Cor. So pray we all.
Her. Is this our scene?
Cor. Not here.
Come you this way, my friends. We'll cast the wine
To yon cascade, and let the waters bear it
Down 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 prove
As stout as any spider's thread that swings
In a blowing rain. Fah!
Second Off. Climb what hill you please,
You see the rebels' smoke.
First Off. But where in name
Of 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 men
Were eagles they could pick out Cordiaz' eyes
And he'd not wake to miss 'em.
First Off. Cordiaz
Is not asleep, but so bedimmed and fooled
By a thievish Cabinet that what he sees
Takes 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 hearts
Have no defence against a crafty peace,
And falling power will seize on any prop
Be 't foul or fair, to keep on legs.
Second Off. My faith!
His crutches are so villanous, a fall
Were 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 held
Within the town.
Cor. What? Chartrien?
Zir. Yes, my lord.
Cor. Fit period to this dedicated day!
Our gentle bonds are now forged whole. The man
Who was Bolderez' hope, most luminous
Of all who drew rebellion to him, now
Is darkly fallen.
Rub. This golden aid cut off,
Bolderez stands so bare his nakedness
Will 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 mercy
You have denied the blood of Goldusan.
Why grant it to Assaria?
Var. In him swells
A strength was never in LeVal. I urge
His instant death.
Cor. No, friends. He is a son
Of our great neighbor, and his death would wound
The courtesy of nations that is kept
By lenience unabraded.
Var. Breath so bold
Will from a prison fan the treachery
Whose 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 highness
To let no ghostly and unfounded fear
Of my Assaria——
Cor. Fear, my lord?
Hud. I mean
No more than ask you to be just, nor let
My presence here enforce your chivalry
To do your country wrong. Think of your people,
Not the approval of a gazing land
Whose distant nod is given in ignorance
Of your stern cause.
Her. Here's not my father! So
The 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 whistle
Would tell us where you stand.
Meg. I stand with Cordiaz,
His majesty of Goldusan!
Cor. This matter
Is 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 station
In public against mine?
Hud. My neutral words
You've packed with import all your own. I strive
To bend not right or left, but keep my way
As even as Justice.
Her. [To Señora] Justice! There's a stone
That was my father.
Cor. Yet, my lord, this prince
Is of your house.
Hud. Is it for Cordiaz
To teach me mercy?
Cor. By my soul!
Hud. I know
Whence starts this softness. Mercy has no fane
Where you leave offering.
Cor. I know you too!
By holy Heaven, your head was never bared
In Justice' temple! You now seek my fall,
Because I've turned at last to check the hand
That rifles Goldusan. Is 't not enough
That I've unjewelled all her treasured hills
To alien avarice—that her forests bleed
The priceless sap of all primeval Springs
Into your golden stream? But I must lay
My people under bond,—sell them as slaves
To buy your stolen railways!
Hud. Stolen, sir?
I've paid——
Cor. I know what you have paid! You've sent
Your henchmen creeping in the night, to buy
At beggar's price our toil-built roads, and where
You could not buy, you bribed and thieved, till all
Was yours!
Hud. What of my toil, that built the lines
Through half your provinces?
Cor. You paid yourself!
Took from my governors, half gulls, half thieves
Of your own breed, a hundred times the worth
Of every graded foot, in lands and mines
And water-power that holds the prisoned light
Of robbed futurity! Now we must buy
Once more those tracks, long over-bought,—pay you
A value centuple for every mile,—
Pay you in bonds—bonds in hell's verity—
Whose interest will outrun each reckoned year
The 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 courtesy
From court. Your ministers have given assent——
Cor. Have given! You'll over-steal enough
To quit their boldest price!
Hud. I'll not defend
Your chosen servants, sir.
Cor. My servants! Oh,
What State is free from scuttling greed that bores
For treasure through the stanchest hold?
Hud. This moral chant comes late from you, my lord,
Who've fingered heavily in many a pie
Spiced in the devil's kitchen.
Cor. But to sell
My people! Pay you this devouring price
For stock that hardy yields the groaning third
Of interest on your bonds! What shall we do
To pay it? Rob our treasury, and ask
Our worn-out slaves to fill it up again?
Not ask, but goad and lash,—for you must have
Your own—you honest mortgagees of babes
Unborn——
Hud. Is all the scarlet on our hands?
What of that mountain province, sold entire
To foreign pockets, and the dwellers there
Torn up like shrieking roots and cast abroad
To fasten where they could?
Cor. And where was that
But in your hell-mouthed mines? You wanted slaves
And got them.
Her. I shall die, Señora!
Señ. Listen!
Hud. The tyrant Cordiaz grown pitiful?
Then stones are butter, alabaster is
Uncrumpled down. You should have wept before
The Pueblo strike, then fewer corpses had
Gone 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 property
My troops defended—and Rubirez lied.
Swore that the men foamed mad as tuskèd beasts,
And must be trashed to place,—men who had asked
No more than bread when you shut up your doors——
Hud. Not I, my friend.
Cor. Your tool then. One of all
Your million hookèd hands fast in the heart
Of my poor country, shut your doors, thereby
To starve the wretches till they crawled to you
And begged their chains again. But they—their veins
Were not all tapped—they'd blood left, and arose
From their dumb prayers to fight for life—and then....
Hud. You sent the troops.
Cor. Because Rubirez lied!
Hud. Because you knew there'd be no after-sale
For your high favors, once let titles drift
Unguaranteed. And when your work was done—
Your work, my tear-washed saint, why weary patience
Could not take further time to count the dead,
Or dig so many graves. They were piled up
And carted to the sea——
Cor. Oh, every tide
Brings back their faces—staring, staring up!
Will God not answer them? I dare not shut
My eyes....
Hud. And this is why you weep so late?
Come, Cordiaz, you're broken. Leave a throne
Your own fears shake. You know that I must win.
Own you are mastered——
Cor. Mastered! While I've breath
I 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 strength
Was spent against you!
Hud. Madly you've uncased
Your madness, and I know my weapons.
Cor. So!
I too, my lord, know how to sleep and wake
With 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 take
Some pride in that. 'Tis dark here, dark. Pray God
I am asleep!
Señ. Dear princess!
Her. Men do well
To keep the women blind. If once they knew,
They'd breed no more, but let a bairnless world
Escheat to God. Yet you, Señora, knew,
And you have children. By your motherhood
You've bound you Life's accomplice,—given it heart
And veins and an accepting soul!
Señ. I have!
Deny our hearts these babes, and we deny
The future that we fight for. Ah, defeat
May be endured by those who hold in lap
The victors of to-morrow!
Her. Oh, my father!
Señ. This truth was edged and swift. You should have had
Love's lips to teach you——
Her. I've been taught, my friend,
But would not learn. [Rising] Señora, it was I
Betrayed 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 hope
He is not dead.
Her. Not dead? What gives you hope?
Señ. Perhaps the nameless mentor in the heart
That tells us when our loved shrines are lit
And when they're out forever. But there's more.
Whenever Lord Megario's eye meets mine
There's something couched there speaks me living wrong,
Not wrong that's ended—locked within a grave
No prayer may open. He is burning yet
With 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 make
Your 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 seems
Not friend but friendship to my soul. And I
Talk 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 Ziralay
Not help?
Señ. Had he the wit, he would not dare.
While I'm his wife he must keep double guard
Against 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 seeks
When 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 turn
Some stone of rescue.
Gui. Mine are powerless hands,
Pinned to inaction's cross. My eyes may turn
No way that is not watched. To lift my lids
May 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 man
Who might with safety slip a secret bolt
For Chartrien.
Her. He!
Gui. His name is set above
The nick of treason by his stern dispatch
Of poor LeVal,—and, that struck off, he yet
Is chronicled so dark that none would lay
A 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 endue
With 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 guards
Were of our heart—they let him make the wood—
I've hidden him——
Her. Oh, where?
Señ. Within the cave
Veiled by the waterfall. But safety there
Is minute-frail.
Gui. What way? He'll climb the wall?
Señ. And drop into the river.
Gui. Yes. What guard
Walks there? I see. 'Tis Miguel. And I know
Somewhat of him,—more than he'd tell the winds.
Señ. Thank Heaven for a sinner! When he's next
Behind the rocks, then to him, Guildamour,
And be his palsying conscience. Peg his feet
To the earth!
Gui. Trust me, Señora!
Señ. I'll lead off
Those babblers. Princess, you're the watch,—you'll give
The signal.
Her. Ah! What is 't?
Señ. Two pebbles dashed
Into 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 meet
A painted smile.
Señ. I'll go. And you—be swift.
Don't stop—don't think. [Joins group]
I know where lordings three
Wait 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 charge
Of 't. He's an eager butcher,—does not know
Delay.
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 merciful
Is hate?
Meg. The prince's death would mean the fall
Of 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 here
Who'd see him on it, but they dare not move
Against a king yet rich in arms and friends.
And Hudibrand is not so absolute
That he may turn the army of Assaria
On the sole pivot of his word. For that,
Even he must knock the sleeping nation up
And ask good leave.
Her. You'd say, sir, Hudibrand
Would favor Vardas?
Zir. Short and plain, he does.
Her. What then?
Meg. The Assarians are proud, and where
They think their honor's pricked, their pride out-tops
Their judgment. Chartrien's death, whose ugly weight
Must lie with Cordiaz, will inflame their hearts
Till Hudibrand may send an army on us,
His people clapping to 't. In open day
They'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 Peonia
Sliced 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 pick
Of loyalty.
Meg. Well,—on. What else?
Off. They reached
The grove, passed in, and after prudent time,
The guards came out, smug as all right, and now
They'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 prince
Is in the grove. We'll soon uncover him.
Zir. The walls are picketed?
Off. A double watch
Is on.
Zir. That's well enough.
Off. On chance he makes
The 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 him
As Belam's iron door.
Meg. [To Hernda] You're ill?
Her. No, no!
I'm well—quite well.
Meg. The lily in your cheek
Lies 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 coat
Of 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 be
Of 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 lost
My father.
Meg. Devils! You've a tongue.
Her. Forgive
A heart unmantled, and too wild to choose
What word may veil it. I would say, my lord,
In this discolored world I now begin
To find you fair,——
Meg. O, heavenly retraction!
Her. And if I ask a service it will be
No paltry one, but such as makes the king
Bow to the knight.
Meg. I'll prove this grace
Is native in me, and not solely lent
Of your new bounty!
Her. Would you save the life
Of Chartrien?
Meg. I would. Though a treasonous tool
Of rebelry, he should be held by me
A prisoner of knightliest war.
Her. A prisoner!
Meg. You can not ask his freedom! That would give
My foes clear argument to pluck me bare,
And set me outlawed on the rebel side
Of this deplored division.
Her. Oh, not free!
And in your power!
Meg. To hold him prisoner,—that
I'd undertake, and make the action good
Even to this bloody council.
Her. You'd dare that?
Meg. My policy is open, and I'd dare
To put it into deed that must commend me
To their unwilling justice. To do more
Would disarray all sense,—be fullest like
The idiot's gesture that disrobes the wretch
Of 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 trust
One negative, not three. Give him to me,
And you will know he lives. Let him be found
By Vardas' men, and when you wake to-morrow
The earth will be without him.
Her. No, not you!
I'll go to Cordiaz. He'll save the prince
As he would save his throne. You've taught me that.
Meg. He'd lose it so. Should Cordiaz to-night
Set Chartrien free, he'd rise without a lord
To bid him one good-morrow.
Her. Ziralay....
Meg. Ask him? An ass whose ears if visible
Would signal Mars! Say he had courage for you,
He'd blunder with the prince to Vardas' arms.
Her. Ah, you could do it,—set him free!
Meg. Nay—don't—
Don't ask it, if you've mercy! Your highness knows
I could not grant so much though lips I love
Above my soul should beg that treason of me.
Though they should take again those dearest words
That knighted me, and now lie in my heart
Like swelling seed of fortune! Let me shield
His 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 dust
And feed the grass above them. For the State
Believes LeVal is dead, nor taints me with
Such treacherous clemency. See how I lay
My 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 hope
Of my own life!
Her. [Battling] I can not! I'm not Fate
To do her awesome work.
Meg. We aid her most
With passive hand, as Chartrien's ghost will come
On mourning nights to tell you.
Her. Oh, I'll speak!...
No, no! Ah, never, never!
Meg. [Resolute, giving up his suit] I must join
The 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 calm
Has babbled it. The frost is crafty that
Puts out such anxious fire.
Her. My lord, if I
Should tell you....
Meg. Quickly then! How canst debate
So fatally, knowing delay but robs him
Of venture's favor? Every moment steals
A 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 sun
In 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 place
Though all his saints defend it!
Her. True, my friend,
We shall be nearer, for anxiety
Will draw me to you with a longing like
The aching letch for morning in the eyes
Pain keeps astare. You then will be the goal
Of fondest question,—and from that—who knows?
Out of unbroken faith, and kindly shafts
'Tween hearts disponent, bridges have been built
For love's plenipotence to cross.
Meg. You bid
Me hope?
Her. I do not say despair. Sometimes
A presto-worker sits within the soul
Of gratitude, and love that must give thanks
In name of one beloved, has then been known
To pass from the liege object to the heart
Whose compass held them both in selfless bounds
Of chivalry. And yet—I promise nothing!
Meg. I ask no promise but the one I find
In words that so deny it. Now the thought
Is born, I'll make the naked infant grow
Heir 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 one
Wild kiss! O, Heaven! To find and lose you in
One 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 hand
Could 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]
ACT III
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 week
Will 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 did
His 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 know
The 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 on
The rounds. He'll clear the yards. News from the north
Has turned him red and black.
Fam. A flogging? Oh,
If you were men you'd fight with your bare hands
Till you were free!
Mas. Free as the dead. Our blood
Would 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. Across
The ridges.
Mas. Where the sun would lap you dry
As crackling cat-guts? Thirst would draw you in
To th' next hacienda well. The masters own
The water, and in this land, that's life.
Fam. No chance?
They never get away?
Mas. Sometimes a man
Makes 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 then
They send him back.
Fam. And he is flogged?
Mas. Ay, till
His 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 then
The dream is gone of any life but this.
Fam. They have no spirit—none!
Mas. Much as you'll have
This time next year.
Fam. Next year? I shall be gone.
My debt was just ten pesos.
Mas. [Incredulous] You were sold
For 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 way
To freedom?
Garza. [Rocking] Mother of God! Oh, Mother of God!
Fam. What is it, Garza?
Mas. There you have it! You see
Who comes here stays.
Fam. But he was free! His friend
Brought twenty pesos to pay off his debt.
Gonzalo. And when he went to pay it, on the books
There stood two hundred pesos against Garza.
Mas. Two hundred—twenty,—you see, Famette,
How much a little "o" can do.
Fam. They dare
Do 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 ask
For justice. He must serve who pays him,—that's
The 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've
A little brother.
Lis. Brother! Nothing that.
Fam. He's just Iduso's age.
Lis. [Softened] And has to take
A man's work on him?
Fam. N-o——
Lis. I said it now.
What do you know? Look at your hands—not stumps
Like mine.
Mas. Who hugs the post to-night?
Gon. I heard
Of seven warned.
Yso. My man! He hasn't come!
Mas. God's mercy, give us peace! It was his turn
To 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 seen
A 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 see
The master!
Fam. He is there? Does he look on?
Mas. O, not quite that. To eye the work
Would show too grossly, but you'll see him there,—
Somewhat aside, leaning against a yew,
Most carefully at ease. Then he will light
A delicate cigar that fills the grove
With 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 thoughts
Remote, 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 not
As these that suffer speechless.
Mas. Pinch the difference!
A little learning, and a few opinions
That brought me here.
Fam. [Moving aside with him] What did you do?
Mas. I spoke
The 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 pesos
Could 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 all
Sprats in a net. You'll not get out, once let
The 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 hearts
To liberty?
Gon. We are not dogs.
Fam. Then shame
To bear the life of dogs!
Ben. What do you know
Of Osa?
Fam. Know? Does she not guard the shrine
Cherished ten centuries in your secret hills?
Priestess and princess, daughter of your kings,—
The ancient poet kings who ruled and sang
In palaces where now your huddled huts
Give you a slave's foul shelter!
A Voice. Will she come?
Fam. To such as you? With heads hung down, and backs
Bared for the whip? The moment that you hold
Your manhood dearer than your life, she'll stand
Before 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 sick
Of 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 done
To-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 fool
To 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 easy
To 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 that
Half 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 have
A 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 serve
So 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 of me. 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 do
With his own hand.
Coq. You care for that?
Fam. You risk
Your soul, perhaps,——
Coq. 'Tis certain. Pray for me,
Chiquita.
Fam. When?
Coq. To-morrow I must leave
The 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 pearl
O' the long ungarnished day? The holy hour
Of—beans? Why, think! What do we live for, men?
For sweaty moments battling 'gainst the sun
To strip the thorny hennequin? For nights
Of 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 munificence
Is bowed before them, yet must fretting guess
The 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.
You should 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 that
On 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 voice
Of 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 day
At that locked gate. 'Tis open. None suspects.
Outside there's water in a flask, and bread,—
Beneath the cactus at the left——
Cha. But how
Get out? I am locked in at night, and watched
At other hours.
Fam. Eat, eat, and listen, Señor!
To-night a flogging in the lower yard
Will 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 out
And speak to Coquriez. You fall behind,
In shadow of my hut, move round it, wait
This 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 clear
Of murder.
Coq. [To Famette] Our Gringo's learned to eat, I see.
Cha. Now do they change confederate nods, and gaze
Their mated thoughts. Down, down to dust, my heart!
The struggle's off. I'll fight no more. Yon stars
Have rest for me. Is 't so? Vain footing there.
What rest have they, that share with man the surge
From life to life? There Jupiters unfound
Whirl cooling till their straining sides may bear
Ocean and land and clinging bride of green;
And Saturns, nameless yet, cast travailing
Their ringed refulgence. Not the frozen moons
May fix in stillness, but sweep captive back
To 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 shift
Eternal and unresting as those suns.
Then let Death hasten. He shall be as one
Who timely strips a wrestler of his cloak,
And, kindly freed, I shall uncumbered leap
To other battle, finding armor where
I 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 from
The smell.
Fam. I'll give you half. The rest
I'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 take
The 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 found
Behind your prison door,—and good, clean bread,—
I put them there!
Cha. 'Twas you, Famette? I thought
That Coquriez did it,—feared I'd die before
The master came.
Fam. Not his brute heart! And then
That night, of fever——
Cha. Yes! What then?
Fam. I lay
Outside your jail, my head against the wall,
That I might hear if once you groaned, or know
If sleep had come.
Cha. Can such love be for me?
Fam. You must—you must believe 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 love
Your gentle heart that warms mine empty,—love
Your eyes, like memories burning,—and your voice
That's linked to an old wound in me,—but most
I love your soul that is as great as truth
And strong as sacrifice. You'll come to me
In Quito, if I make escape? I'll find
A 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 soul
Who 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 you
Have sweetened—is your own, if you will have
So 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 flog
The 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 days
He 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 tie me up to-morrow!
Fam. It will kill
Iduso.
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 march
To-morrow, mate. Must hit the brush by dawn.
There's little sleep for me.