Cha.Shall I have moreIn that hot pen?
Coq.[Laughs] You'll make it up, I guess.
Cha.I understand. You'll murder me.
Coq.My soul!Let's keep our manners, though we sit in hell,My occupation's decent, nothing said.The silent deed is clean, but mouth it once,The hands will smell. Pah![Famette steps out of hut]Here's my kitten!A kiss, my honey-pot!
Fam.I've better for you.[Gives him a bottle of wine]
Coq.My ducky! From the master's cellar!. . . . . . . . . . How——
Fam.No matter. It is good.
Coq.Thief of my soul,A kiss!
[As he attempts to embrace her she springs back, pointing left]
Fam.Look, look! He's gone! The Gringo flies!O, Coquriez, you'll be shot!
Coq.[Stunned for a moment, springs off shouting]Help! Stop him! Help! [Exit left, firing his pistol]The Gringo! Stop him!
[Famette runs to gate right, where Chartrien is removing bar]
Cha.Come! Fly with me! Now!I can not leave you here!
Fam.Go! Do not stop,However weary, till you're safe in Quito.The wounded hare, remember, takes no nap.
Cha.Come, come!
Fam.No, I am safe. And there's more workFor me. They'll come back here to search. Nay, go!Another moment and we both shall die!
Cha.[Kissing her] I'll wait in Quito,—then a husband's kiss!
[Goes. Famette puts up bar, then returns to her hut and sinks at door]
Fam.If I could pray! If I could pray! How farSeems that old God I knew! A playhouse GodWho never saw the world! [Leaps up]They're coming back!
[Sits again, abjectly, her shawl over her head. Megario, Coquriez, and peons, enter]
Meg.Where is the woman?
Coq.There she sits,—the witch!
Meg.Stand up! Take off that shawl!
[Famette stands up. A man snatches the shawl from her head]
Meg.Famette! Not you?
Fam.[Cowering] I, master.
Meg.[To men]Search the yard. Turn every leafAnd stone.
[The men scatter]
Mas.I'll give that gate a look. [Crosses to gate right]
Meg.This wasYour drooping modesty! [Turns on Coquriez]You fool!—to letThe man escape! By Heaven, you might have burntThe hacienda down and not have madeMy blood so hot!
Coq.It was the woman, sir.She jumped before me, smiling like a devil,And when I tried to pass she caught my kneesAnd held this thing up, saying 'twas for me.I kicked her off——
Meg.No doubt!
Coq.And when I turnedThe prisoner was gone.
Meg.[To Famette] You saw him go?
Fam.Yes, master. Through the gate, like wings. And thenI gave the warning. Coquriez knows I did.
Meg.What did she say?
Coq.She cried "The Gringo flies!"And pointed there.
Mas.[Returning] The upper gate is fast.He went that way. [Nods left] Beneath the cypressesInto the maguey fields.
A man.He'll not get far.He has no water.
Meg.He will die in th' brush,And I shall never know it. Alive or dead,He must be found. I'll flog a man a day,Until I see his bones.
Gon.[Coming up] He is not here.We've looked in all the huts.
Meg.Ipparro?
Ipp.Sir!
Meg.Send men abroad, for fifty miles about,To put the haciendas on the watch.He must come in for water. Choose good men,Whoride, and see no wenches by the way.
Coq.My lord, I've served you long——
Meg.Too long, you hound!Where is your lady's token?
Coq.This, my lord.She thrust it in my hand.
Meg.And left it too!
Coq.I knew 'twas yours.
Meg.[To Famette] A thief too, are you?
[Famette crouches, drawing shawl over her head]
Meg.True,Coquriez, you have served me long. I'll addYou've served me well until to-night.
Coq.O, pardon!
Meg.I trusted you. And held your hand as mine,To make my wishes deeds.
Coq.'Tis sworn your own!
Meg.Then prove it. Take this whip. Come, take it, man!Now flog that witch.
Coq.Famette! A woman, sir?
Meg.The devil's second name is woman. Do it!
Coq.A heavy hand I've laid on men, my lord,But never yet——
Meg.Her smile struck deep to makeSuch putty of your heart.[Coquriez drops whip] Pick up that whip!Youwant its kisses, do you? Pick it up,Or you shall feel them to your traitor bones!I'll have you flogged together!
[Coquriez slowly picks up whip. Famette rises, throwing off her shawl]
Fam.Hear me, men!For men you are,—not beasts. Your hands are strongIn ceaseless toil. Day after day you pileYour master's wealth more high. Day after dayYou sweat your way a little nearer death,That he may kick your bodies from his pathAnd set your graves in hennequin. But knowWho toils may fight! The hand that lifts a spadeMay bear a sword. The strength you give to him,Use for yourselves. Your master is one man,You are five hundred——
Meg.Gods! I'll stop your mouth!You men there—go—you dozen at the gate—Go to the dry-yard—load your backs with fibre—And bring it here![Men go out]I'll teach you now, you slaves!You are five hundred—yes—and I am one,But in me is the might of Goldusan!The power of Cordiaz is in my whip,And back of that is iron Hudibrand!Kill me to-night, to-morrow you shall die,Each dog of you,—you know it![Men come in with fibre]Throw the stuffAgainst the hut. There, pile it up. More, more!Now, Coquriez, the gentle, you've refusedTo ruffle your fond dove,—here's sweeter work,And for no hand but yours. Put her within,Then fire the hut. [Utter silence]What terror's on you, beasts?
Coq.In God's name, sir, you dare not!
Meg.In the nameOf all who know how power is kept, I dare!Move there, you dog![Coquriez stands motionless]Do you refuse again?Then ... in your heart. [Shoots. Coquriez falls dead]Who'll be the next to stand on feet of leadWhen I say "Do?" Gonzalo! Garza! Out![The men do not move. Megario lifts his pistol]
Fam.Spare them, Megario. I'll go in.[Enters hut, closing door]
Meg.[Trembling]That voice!Who is this woman? Speak! Who knows? I've heard....Bah! I'm a fool!... Take up that lantern there,Gonzalo. Break it on the fibre. Move!
[He stands with his weapon drawn. The door of the hut in thrown open and Famette appears. She wears a rich robe, gleaming white, with blue and gold cabalistic broidery. In her hand is a sceptre, on her head a crown with a single star. The men, with cries of "Osa! Osa!" fall upon their knees, foreheads to ground, then leap up, changed, and glaring. They seem ready to spring upon Megario]
Fam.Shoot now, Megario! [Silence]You dare not do it!Kill me,—kill one of them,—shoot till your weaponPants its last murder, and a hundred handsWill tear you limb from limb and bone from bone,Till every separate shred of you be castTo its own devil! Shoot, Megario![His hand falls. Famette steps into the yard]Where are the masters who can help you now?The mighty ones who know how power is kept?Look on these men. Their blood sings as it sangThrough centuries gone,—with courage that was theirsEre ships came up like night on this doomed coastUnloading hell!
Meg.Who are you, woman? Who?
Fam.The spirit of these people, absent long,But come at last to be their hearts' old fire.Four hundred years you've trampled on their bodies,But see—look in their eyes—you have not slainTheir God.
Meg.Your name! Who are you?
Fam.Riven hillsMay hide the shrine of long unsceptred kings,And keep their royal secret year by year.
Voices.Hail, Osa! Osa, queen!
Meg.What do you want?
Fam.Three things, Megario.
Meg.What are they?
Fam.First,—That I may pass from here, free as I came,With every soul that will go out with me.
Meg.The way is open. Go.
Fam.And you with us.Far as the coast, where willing transport waitsTo bear us northward. Then you may go free.[Turns to the people]There brothers wait you, men,—there freedom's tongueIs beacon fire. The whole of northland sings,A canticle of flame. You'll go with me?
Mas.[Loudly] We'll follow Osa!
Voices.Osa! Osa! On!
Fam.Gonzalo, choose you men, a thrifty score,To fill the water-jars and get us foodFrom the hacienda stores.[Gonzales passes out, men following at his signal]The third demand,Megario, is this. That key you beltSo close—[Megario claps hand on key]Yes, that,—it must be mine, to unlockA dungeon here and free a prisonerWhom you for love of torture keep alive.
Meg.No, that's a lie.
Fam.Deny it to the starsThat saw you yesternight steal up like crimeTo a dark grating, saw you gloat, and flingThe crumbs that will not let your victim die,Though scarce they give him life.
Meg.[Gasping]A lie!
Fam.The key,Megario.
Meg.I will not——
Fam.In my hand![Megario takes key from his belt and hands it to her]I thank thee, God, my hand may turn the keyThat frees Rejan LeVal! Now forward, men!O, glorious to be men! Ipparro, walkBeside our prisoner. Garza, be his aid.Two days of marching, then the friendly sea.And if you toil again amid these fields,You'll take the fruit. On!
Men.Osa! To the sea!
[Curtain]
Scene:The Grove of Peace, as in second act. Late afternoon. Two officers meet as curtain rises.
First Off.So Cordiaz is fallen.
Second Off.Joggled downAt last, poor man!
First Off.When all the ghosts he madeCome back to weep his fall, I'll swell the floodWith half a tear, no more.
Second Off.Then you're for Vardas?
First Off.By glory, no! He'll open GoldusanTo every thief that knocks.
Second Off.Trust HudibrandTo guard the door. Till he has plucked the goose,—Then they may shave it for their part.
First Off.So, friend?
Second Off.Phut! Goldusan's his box of snuff—held so—And as he pleases, tchew!—'tis empty.
First Off.Come,I'll walk your way. [They move, right]What of this truce? Goes 't deep?
Second Off.As flattery may plough. It is our croonOf compliment to our new-seated king.
First Off.Nay, president. We're a republic now.
Second Off.Spell 't king or president, it means the same.
First Off.But with Bolderez ours, the truce should last.
Second Off.Why, 't may, till night. Bolderez, friend,Is not the revolution.
First Off.He's the heft of 't,And's made a full surrender.
Second Off.Made his terms!His officers are guardians of the State,And he—he's stallion of the court, submitsTo curb and comb that he may prouder pranceAnd keep the herd at stare. Surrender? Lord!I think it!
[Enter Third Officer, from left]
Third Off.What's stirring, friends?
Second Off.Sleep-walkers.
Third Off.Ay,This amnesty makes idlers.
Second Off.So to-day,But work brews for to-morrow.
Third Off.You've a secret,And I've a guess that picks the lock to 't.
Second Off.Come!These leaves are listeners.
[They go off, lower right. Enter by path upper right, Señora Ziralay and Guildamour]
Gui.To find you hereMakes my best hope a sluggard, far outgoneBy th' dear event.
Señ.I came five days ago,The princess with me, here to wait returnOf Hudibrand. That you have come with him,Makes sober welcome blithe.
Gui.He's slack in health.
Señ.That's written plain.
Gui.What iron's in the manThat he yet lives?
Señ.He's been in conclave?
Gui.Yes.Five nights he routed sleep from th' drowsy synod,And hung upon us turning every flank,Till Protest paled and Patience bled at heart.
Señ.And at the end?
Gui.He held our sealèd bonds,And Vardas sat secure.
Señ.The bonds? We ownOur railways now?
Gui.We do. And HudibrandOwns us,—that is, the bonds. A good, stout nooseFor a nation's neck.
Señ.And all these days he's beenIn th' capital?
Gui.In closest session, thoughA stage-fed rumor held that he was goneFrom Goldusan. The harried people fearAssarian power, and on the jealous watch,Keep Hudibrand in burrow.
Señ.He's gay-blownWith confidence. I hear from ZiralayHe made a careless peace with all the friendsOf tottering Cordiaz.
Gui.That carelessnessWas sea-deep cunning. Favors will go high,They'll find. Megario gave full half his landsFor place in th' Cabinet.
Señ.Megario movedIn blaze of censure, and did well to escapeSinged of but half his goods. Two prisoners lost——
Gui.Ah, Chartrien and....
Señ.Rejan!
Gui.Be guarded here.Fate rustles at that name.
Señ.O, Guildamour,Fear is the silent warder that dividesOur secret hearts. Give it the tongue of daring,And like a blest interpreter 'twill bringOur hopes together.
Gui.There is stir within.Come from these walls, Señora. And if your hopeIs on the road with mine, I've news will makeThe wayside sing. Winds gather here and yonThat may out-swagger even Hudibrand.
[They go back along cascade path, as Hudibrand, Diraz, Mazaran, and Golifet come out of house]
Gol.[Holding up letter] Nay, fearless majesty might take more noteOf this despatch.
Hud.That beggar's mewl?
Gol.There's powerIn every word. LeVal must harbor strengthWe do not know of.
Hud.Tush! That is the vauntOf weakness, not of power.
Maz.What is 't he says?
Gol.Avers him free of this imposèd truce,And gives a fair foe's warning he'll attackWhene'er and how he can.
Maz.Well bragged.
Dir.His guns,No doubt, are cooler than his pen.
Maz.What more?
Gol.Repudiates Bolderez, and declaresHimself the head of the Insurrectionists,Sole authorized to speak and treat for them.My lord, what shall I answer?
Hud.Answer? Humph!Treat with a rag-pole? We'll not sag to that.
[Re-enter, right, Señora and Guildamour]
Hud.My dear Señora, is our freakish daughterIn hiding from us? We've not had her greeting.
Señ.She knew you close engaged, my lord, and leftThe hour to you. I'll tell her of your pleasure.
Hud.My steps are yours. [To his companions]Each where he would, my friends.[Goes in with Señora]
Dir.I'm for a swim.
Gol.And I.
Maz.The river? With you!
Gol.[Leading left] Bolderez' men are gathering opposite,Behind the river woods.
Maz.The pick of camps.
Gol.They know it too. There's water, and the treesAre cool and friendly.
Dir.Was it not resolvedBolderez' men should join the Federal Guards?
Gol.They do, in th' main. This is a straggling wingLeft in the hills, that we have given leaveTo station here.
Dir.That's prudence too.
Maz.Why so?
Dir.I'm windward of a whisper.
Gol.About LeVal?
Dir.He's circling in. Let Hudibrand laugh lowOr the enemy will hear him.
Gol.This LeValWas dead and buried,—three months out of life,—Shook from remembrance as the stalest clutter,—Now, save our eyes, he's jumped alive and ridesOur foremost thought! Enough to send a manBack to his marrows. I shall pray to-night.
Maz.A plunge for resolution! That will cool it.
[Exeunt lower left. Señora comes out of house and crosses to seat, right]
Señ.'Tis five o'clock. No sign! But he will come.He comes!
[Enter Chartrien, lower right. They meet silently and clasp hands]
Cha.My friend! I thought you far from here.Safe in the capital. But nothing's strangeTo those who've moved mid miracles. You've seenLeVal?
Señ.I have.
Cha.I long to greet him. O,Such walking of the dead renews the earthAnd makes it habitable! I have heardIt was Famette who saved him,—added thatTo array of deeds that must unlaurel allThe heroines of time.
Señ.There'll be an hourTo talk of that. Now you must see the princess.
Cha.Hernda is with you?Here!
Señ.And Hudibrand.No danger there. He wants you now, and saysYou'll find good grass if you will leap the stile.
Cha.[Answering her smile] So blind as that? Poor mole, he's been in th' groundToo long. Will never get his eyes.
Señ.Ay, he'llDeny the sun till 't bakes him in his burrow.But Hernda,—O, what welcome waits you, friend!The ivory-crusted temple, shut and sealedTo eternal airs, is now a fane of rose,Whose cloistral stairs, that wound so futilely,Will now through fragrant twilight lead you upTo windowed Heaven. Come! Come, take your own!
Cha.No! Wait....
Señ.A lover speaks that word?
Cha.Señora,——
Señ.That wound she gave you here is open yet?But you were wrong, and with your wretched doubtsAssailed her in the hour she lay on rackTo save you.
Cha.On rack for me? She gave me up.Gave me to him,—Megario,—knowing thatMeant death.
Señ.And yet you live.
Cha.I—?
Señ.Live. Do you not knowYou were to die that night?
Cha.I've heard.
Señ.Those hoursShe gained for you meant life.
Cha.She gained for me?I saw his lips on hers.
Señ.You did. And I—I saw her face. The dead are warmer. SheCould bear that touch for your sake, and on thatBore too your curse.
Cha.For me? I'll hear no more,Señora.
Señ.You will see her now?
Cha.Not now,Nor ever. I am here by pledge, to meet—A friend.
[Masio enters lower right]
Señ.Is this—the man?
Cha.No, but I know him.He's seeking me, I think.
Señ.I'll leave you then.
Cha.[Seizing her hands] Nothing to Hernda!
Señ.Nothing. You and sheFor what may come. [Goes in]
Cha.You, Masio? From Famette?
Mas.No, from the camp.
Cha.The camp! But she is there?
Mas.That's guessing, sir. There's fernseed on her wings.She flits invisible, then bat your eyesYou see her.
Cha.I've her word she'd meet me here.
Mas.Queer place. You come from Quito?
Cha.Yes. 'Twas thereI had her letter making this strange tryst.I've travelled from that hour. Famette has leftHer name upon the air, and all the wayI heard it.
Mas.She's the bird of courage, daresGo far as our LeVal himself. But here'sWhat brought me, sir. [Gives Chartrien a letter]'Tis from LeVal.
Cha.His hand!His living hand! [Reads, pales, and stands silent]
Mas.Bad, sir?
Cha.No, good. 'Tis good.
Mas.Then I'll be off. My head's no show variety,But I'd not trust it long in th' grove of Peace.We'll see you soon in camp?
Cha.To-night, I hope.Famette holds key to that.
Mas.The first star bring you! [Exit]
Cha.[Reads letter]When you see the princess Hernda, kiss for me the hand that gave me freedom. It was she unlocked my dungeon and nursed my bones to life. What I am is hers, and therefore yours. Le Val.
Hast grown so spent, O Fortune, that one strokeMust deal both death and life?—with hand that partsThe night, show too my rainbow loss?.... All, allMy future sold to the gray usurer Grief,Who gathers up as sapped and withered leavesTime's unimagined buds! No eve, no dawnWith Hernda! No brief night that makesThe sun unwelcome as he golds desire,The warm mist-flower where we lie its heart!Unbrace thee here, my courage! Valiancy,First god and last in man, unbuckle here!... How meet Famette? Smile on her smiles? DeceiveHer love? She'll lay her head upon my heartAnd hear it crying "Hernda!".... Hernda lost!I must not dream here open to the riskOf her unanswered eyes. Their lure would makeDishonor, that on wreck feeds rampant, springUnshamed in me. I would forsake Famette.
[Goes right, upper path. Hernda comes from house and crosses rapidly to him]
Her.Chartrien! Come! [He turns slowly and meets her]You take my hand, here whereYou wished me dead?
Cha.That you have offered itProves me forgiven.
Her.Youforgiven? Ah,Has my atonement swollen above my faultTill I may nod a pardon where I thoughtTo kneel for one?
Cha.LeVal has written me. [Kisses her hand]This kiss is his salute, and that 'tis his,Not mine, makes my lips bold to leave it here.
Her.Forgiven! Dawn is on my sky, that hungUnutterably black! Yes, it is trueI saved LeVal. From Fate's own arms I snatchedMy treachery's sequence, though his meantime painIs ever writ against me. Yet I tooKnew misery that might be mate of his.And for that other wrong—here where we stand——
Cha.My wrong to you! Nay, don't forgive me that.Leave me a wound to keep me ever payingThe debt of pain that solely eases guilt.
Her.I had to choose,—Oh, agony of choice!—Between your death as certain as the nightAnd your surrender to Megario,That seemed but death postponed, yet held a hopeWorth any hazard. That you live is proofMy choice was God's. My reasonless despairHeld Heaven's sanity. Ah, that you liveIs substance of reward, joy's permanentSweet soil, but there's a flower to spring from that,A nodding ecstasy that I may pluckFor my own bosom,—is there not?
Cha.Don't—don't——
Her.You turn away? You've still a doubt of me?Then modesty may save her frigid self.I'll speak for love, the one best thing this sideOf Heaven. You've taken my hand, and now my heart,And all myself would follow it. My heart,My body, and my risen soul. Yes, risen!My past of clay is quickened with a breathThat waits not death to know itself immortal,And this is all my pride, that by that breathI'm rich enough to give myself to you.[She waits for him to speak. He makes no answer]I am rejected, having but my shameTo cover naked love. Yet vanityFinds me this scanted shroud. Seeing you here,My hunger guessed at yours. I felt you cameTo seek me, else my heart, timid with fault,Had kept its silence, though my tongue had givenAs now a friend's good welcome.
Cha.I have come,But not to you.
Her.For why then? I've an earOf caution. Let my veins, at too swift flood,Grow slow as prudence in what work you will.Now that our aims are near as once our hearts,You'll let me help? I swear by both our souls,And yours the dearer one, that our desiresAre one bent bow, and if our arrows speedThey'll kiss at the same mark.
Cha.I'm fathoms deep,But in a sea as sweet as ever closedO'er drowned felicity!
Her.Why are you here?
Cha.To keep an oath!—that kept is our division,Yet forfeited would so untreasure meThat being's god would blush dishallowed wayQuite out such husk of man!
Her.An oath?
Cha.Oh, firstIn made self-curses I'll unload some partOf this stuffed loathing for the wretch I am!
Her.Nay, I'll not listen.
Cha.Star that was a maiden,Do not believe I loved you when my daysRan tribute at your feet,——
Her.Say anythingBut that. Those days were mine, and true.
Cha.False, false!For love is generous as the heart of bounty,Giving defect perfection. Narrowed hours,Beseamed and flawed, take from its seer-lit eyesThe unstinted, dear proportion secret yetIn Time's full dream.
Her.'Twas I who failed——
Cha.Not you!That midnight moment held the dawn of this,All this that now you are, and love had seenThe folded glory of yourself had loveBeen there to see. But I cast dust uponYour sleeping wings, and did not know your heartTill wounds had laid it bare.
Her.How could you knowMore than its native bosom where it dweltStrange and unguessed?
Cha.If I had loved,Such soul of fragrance had not hid from meThis unbound blossoming.
Her.We must forgetLove's morning miracles forever missed.His fair, warm day is left us,—sunset's gold,And evening with the stars. That is enoughFor me and you——
Cha.My pledge! I'm here to meetFamette!
Her.Famette! I know her.
Cha.Know her! You?
Her.And know she loves. Then it is you she waits?
Cha.She saved my life. But that unvalued thingIs debt's mere rubble. 'Tis her love makes upThe sum unpaid and out of reckoning.And I—how can I tell you?
Her.If you loved,Look up. No shame can be where love has been.
Cha.I've no defence,—yet say that you were lostIn midmost desert sands, and suddenlyA flower at your feet breathed of the woodsAnd darkling velvet shade where rest might be....
Her.But that's a miracle.
Cha.So was her loveTo me. Or say that flam and falsityEnsnarled your every way till no true thingSeemed left on earth, and then in lifted flashTruth's priestess eyes looked from a human faceAnd you were loved,—what startled warmth would sayYour heart yet lived? Would you keep back your lifeIn barren hug? Deny its sunless grayTo gentle eyes that asked but leave to layTheir radiance there?
Her.I understand. She gave,And I demanded. So the gods decreeHer boughs shall bloom and mine go bare.
Cha.Oh, Heaven!
Her.You love her, Chartrien?
Cha.Silence be on that.
Her.I'll know it,—hear you say it. Is your heartMine, or Famette's?
Cha.My life is hers.
Her.Your heart!
Cha.Is yours.
Her.Ah! Then—I give you to Famette.
[He kneels to kiss her hand. Hudibrand appears in door of house, left. Smiles, and crosses to them]
Hud.Up to her lip, you rogue! A humble suitorGets humble favors.
Cha.[Rising] You, my lord?
Hud.Your hand,My boy.
Cha.It was my head you wanted, sir,When last we met.
Hud.Not so. I meant to save you,But Hernda spiked my train. To have you dieQuite safely in a rumor was the sumOf my intent against you.
Cha.You're not well,My lord?
Hud.Most well!
Her.He's lost some sleep.
Hud.Tut, tut!
Cha.You stay full long in Goldusan. I thoughtYou nearer home.
Hud.I'm cruising in the gulf,By th' morning papers,—thereliableones.The gutter rags have guessed me,—but no matter.I've seen the play through, and I go to-morrow.Pouf! It has been a game!
Cha.You speak as 'twereAt end.
Hud.It ends to-day. [Looks at watch]'Tis just the hour.Now Vardas is proclaimed the presidentOf a liberated people.
Cha.What of that?
Hud.He's bowing now. "I thank you, gracious friends,Most loyal citizens——"
Cha.What's that to doWith freedom's war?
Hud.It merely ends it.
Cha.What?You think we fought for that? A change of capsUpon two brigands' heads?
Hud.Tut, you've won more.You with some justice warred on Cordiaz,But Vardas is of heart so liberalHis people shall be rich in privilegesAs many and as fair as in Assaria.Myself will vouch it.
Cha.I will vouch it too.As many pits fed with the souls of men,As many images of God deformedIn lawless fray to hold the peaks of greedAnd at the top sit on their goblin goldContent with bestial purr, who might have touchedThe heavens with song.
Hud.Is that for me, my boy?
Cha.As many lives tramped out in hunger's scramble,As many factories where driven wivesForget the altar dream of babes and home.As many sweating traps where flames may feedOn flesh of maidens, leaving still, charred bonesWhose only fortune is to ache no more.As many brazen mills that noise their thriftAbove the ceaseless shuttle of small feet,While you, the great arch-master, think none hearsThat drownèd pattering. As many martsWhere, in law's shadow, girl-eyed slaves are soldTo blows and lust. As many cripples thrownUpon the dump-heap of a soulless Peace,Each season piled to moaning wreck more highThan ever War made in its darkest year.As many holes where life must lie with deathFor privilege of sleep. Oh, I could giveBlack instances till yonder sun be setNor end your loathsome list!
Hud.A rare, hot sermon,But I'm not Providence, that from my handMust pour unfailing bounty.
Cha.Humble, sir?I thought you claimed a power that gave the worldThe shape you chose.
Hud.But I must use the stuffI find here. That I can't remake or change.So must my world show flaws and ugly spotsDue to its substance, not to my good pattern.
Cha.That stuff, sir, is the same that lifted usFrom four feet up to two! The elementsThat played like death upon it but arousedTheir conqueror. In the embrace of windsIt made us ships and gave us wings. From dust,The very dust that choked it, grew the dreamThat lifts it deathless, an eternized God.And surely as your grip makes it a slave,You teach it freedom. In your clutch 'twill findOnce more the need creative, and upswellWith power that shall leave you by the wayAs heaving seas leave straws upon the sand.You shall benothing. As a dream that diesWith waking—lost so utterlyThe sleeper knows not that it was—so youShall be a vanished thing that man born freeCan not reclothe in guess!
Hud.Peonia's sunHas touched your wits. You still think of revolt?
Cha.I think of victory.
Hud.Your comedyIs past its hour. Come, Chartrien, give it up.Confess the war is done.
Cha.Bolderez' gunsWill make confession of another sort.
Hud.O, ho! I see a light. You have not heardThe morning news. Bolderez has come in.
Cha.Come in? Your couriers flatter you. He holdsThe heights of Gila with five thousand men.
Hud.That's yesterday. To-day those brave five thousandAre soldiers of united Goldusan.Bolderez is adviser to the State,A tinker in high place, who solders fastThe civic split——
Cha.You dream! This is not true!
Her.Yes, Chartrien, it is true. We've lost Bolderez.
Cha.He—has—deserted?
Hud.No, he proves him loyalTo me, his master.
Cha.You?
Hud.He served me always.You fool, this wasmyrevolution.
Cha.Yours?
Hud.Bolderez led my troops. It was for meYou fed his bony beggars. Ha! For meYou stuffed their hungry pockets with your gold!I loosed your fortune when I know 'twould saveMy own a gouge. But I've not dodged the score.Those guns and horses for the Gazza scareCost me some paper——
Cha.You? My God!Yourwar?
Hud.I knew the storm would sweep out Cordiaz,So strode its back that I might hold the bitWhen came my hour. My boy, you fought forme.I made you do it—I, whom you have saidShall be as nothing. Where's the mighty seaShall toss me as a straw——
Her.O, father, peace!You see he dies!
Hud.Don't waste your tears. He'll live.I've made good oxen out of wilder bulls.
Her.He cannot live! The pain of it, the pain!When aspirations have returned as wounds,Then even the soul must die!
Hud.They all get up.Stout workers too,—quiet, serviceable,Pestered no more with dreams. Here, give him this. [Offers a flask]
Cha.[Rousing, pushing flask aside] Ay, no more dreams.[Springs up] But action! Keep Bolderez.We have LeVal, whose undiscouraged heartBears on its tide the conquering desireOf twenty thousand men!
Hud.Humph! Where are theseInvisible veterans?
Cha.Some gather nowAbout his banner,—some wait in the hillsTill they are sure it is his voice that calls,—Some in your favor wrapped go to and froIn your own camp, feeding a fire your goldCan never light,—some dream till we have opedTheir prison doors,—in every part and cornerOf Goldusan, there's courage on the leapTo reach his side.
Hud.What dribble!
Cha.Rein this storm?No human hand, nor Heaven's now, may leash it.It is the throe when travailing Life is shakenIn absolute birth that makes undreamèd newsEven in the ear of God.
Hud.Fanatic! Fool!Have I not tried to teach you——
Cha.Teach yourself!
Hud.Come, come!
Cha.I mean the words. The race has learnedIts lesson while you've played with sand. At lastThe dumb, trod way has spoken 'neath man's feet,And by that word uncovered he has learnedWhat he shallnotbe,—knows what heights of sunAre his, and seeing takes his road,—no moreBattering in wild and bruisèd ignoranceA destiny of stone. Ay, consciousnessHas wakened in itself the unknown godThat gives the race its eyes. You, you a king?Who do not know that every man is heirTo kingship that must leave such thrones as yoursOutcoursed and little recked as the strewn toysOf childhood!
Hud.Mud-sill dynasties. You knowThat I am master.
Cha.Master? You believeThat man, at top of conquest, who has madeNature his weariless serf, and set the yokeFrom his own neck on her divinities,Will seal to you—weak, myriadth part of him—Those wizard captives bending to the dreamOf his new world? Gird you with fortune thatHe wrenched from stony ages?—let you gorgeThe magic fruit snatched by his perilled beingIn starward battle up the abysmal steep?
Hud.I am a fact,—not words.
Cha.You can believe it?At last on dawn-browed heights, with victor footOn mysteries bound the genii of his wish,He'll trail his hopes to kennel? Let you pluckHis universe unflowered, and shrink lifeTo growling brevity 'tween lash and bone?A slave toyou? Obstructive clod,Who could not stir with one life-budding dreamThough holy imagination tipped with fireShould score her script upon you!
[A physical pain overcomes Hudibrand. Hernda runs to his side. He regains composure, his manner forbidding solicitude]
Hud.I am patient.One word of mine would send you manacledTo prison. If you are here to lay down arms——
Cha.I'm not.
Her.O, father! The amnesty!
Hud.That shelterIs not for him!
Cha.Then speak your word, and learnYou fight not men but man. Wide as the worldHis spirit blows against you, and little partYou'll cage in this one shackled body.
Hud.One?We'll drag the earth, or net the pack of you!LeVal, marauding ghost, we'll prick his bloodBeneath his spectral mask. And that mad trull,Famette, your holy maid——
Cha.She's safe from you!God is about her as she walks amongYour hope-lorn slaves and touches their dead heartsTo life.
Hud.To folly they are sick of! Ah,Once more I've news. Your swarthy Joan has fled,And all her magic warriors of a dayAgain are beggars.
Cha.Fled?
Hud.To her cactus lair.But she'll trapse back between two bayonets,Stripped of her phantom wings.
Cha.She is not gone.That heart of truth! When she deserts LeValThere'll be a breach in Heaven, and fiends may claimThe day for hell and you.
Hud.'Tis mine withoutSuch warm avouch. Your chaparral cock and henHave parted company. Her followers now,Cursing and naked, straggle to our camps——
Her.Your pardon, sir! You are deceived.
Hud.Ho, ho!
Her.They're with LeVal. Not one stout heart is lost.Famette but lends her captaincy to hisIn needful absence——
Hud.You are much too wise.
Her.I know Famette.
Hud.You—what? Knowher?
Her.I do.
Hud.This is the fruit of that mad jaunt,Through Goldusan! Where have you seen her?
Her.Here.
Hud.Not here? That woman? Are you mad, my girl?
Her.I love Famette. If we were one, I'd beBut cinders in her saintly fire.
Hud.Here, miss?You've had her with you? Sniffed and cheeped together,And drowned my kingdom in a gossip cup?
Her.If men, the bravest, are but flies uponYour monarch ermine, that with careless shakeYou scatter, can you fear a woman?
Hud.What?Mocked by a chit? I fear? You mannerless filly,I've let you plunge and ramp o'er all my fields,But I'll not have you whinnying at the fenceTill roadside jades break through! She has beenhere?
Her.She has. Dined at my board, slept in my bed,And so shall do again.
Hud.I'll welcome her!And send you trucking home! You shall not waitFor any whimsy this or that!
Her.But, sir,——
Hud.No trumpery packing,—no unready whine!This hour! That you should moil your royaltyTouching such scum!
Her.Nay, I was scum until she gave me substance.I had no soul until she made hers mine,No cleanliness of heart till I knew hers,No knowledge till I looked through her clear eyes,No riches till I wrapped me in her rags——
Hud.You're raving!
Her.No. Ah, father, father, I'mFamette,—your daughter! I've not been in Cana,But in the pits your greed has dug,—down, downWhere misery is so vile its own abyssShudders to hold it. Chartrien, now you knowMy tale untold. I see your mind runs backTo light a way it travelled in the dark.O, you were blind! I'd know you near though maskedIn utter change.
Cha.I'm folded now in sunThat makes me blind again. Are you Famette?
Her.[Showing her bared arm] See this brown circlet left that you might findA trace of her? I've crossed the universe——Through hell—and reached you, have I not?
Cha.[Embracing her]All sweetForfending stars now heap their fortunes oneAnd drop it on my heart that borrows heavenTo hold the imponderable gift!
Her.Ah, poor Famette!
Cha.'Twas you—in that foul hacienda pen?And would not speak?
Her.I meant to save you, sir.And had I told you then, would you have setSo blithely off to Quito?
Cha.And left you there!How can you think it?
Her.Do I, sir? Nay, love,Nor ever did. I knew you'd ruin allWith your big "won'ts" and "don'ts."
Cha.O, sagest heart!But here you kept my joy-gates shut so long.Why such slow mercy, golden one?
Her.You'll hear it?There is a teasing devil in me, Chartrien,That must have play.
Cha.Ah, no!
Her.Ay, and an ounceOr so of cruelty, that would not letYour frailty go unpinched.
Cha.Nay, 'tis not so!
Her.You'd rather think I put to royal testYour godship? Wooed with lips so near your own,And found you stanch to honor? That may be,But I've a shameless reason dearer still.I wanted all your love for Hernda,—all.And had I said too soon that we were one,Then on your breast my heart had never knownWhich maid you clasped.
Cha.You ever, sweet!
Her.Yet sheIs dear. My joy could never be contentWithin your heart beside unfaith to her.She must have room there, not in name of love,But truth. So you shall hold us both.
Cha.Like this?Grow to my heart, O garland of myself!Be breath of me, till, like a double tree,Root, sap, and bloom are one,And in our noble fruiting Time forgetsTo mourn Hesperides!
Her.Heaven hold thy wishThe prayer thou meanest it!
Cha.One bliss is man'sThe perfect angels know not. In the arms,Warm, rhythmic, round his battling soul, to feelSpur of his noblest blood, and know his dreamsAre mated,—find in lightest winds that stirLove's tremulous hair, the brave wing of his hopeThat needs go farthest,—and when seasons fail,And weary spirit turns from waste to waste,Know lips that he may touch and touching kissThe fallow world to harvest. Thus, and thus!
[Hudibrand, forgotten by the lovers, has fought through another moment of agony, and advances, taking hold of Hernda]
Hud.Are you my daughter?
Her.I am, but I've known hoursWhen shame, a cleansing fire, searched through my bloodFor any drop that owned you father.
Hud.In!Go in! [To Chartrien] And you—I'll rid the earth of you,And take its thanks! [Staggers with a return of pain]
Her.[Her arms about him] O, father, let us help!What is it, father?
Hud.Nothing. Keep away!Away!
[Throws her off. Enter, lower right, an officer attended]
Off.Your majesty, there's sure reportLeVal makes ready to oppose his gunsTo our weak garrison.
Hud.[Ironic]The spectre's near?
Off.Across the stream,—the east and wooded bank.A hundred times our force could not dislodgeHis guns from such a vantage.
Hud.Guns? LeVal?He has no guns!
Off.You'll hear them soon. I begYour highness' pardon, but your dignityWould not be touched if you should hasten out.
[Enter, lower left, Golifet, Diraz, Mazaran]
Gol.My lord!
Hud.What is this tale? You, Golifet?You are in charge!
Gol.'Tis treachery, sir! I warnedYour majesty——
Hud.Come, what's the story?
Gol.This.Bolderez' officers whom we gave leaveTo station near us, thus to put more guardBetween the town and rebels that might creepDown from the hostile hills——
Hud.This egg's all shell.Come, sir, the meat!
Gol.They were in secret yokedMost traitorously with LeVal, and all their menWere coupled to his cause. They gave him coverTo lead his army up——
Hud.His army, sir?
Gol.His followers——
Hud.There may be treacheryUncapped among us.
Gol.'Twas by your adviceWe gave them leave to camp——
Hud.I trusted fools!Or traitors! You've a choice of names.
Off.I begYour majesty to come with us. They'll fireAt any moment.
Hud.Fire? Then we shall knowAt last where we may find LeVal. You've wiredTo Vardas, Golifet? He must despatchThe Federal Guards——
Gol.It is too late.
Hud.Too late?
Maz.We can not save the town.
Off.The citizensAre fleeing. Do not delay, your majesty!
[Fire of guns is heard]
Hud.Cowards! Before you fly, arrest that man.Look to it, Golifet. You'll answer for him.Let him be trebly guarded.
Gol.Is not thisThe missing lord, Prince Chartrien?
Hud.Ay, that traitor!
Gol.At this hot juncture, prudence must forbidA needless insult to the enemyThat may too soon be master.
Hud.Insult!
Gol.Come,My lord.
Hud.By every god that was or is——
[Guns again heard]
Gol.Please you, retire, your majesty!
[Men gather excitedly from different parts of the grove. Guests and servants desert the house]
Maz.Come, come!
[A shell breaches the wall, rear. Stones fly among the trees. The house is battered and portico torn away]
Hud.Grant me this favor. Let me be the lastTo leave the Grove of Peace. Ha, ha! The last!
Her.Come, father!
Hud.Go! I've asked a favor, friends.
[They turn from him and pass slowly out. Hernda and Chartrien remain]
Her.Now you will come?
Hud.Whenyouhave gone! Go, go!
[More shells. Chartrien carries Hernda away, lower left]
Hud.[Alone, racked with pain] My foe is nearer than those feeble guns.Bah! I could crush them! Here I am fordone.No, no! I'll not surrender. I will live!I'll keep my world. I fought for it, and won.'Tis mine! I will not leave it to these miceTo scramble over. [The agony seizes him]A coward foe, that givesNo even chance. Strikes from the dark, with bladeTempered secure in undiscovered fire.... Shall then the world go on and I not here?I shall be here,—a pile of dust, no more,——That is the hell of hells,—while other dead,Who made them souls here out of faith and clay,Race on unflagging,—on and leave me still,—The everlasting mute!... Souls? That's a lie.A ranting, tom-tom lie, to ease us onThe wheel. I'll none of that. The sick mind's pap!Imagination's vent, lest miseryO'er-rack the world! Protective fumeEnclouding man's last grapple till none seeIf he or Death be victor, and on the doubtHe rides to Heaven!...... Was 't truth that Chartrien spoke?The race has found its eyes? Man is no moreA blind and hopeless struggler cornered fastBy ills unconquerable?—his lusting wars,Diseases, hungers, Hudibrands? Then whatA chance was there, my heart? If I had foughtUpon his side!...Thatbattle would have madeRed Fate throw down her bludgeon,—won us placeTo vanward of the gods!... If I had foughtWith him.... Obstructiveclod!... My God!MyGod?
[He dies. Sunset has passed, and the darkness grows rapidly until nothing is seen but the gleam of a fallen crown. Curtain]