!
Señ.Yes.... I know.
Her.To death!You do not understand. I killed him!
Señ.No.There, love,—forget a little. I've a hopeHe is not dead.
Her.Not dead? What gives you hope?
Señ.Perhaps the nameless mentor in the heartThat tells us when our loved shrines are litAnd when they're out forever. But there's more.Whenever Lord Megario's eye meets mineThere's something couched there speaks me living wrong,Not wrong that's ended—locked within a graveNo prayer may open. He is burning yetWith uncompleted vengeance—and its shame.
Her.Señora, you've a plan!
Señ.'Twill take much gold.
Her.Ah, I have that.
Señ.And courage.
Her.Well!
Señ.Such as,We're told, no woman has.
Her.Here is my life,And any Fate may have it that will makeYour brother live. Will you forgive me then?
Señ.[Kissing her] Ah, dear, you could not know....
Her.How did you hear?
Señ.From Chartrien.
Her.You are friends?
Señ.So true he seemsNot friend but friendship to my soul. And ITalk here, while yonder he——
Her.They dare not! No!My father would.... My father? Oh, Señora! [Sobs hopelessly]
Señ.We'll find a door to this.
Her.Would ZiralayNot help?
Señ.Had he the wit, he would not dare.While I'm his wife he must keep double guardAgainst suspicion.
Her.Oh!
Señ.If there's one true,'Tis Guildamour. I'll go to him.
Her.At once!He took that path.
Señ.I know what shade he seeksWhen he would brood.
[Exit Señora, upper right. Hernda waits drooping, as if too weary for thought. A group of ladies and gentlemen enter, lower right, among them Guildamour]
Her.[Starting up] Oh!—Guildamour!
Gui.Your highness!
[Leaves his party chattering lower left, and crosses to Hernda]
Her.Señora seeks you.
Gui.Ah, about the prince?
Her.We have a hope, my lord, your hand may turnSome stone of rescue.
Gui.Mine are powerless hands,Pinned to inaction's cross. My eyes may turnNo way that is not watched. To lift my lidsMay raise a cry of "Treason!"
Her.There's no help?In all this land no help?
Gui.Megario,Could he be softened to it, is the manWho might with safety slip a secret boltFor Chartrien.
Her.He!
Gui.His name is set aboveThe nick of treason by his stern dispatchOf poor LeVal,—and, that struck off, he yetIs chronicled so dark that none would layA fair deed at his door.
Her.Megario!
Gui.I would not name him, but I know he loves you,And there's no soul that love may not endueWith tinge of Heaven.
[Re-enter Señora]
Her.Señora!
Señ.[Panting] I have seen him!
Gui.The prince?
Her.Not Chartrien?
Señ.Yes!
Gui.Escaped?
Señ.The guardsWere of our heart—they let him make the wood—I've hidden him——
Her.Oh, where?
Señ.Within the caveVeiled by the waterfall. But safety thereIs minute-frail.
Gui.What way? He'll climb the wall?
Señ.And drop into the river.
Gui.Yes. What guardWalks there? I see. 'Tis Miguel. And I knowSomewhat of him,—more than he'd tell the winds.
Señ.Thank Heaven for a sinner! When he's nextBehind the rocks, then to him, Guildamour,And be his palsying conscience. Peg his feetTo the earth!
Gui.Trust me, Señora!
Señ.I'll lead offThose babblers. Princess, you're the watch,—you'll giveThe signal.
Her.Ah! What is 't?
Señ.Two pebbles dashedInto the water is our sign.
Her.The guard!He's gone!
Gui.It is our time. [Exit into wood, rear]
Her.[As the talkative group move up] Take them away,Señora! It would kill me now to meetA painted smile.
Señ.I'll go. And you—be swift.Don't stop—don't think. [Joins group]I know where lordings threeWait for as many maids.
A young lady.You saw them pass?
Señ.Disconsolate.
Young Lady.O, to the river!
Another.Come!
[They go off with Señora, lower left]
Her.Now! [Takes up two stones. Ziralay and Megario come out of the house]Oh! [She drops the stones. They cross to her]
Meg.You wait?
Her.I read the sentence.
Zir.Death.
Her.And when?
Zir.To-night. They've given Vardas chargeOf 't. He's an eager butcher,—does not knowDelay.
Her.You wished his death.
Zir.I voted no.Megario laid my doubts.
Her.Did he do that?
Zir.He countered to their teeth.
Her.[To Megario] So mercifulIs hate?
Meg.The prince's death would mean the fallOf Cordiaz, and our houses rock with his.
Her.Be clearer, pray you.
Meg.Vardas wants the throne,And we've a sour and guilty faction hereWho'd see him on it, but they dare not moveAgainst a king yet rich in arms and friends.And Hudibrand is not so absoluteThat he may turn the army of AssariaOn the sole pivot of his word. For that,Even he must knock the sleeping nation upAnd ask good leave.
Her.You'd say, sir, HudibrandWould favor Vardas?
Zir.Short and plain, he does.
Her.What then?
Meg.The Assarians are proud, and whereThey think their honor's pricked, their pride out-topsTheir judgment. Chartrien's death, whose ugly weightMust lie with Cordiaz, will inflame their heartsTill Hudibrand may send an army on us,His people clapping to 't. In open dayThey'll choose the road his cunning cut by night,And pray him take it.
Zir.Ay, and where are we,With Vardas crowned in Goldusan?
Her.I see.
Meg.He'd like my million acres in PeoniaSliced for his foreign hounds!
[Enter an officer]
Zir.What trouble now?
Off.Prince Chartrien has escaped.
Meg.And you in charge?
Off.I sent him with good men, or so I thought,Being pressed to another way——
Meg.His guards,—what name?
Off.Vinaldo, and a sergeant, who——
Meg.Vinaldo!He's on the blue list, turning fast to black.Did you not know it?
Off.I held him, sir, the pickOf loyalty.
Meg.Well,—on. What else?
Off.They reachedThe grove, passed in, and after prudent time,The guards came out, smug as all right, and nowThey're gone,—clear foot,—will doff you from the hills.
Meg.A tale for Vardas! You may save your beard,But not your neck.
Off.I'll not shake yet. The princeIs in the grove. We'll soon uncover him.
Zir.The walls are picketed?
Off.A double watchIs on.
Zir.That's well enough.
Off.On chance he makesThe wall, I've reinforced the river guard.
Meg.Both sides?
Off.A close patrol, both east and west.Though he had fishes' gills and dived the stream,He'd not get by. That way is fast against himAs Belam's iron door.
Meg.[To Hernda] You're ill?
Her.No, no!I'm well—quite well.
Meg.The lily in your cheekLies not so bravely.
Off.[To Ziralay] If he gets out of this,He'll steer around the moon. We'll find him, sir.But he's most darkly hid. Has made a coatOf leaves and plays the grouse trick on us.
Zir.Come!His majesty must know. [Ziralay and officer go into house]
Meg.How may I help you? Let the service beOf such poor nature as your dog might give,And pride will whistle to it.
Her.O, my lord,I half believe you. When our angels fall,Then devils are not black. And I have lostMy father.
Meg.Devils! You've a tongue.
Her.ForgiveA heart unmantled, and too wild to chooseWhat word may veil it. I would say, my lord,In this discolored world I now beginTo find you fair,——
Meg.O, heavenly retraction!
Her.And if I ask a service it will beNo paltry one, but such as makes the kingBow to the knight.
Meg.I'll prove this graceIs native in me, and not solely lentOf your new bounty!
Her.Would you save the lifeOf Chartrien?
Meg.I would. Though a treasonous toolOf rebelry, he should be held by meA prisoner of knightliest war.
Her.A prisoner!
Meg.You can not ask his freedom! That would giveMy foes clear argument to pluck me bare,And set me outlawed on the rebel sideOf this deplored division.
Her.Oh, not free!And in your power!
Meg.To hold him prisoner,—thatI'd undertake, and make the action goodEven to this bloody council.
Her.You'd dare that?
Meg.My policy is open, and I'd dareTo put it into deed that must commend meTo their unwilling justice. To do moreWould disarray all sense,—be fullest likeThe idiot's gesture that disrobes the wretchOf his last sanity.
Her.Megario....
Meg.What secret is so dear these costly sighs,Like gentle pickets ever reinforced,Let it not pass?
Her.A secret? No!
Meg.But yes.I push me by its fragile guardians,And hear it beating in its citadel.
Her.What says it then?
Meg.You've seen the prince.
Her.My lord!
Meg.You know what shadow hides him.
Her.No, no, no!My oath, sir, I've not seen him!
Meg.I would trustOne negative, not three. Give him to me,And you will know he lives. Let him be foundBy Vardas' men, and when you wake to-morrowThe earth will be without him.
Her.No, not you!I'll go to Cordiaz. He'll save the princeAs he would save his throne. You've taught me that.
Meg.He'd lose it so. Should Cordiaz to-nightSet Chartrien free, he'd rise without a lordTo bid him one good-morrow.
Her.Ziralay....
Meg.Ask him? An ass whose ears if visibleWould signal Mars! Say he had courage for you,He'd blunder with the prince to Vardas' arms.
Her.Ah,youcould do it,—set him free!
Meg.Nay—don't—Don't ask it, if you've mercy! Your highness knowsI could not grant so much though lips I loveAbove my soul should beg that treason of me.Though they should take again those dearest wordsThat knighted me, and now lie in my heartLike swelling seed of fortune! Let me shieldHis life. In saintliest trust—— [She shudders from him]You fear me so?
Her.I do! I do! You took away LeVal,And he no longer lives.
Meg.He does! My oath,He does!
Her.You spared him?
Meg.By my soul, he lives!But let the word sleep in your vestal ear,Until these smouldering troubles die to dustAnd feed the grass above them. For the StateBelieves LeVal is dead, nor taints me withSuch treacherous clemency. See how I layMy safety and my honor in your hands?I give them, hostages for Chartrien!Ah, you should know how I will guard your trust,For when I say to you he does not live,Your eyes will slay the single, nurturing hopeOf my own life!
Her.[Battling] I can not! I'm not FateTo do her awesome work.
Meg.We aid her mostWith passive hand, as Chartrien's ghost will comeOn mourning nights to tell you.
Her.Oh, I'll speak!...No, no! Ah, never, never!
Meg.[Resolute, giving up his suit] I must joinThe hunt. There's but one place—the cave——
Her.The cave!
Meg.Those guards are fools—or shy of water.
Her.Sir,What cave?
Meg.He's there. Your cold, uncandid calmHas babbled it. The frost is crafty thatPuts out such anxious fire.
Her.My lord, if IShould tell you....
Meg.Quickly then! How canst debateSo fatally, knowing delay but robs himOf venture's favor? Every moment stealsA bud of chance.
Her.How will you take him out?
Meg.I'll pass the gates unchallenged. Close without,My car stands by,—a racer never spent,And begs no pause. Know he is safe, and sleep.Night will be secret, and we'll greet the sunIn my Peonia——
Her.Ah, Peonia's far!
Meg.And Vardas near.
Her.Take these two stones, my lord.Cast them into the falls——
Meg.So! I was right!But you must summon him.
Her.So soon a tyrant?
Meg.I'll take him from your hands,—no other way.Your trust to me! And with my life I'll guard it!For that you love him is my means to you.Once in your heart, I'll win the throned placeThough all his saints defend it!
Her.True, my friend,We shall be nearer, for anxietyWill draw me to you with a longing likeThe aching letch for morning in the eyesPain keeps astare. You then will be the goalOf fondest question,—and from that—who knows?Out of unbroken faith, and kindly shafts'Tween hearts disponent, bridges have been builtFor love's plenipotence to cross.
Meg.You bidMe hope?
Her.I do not say despair. SometimesA presto-worker sits within the soulOf gratitude, and love that must give thanksIn name of one beloved, has then been knownTo pass from the liege object to the heartWhose compass held them both in selfless boundsOf chivalry. And yet—I promise nothing!
Meg.I ask no promise but the one I findIn words that so deny it. Now the thoughtIs born, I'll make the naked infant growHeir of my princely opportunity.Go now. An instant may defeat us. Haste!My purse must buy a guard.[Hernda goes off, upper right. Megario walks left and calls]Benito! Ho!You and your fellow![Enter two guards]I have work for you.You've seen my gold before. Here's more of it.Stand for my word.
[Hernda returns with Chartrien]
Cha.Gods give me time for oneWild kiss! O, Heaven! To find and lose you inOne whirling breath!
Meg.[His pistol at aim] You are my prisoner.
[Señora rushes on left]
Señ.Oh, princess! Oh!
Meg.[To guards] Move on with him.
Her.Wait—wait——
Meg.No time.
Her.But I must tell——
Cha.Let fiends be dumb.You damned and double traitress, this my handCould lay you dead!
Meg.[To Hernda, who seems dazed] My goddess, I'll be true!
[Kisses her, and goes off, lower right, with Chartrien and guards]
Señ.You let him kiss you!
Her.Who?
Señ.Megario.
Her.I did not know it. I am dead, I think.
[Curtain]
Scene:A yard, walled and spiked, of Megario's hacienda. A long, low hut, the men's sleeping-quarters, at right. In upper centre, a smaller hut which serves for kitchen and also as sleeping-room for several women. On left, the yard continues, showing other huts used by families. The entrance gate is off stage, left. An unused gate, locked and barred in wall, right.
Hernda, in the guise of a young Maya woman known as Famette, stirs a pan of food which is heating on some coals in front of kitchen. Lissa stands in door of hut watching her.
Lis.[Stepping out] You mend, Famette. But when you came—all thumbs.A woman grown and couldn't spoon up fish!
Fam.It was the smell. How can they eat it, Lissa?
Lis.You'll eat it too.
Fam.That? Never!
Lis.Another weekWill starve you to it.
[Ysobel comes out of kitchen bearing apron full of cups and spoons which she places on ground]
Yso.[Looking left] Here's Masio in. [Enters hut]
Lis.He's always first.[Masio comes up left] How did my boy get on?
Mas.I wasn't near him in the field.
Lis.He didHis stint?
Mas.I never heard.
Lis.No eyes, no ears,—All belly, you!
Mas.[Taking up spoon and cup from the pile]Fish! fish!
Lis.Beans first. You knowThe rules.
Mas.I've teeth can break 'em. Fish, Famette![Famette puts fish into his cup]There'll be a blessed cleaning-up to-night.
Lis.More beating? Has the master come?
Mas.[Nods]And onThe rounds. He'll clear the yards. News from the northHas turned him red and black.
Fam.A flogging? Oh,If you were men you'd fight with your bare handsTill you were free!
Mas.Free as the dead. Our bloodWould soak the earth and make more hennequin,—That's all.
Fam.Then run away.
Mas.How far? The swamps?To sleep with snakes—a week or less?
Fam.AcrossThe ridges.
Mas.Where the sun would lap you dryAs crackling cat-guts? Thirst would draw you inTo th' next hacienda well. The masters ownThe water, and in this land, that's life.
Fam.No chance?They never get away?
Mas.Sometimes a manMakes Quito, but he soon comes back.
Fam.Comes back?
Mas.What else? In Quito there's no work. He starves.And here—there's beans. So he gives up, and thenThey send him back.
Fam.And he is flogged?
Mas.Ay, tillHis bones crack.
Fam.Oh! He bears it?
Mas.Like a man,My dear.
Fam.The coward!
Mas.So—back to the field,Mute as a snail, and poorer too, for thenThe dream is gone of any life but this.
Fam.They have no spirit—none!
Mas.Much as you'll haveThis time next year.
Fam.Next year? I shall be gone.My debt was just ten pesos.
Mas.[Incredulous]You were soldFor that?
Fam.I'll work it out.
Mas.Be 't ten or hundreds,Who comes here stays. You'll soon know that, my bird,And limber your fine neck.
[As they talk, men and women enter in groups of scores and dozens until there are several hundred in the yard. They are mostly of mixed blood, their color ranging from the full brown of the Maya to the pale olive of the Peonian aristocrat. At a spout, upper left, they wash their hands, then drop about wearily. One man sits near Famette, his head sunk on his chest. She lays her hand on his shoulder]
Fam.What, Garza, you?Who were so blithe this morning, on your wayTo freedom?
Garza.[Rocking] Mother of God! Oh, Mother of God!
Fam.What is it, Garza?
Mas.There you have it! You seeWho comes here stays.
Fam.But he was free! His friendBrought twenty pesos to pay off his debt.
Gonzalo.And when he went to pay it, on the booksThere stood two hundred pesos against Garza.
Mas.Two hundred—twenty,—you see, Famette,How much a little "o" can do.
Fam.They dareDo that? I'll see the magistrate! [The men stare at her]
Mas.[Patting her shoulder] Poor girl!
Fam.I will! Why not? What is he for?
Gon.What for?To see we are well beaten when we askFor justice. He must serve who pays him,—that'sThe master.
Fam.Oh, you worse than slaves!
Mas.No names,My proudling. Wait a year, then what you please.
[The men have been eating. Ysobel stands in door of hut holding a great bowl of beans from which the peons fill their cups. Lissa gives out the fish. Her boy, Iduso, crouches by her skirts]
Lis.[To boy] Not eat? Now you're a man? Twelve years to-day!
Fam.[Bending over Iduso] Is 't fever, Lissa?
Lis.[With sullen jealousy] Let him be, Famette.What do you know? You've got no children.
Fam.I'veA little brother.
Lis.Brother! Nothing that.
Fam.He's just Iduso's age.
Lis.[Softened]And has to takeA man's work on him?
Fam.N-o——
Lis.I said it now.What do you know? Look at your hands—not stumpsLike mine.
Mas.Who hugs the post to-night?
Gon.I heardOf seven warned.
Yso.My man! He hasn't come!
Mas.God's mercy, give us peace! It was his turnTo put away the knives.
[Ysobel leans against hut. Famette takes bowl from her]
Lis.There's seven, you say?
Ben.None from this yard. Famette, you haven't seenA flogging yet?
Fam.And never will, you beast!
Ben.Your never's short,—less than an hour.
Fam.What do you mean?
Ben.The whip draws blood to-night,And we must all look on, for our soul's good.It is the master's order.
Fam.I'll not go!
Mas.Why, God looks on, Famette, and so may we.All Heaven sees it, and I'll pledge my—fish—That not an angel blanches.
Gon.You should seeThe master!
Fam.Heis there? Doeshelook on?
Mas.O, not quite that. To eye the workWould show too grossly, but you'll see him there,—Somewhat aside, leaning against a yew,Most carefully at ease. Then he will lightA delicate cigar that fills the groveWith a fantastic odor, like, we'll say,Faint musk that creeps on burning pine.You will approve the quality, Famette.That is his signal.
Fam.Oh!
Mas.Long as he puffs,And soft, white rings twirl upward to the leaves,The lashes fall. And when, grown gently weary,As 'twere half accident, from his high thoughtsRemote, he clears the cindered tip—like this—The whip is still.
Fam.Where, where am I?
Mas.In hell,Sweetheart.
Fam.Who are you, Masio? You are notAs these that suffer speechless.
Mas.Pinch the difference!A little learning, and a few opinionsThat brought me here.
Fam.[Moving aside with him] What did you do?
Mas.I spokeThe truth too near the ear of Cordiaz,And there's no greater crime.
Fam.You are a prisoner?But you're not guarded.
Mas.No, they leave me free,In hope I'll run. Then they will shoot me down.And you—what brought you here? Ten pesosCould never buy you—nor a hundred either.
Fam.I mean to lead these men to join Bolderez:
Mas.What! Lead them out?
Fam.And you will help me do it.
Mas.Well, when I want to die. You're mad.We're allSprats in a net.You'llnot get out, once letThe master see you. Better hide those eyes——
Yso.[Running and catching Masio by the shoulder]You lied to me! You lied! They've got my Grija!Down in the lower yard!
Grija.[Entering and making his way to her] No! Here I am.Safe in, old tear-box.
Yso.Holy Mary! [Tells her beads rapidly as he leads her aside]
Fam.[Aroused] Men!If Osa looked from yonder mountain scarp,Would she descend to lead such currish heartsTo liberty?
Gon.We are not dogs.
Fam.Then shameTo bear the life of dogs!
Ben.What do you knowOf Osa?
Fam.Know? Does she not guard the shrineCherished ten centuries in your secret hills?Priestess and princess, daughter of your kings,—The ancient poet kings who ruled and sangIn palaces where now your huddled hutsGive you a slave's foul shelter!
A Voice.Will she come?
Fam.To such as you? With heads hung down, and backsBared for the whip? The moment that you holdYour manhood dearer than your life, she'll standBefore you. Then you'll see——
Mas.For God's sake, hush!The master!
Ben.[As all look left] No, it's Coquriez.
Gon.With his Gringo.
[Coquriez enters with Chartrien. They cross right]
Cha.Leave me alone.
Coq.My soul, am I not sickOf your dumb lordship? Now the master's here,I hope, by Jesu, that our ways will part.
[Turns and joins the men, leaving Chartrien seated on the stone step of one of the doors to the long hut, right. Megario enters unseen and stands watching, left. They gradually become aware of his presence, and all are silent]
Meg.Coquriez!
Coq.[Crossing left] Here, sir!
[The tension relaxes slightly. Lissa and Ysobel quietly distribute food and the men eat in silence. Famette keeps in shadow, a shawl over her head, and vainly tries to hear what Megario and Coquriez are saying. They talk in low tones at left, then more centre, front]
Coq.Shoot the Gringo, sir?I thought he was to live.
Meg.It must be doneTo-morrow.
Coq.I'll do it.
Meg.Take him on the road,And don't come back with him.
Coq.To-morrow, sir?
Meg.At day-break. Drop him cold. I was a foolTo let him live a day![Famette has advanced too far and Megario sees her]Who's that?
Coq.There? Oh!I bought her in last week.
Meg.The day I left?
Coq.I think 'twas then.
Meg.An old one,—so you said.
Coq.About the Gringo, sir,——
Meg.What is her name?
Coq.Famette.
[Famette goes back to the women]
Meg.A figure too.
Coq.It's not so easyTo drop a white-skin——
Meg.Come, Famette! Come here.[She turns and comes slowly]Old? By the gods! Why did you lie to me?
Coq.My lord ... you like none past fourteen.She's thatHalf over.
Meg.Brazen devil! Come, Famette.I like your name. I like your face too, girl.Don't be afraid. Show me your eyes. You won't?Where have I seen you?
Fam.I'm a stranger, sir.My home was in the north.
Meg.That fester-spot!A stranger? Then we must be good to you.Where do you sleep?
Fam.There, in the hut.
Meg.You'll haveA better soon. Next time I'll see your eyes. [Going]Mind, Coquriez, to-morrow! Do that well,I'll pardon this. [Exit]
Fam.What is 't you do to-morrow?And why do you need pardon? You who serveSo well?
Coq.My pretty bird, I've been too slow.
Fam.Too slow?
Coq.I've limped, and lost.
Fam.Ah, Coquriez!
Coq.You're not afraid ofme. You look at me,And turned from him. That's honey on his curse!
Fam.He curses you? And you do all for him!All that he asks you,—things he dares not doWith his own hand.
Coq.You care for that?
Fam.You riskYour soul, perhaps,——
Coq.'Tis certain. Pray for me,Chiquita.
Fam.When?
Coq.To-morrow I must leaveThe Gringo in the marshes.
Fam.Oh, 'twas that!And paid with curses——
Lis.[Calls, as a new batch of men come in]Come, Famette! Here's work!
Fam.We'll talk again. [Hurries to Lissa]
A man.The beans are cold.
Another.Soured too!Gray Moses, here's a life!
Mas.Do you complain,O, comrades? Now your hour is come? The pearlO' the long ungarnished day? The holy hourOf—beans? Why, think! What do we live for, men?For sweaty moments battling 'gainst the sunTo strip the thorny hennequin? For nightsOf bitten sleep in unwashed pens? Not so.Lift up your cups! Here is the crown of toil!Each day we reach our life's supremest dome,And know we're there! Can man ask more? Even kings,Though the gold frontal of munificenceIs bowed before them, yet must fretting guessThe morrow's store. But we, my friends, we know!Then let each separate and distinct legume,Dear as the Egyptian treasure lost in wine,Delay as preciously——
Coq.[Cutting him across shoulders]Come down from that!There's more for you, my friend, i' the lower yard.I'll tie you up.
Fam.O, Coquriez, let him go.Youshould not care. His tongue was born with him,And God may mend it. Let the fool alone.
Coq.Hmm, if you ask me——
Fam.Thank you, Coquriez.I'll stand for him he'll not offend again.
Mas.My tongue is glue. 'Twill stick to its place.
A man.Fish! fish!
Another.He's had his share.
The man.Not half a cup!O, Jesu, I am starved. I did my stint,And helped the boy, Famette. Can I do thatOn half a cup?
Fam.No, Berto, here is more.
Yso.The Gringo does not eat.
Fam.I'll take him this.
[Fills cup from bowl of beans and goes to Chartrien, who is still seated on the step, listless and observing nothing]
Fam.Señor?
Cha.Who spoke? O, you, Famette? No, thanks.I can not eat. [Turns from her] That's twice I've heard the voiceOf Hernda. Madness creeps, but surely comes.
Fam.[Over his shoulder] You must escape to-night.
Cha.[Facing her] Escape? To-night?
Fam.Here, hold the cup, and eat. Do, sir! We're watched.To-morrow Coquriez leads you to the woods,Comes back alone——
Cha.At last I know my hour.
Fam.But you shall live. Last night I worked till dayAt that locked gate. 'Tis open. None suspects.Outside there's water in a flask, and bread,—Beneath the cactus at the left——
Cha.But howGet out? I am locked in at night, and watchedAt other hours.
Fam.Eat, eat, and listen, Señor!To-night a flogging in the lower yardWill empty this. You'll go with Coquriez.Urge him to bring you back. Say you are ill,—For that you are,—and come. Here I shall hide,And as you pass, will suddenly step outAnd speak to Coquriez. You fall behind,In shadow of my hut, move round it, waitThis side, then see what's next to do.
A man.[Calling] Famette?Where is Famette? She doesn't count the beans.
[Famette goes back to the men]
Cha.It is a lure. If I attempt escape,Then Coquriez shoots me dead, his soul just clearOf murder.
Coq.[To Famette] Our Gringo's learned to eat, I see.
Cha.Now do they change confederate nods, and gazeTheir mated thoughts. Down, down to dust, my heart!The struggle's off. I'll fight no more. Yon starsHave rest for me. Is 't so? Vain footing there.What rest have they, that share with man the surgeFrom life to life? There Jupiters unfoundWhirl cooling till their straining sides may bearOcean and land and clinging bride of green;And Saturns, nameless yet, cast travailingTheir ringed refulgence. Not the frozen moonsMay fix in stillness, but sweep captive backTo flaming centres when their planets call.There old, dead suns, that think their work is done,Meet crashing, ground to cloudy fire whose worlds,Far driven, traverse time and know men's days.Ay, one may go beyond the ether's breath,Farthest of all, to be another First,Undreaming this our God. And I must shiftEternal and unresting as those suns.Then let Death hasten. He shall be as oneWho timely strips a wrestler of his cloak,And, kindly freed, I shall uncumbered leapTo other battle, finding armor whereI find my cause.
A man.[To Famette] My turn. Here, give me that.
Fam.The Gringo's had no fish.
The man.Then give me his.He doesn't care. Has run already fromThe smell.
Fam.I'll give you half. The restI'll take to him.
Coq.He'll come for what he wants.
Fam.No, he is sick, poor devil! [Goes to Chartrien]
Coq.Humph!
Fam.[To Chartrien]You'll takeThe chance? There is no other.
Cha.It's a trap.You risk your life for me, a Gringo? No.
Fam.You must believe me! Oh, what can I say!
Cha.Say nothing. Go.
Fam.I love you, love you, Señor!
Cha.You would persuade me.
Fam.Sir, the wine you foundBehind your prison door,—and good, clean bread,—I put them there!
Cha.'Twas you, Famette? I thoughtThat Coquriez did it,—feared I'd die beforeThe master came.
Fam.Not his brute heart! And thenThat night, of fever——
Cha.Yes! What then?
Fam.I layOutside your jail, my head against the wall,That I might hear if once you groaned, or knowIf sleep had come.
Cha.Can such love be for me?
Fam.You must—youmustbelieve me!
Cha.God, your eyes![She lowers her head]... 'Tis madness, bred of these sun-poisoned days,And nights without a hope.... Look up, Famette.I do believe you.
Fam.[Kissing her rosary] Mother, adored and blessed!
Cha.Wilt be a beggar soldier's bride, Famette?
Fam.You do not love me, Señor.
Cha.But I loveYour gentle heart that warms mine empty,—loveYour eyes, like memories burning,—and your voiceThat's linked to an old wound in me,—but mostI love your soul that is as great as truthAnd strong as sacrifice. You'll come to meIn Quito, if I make escape? I'll findA way to bring you out——
Fam.You're mine?
Cha.Till death.
Fam.And after that?
Cha.I'll give you truth for truth.Beyond this world I hope to meet a soulWho did not walk in this, but ought to have,For here her body dwelt. This side of death,My life—a bitter one, that only youHave sweetened—is your own, if you will haveSo mean a gift.
[Ipparro has entered the yard and becomes a centre of altercation. He starts out taking Lissa's boy, Iduso. There is a shriek from Lissa, and Famette hurries to her]
Lis.My boy! My little one!God strike you dead, Ipparro!
Fam.You'll not flogThe boy?
Ipp.He didn't do his stint by half.You know the master's rules. He's twelve years old.Must cut three thousand leaves.
Fam.A man's full work.And he's so small.
Lis.And sick he is. Two daysHe couldn't eat.
Ipp.You women!
Fam.Let him go.A little child, Ipparro.
Ipp.Let him go?Am I the master of the hacienda?He'll tiemeup to-morrow!
Fam.It will killIduso.
Lis.Such a little one, he is!A baby yesterday,—to-day a man,—How can that be?
[An overseer enters left]
Overseer.What's up? Come on with you!The master waits,—burns like perdition! Come!Come, all of you! The women too! Clear out!
[Drives them out. Famette slips into her hut. Chartrien joins the men and follows last with Coquriez. They stop left]
Coq.Won't see the show?
Cha.I'll not go on.
Coq.Come then.I'll lock you up. [They turn back]We'll have an early marchTo-morrow, mate. Must hit the brush by dawn.There's little sleep for me.