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 FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT 
 
 A RELIGIOUS PLAY, OF STREET LIFE 
 AND IN THE SLUMS OF NEW 
 YORK CITY. FIVE SCENES 
 
 Written in Columbus City, Iowa, February 11, 1910 
 BY CHARLES E. THOMAS 
 
Scene I 
 On the Streets of New York City 
 
 Billie de kid, a street boy of the 
 Bowery about 14 years old. Rough 
 clothing. Comes onto the stage 
 from the right side. 
 
 Blind Phil, a preacher, comes on 
 the stage from the left side feeling his 
 way very cautious with a cane. 
 
 Billie stops and waits for the 
 blind man and as he is passing^ takes 
 a watch from his pocket. 
 
 Mr. Mulligan, a policeman comes 
 onto the stage from the right side 
 and as Billie turns to go off stage 
 [right side) he is met by Mr. Mulligan 
 who takes hold of Billie by the arm. 
 
 Mr. Mulligan. So your be afther 
 being a thafe are ye? Well begoria 
 I'll taclie yer a lesson. I'll take 3'er 
 over to the Elizabeth street station 
 and we will be hearing what yer has 
 to say fer yerself— (he takes watch 
 from Billie.) 
 
 Blind Phil. What is the trouble 
 my friends? 
 
 Mulligan. The boy here was 
 afther stalelng yer watch from yer 
 pocket yer honor — (Gives Phil the 
 watch.) 
 
 Billie. Oh Mister! don't let dis 
 cop runs me in. I am sorry dat I 
 tried to swipe yer ticker. I only' 
 wanted somethin' to eat. I thot I'^ 
 could soak de ticker fer nufif fer me 
 and me mudder to grub <>n till dad 
 came back — onest injun mister — ever 
 kid on de bowery will tell yer dat 
 Billie de kid am on de square. 
 
 Mulligan. Misther don't yer be 
 afther belaveing him — he is one of 
 the wurst thaves from the Battery to 
 Harlem. Begoria I nose the ereizer 
 
 TMP96-00683 1 
 COCI.D 25459 
 
 Phil. (To Mulligan) My friend, 
 if you will allow me to, I would like 
 to ask this boy what his name is and 
 where he lives? 
 
 Billie. Me name is Billie De Kid. 
 I lives wherever me be, here on de 
 Bower\% or down by the bridge or in 
 City Hall Park or any old place — dat 
 I am. Me Mudder lives at de corner 
 of de Bowery and Bloom street. 
 
 Phil. What do you do? 
 
 Billie. Me shines shoes, sells de 
 papers and does wot eber me gets to 
 do. 
 
 Phil. (To Mulligan) Kind Sir, 
 will you please let me take the boy 
 with me? I don't want him 
 arrested. 
 
 Mulligan. Begoria dis snoozer 
 am a dead game tough — and a bad 
 one to be afthur turning loose. 
 
 Phil. Mr. officer I will be respon- 
 sible for this boy — here is my card. 
 (Hands Mulligan a card.) 
 
 Mulligan. (Reads aloud.) 
 Rev. Phillip Kline, No. 221 W. 
 12th St. New York. 
 
 Mulligan. I am afthur thinking 
 that you don't know what you are 
 doing in having this spalpeen released. 
 Sure, I don't like this at all at all. 
 
 Phil. Be merciful as 
 expect mercy. 
 
 ye may 
 
 Mulligan. Well take the kid and 
 may the best of luck be with you. 
 (Mulligan goes off left side.) 
 The boy and Phil goes off right side 
 
 Curtain 
 End of 1st Scene 
 
Scene II 
 
 A poorly furnished room, a poor- 
 ly dressed woman and little girl 
 about 12 years old seated at a table 
 eating only bread and potatoes. 
 
 Nelle. (The woman) 
 
 Sa\^ Sis Y don't you do as Billie 
 does? He allers lirlngs in somethin' 
 to help along. If yer swipe things 
 from de rich guy? it am doing yer 
 duty to yer dad and mudder. De 
 rich am no rite to hab more den they 
 need- It am our rite to take all dat 
 we can get. 
 
 Your daddy is now in de coop 
 cause dat rich guv cused him of 
 robbery when Jeems only took a 
 lettle of all de riches dat that man 
 has. 
 
 Florence. Mother tell me to sell 
 papers, to shine shoes, to beg on de 
 streets, to scrub de floors or do any 
 thing that is work but Mother, 
 don't tell me to steal. I can not do 
 what I know is wrong. Please don't 
 ask me to do wrong. 
 
 Nelle. (Very angry) Does zee 
 tink dat yous are better den yor 
 daddy or me am? Does you think 
 dat you are better den your brother 
 Billie de Kid? Nose your not. Billie 
 de Kid is worth a dozen such things 
 as yer. He onners his daddy and his 
 mudder and he helps em to get grub 
 that such as you can feed that onery 
 face of yourn. Yous are not fit to 
 lib in de same society as Billie DeKid. 
 
 {Enters Billie left side) 
 
 Billie. Mudder Ise got pinched 
 ter night by dat smart cop Mulligan 
 I just swijDed a ticker from a blind 
 man ])reacher and was making m}' 
 
 get away when Mulligan collared me 
 and wot you think? Dat Blind Man 
 tole de cop to let me go. He gave 
 me dis past board and told me to go 
 home to me mudder. (La\'s down 
 card on table.) 
 
 Nelle. And you didn't get de 
 ticker? Well try again. Find some 
 rich yap and get something that will 
 pay yous. Keep 3^er eye on de cops, 
 don't let dem bluff yer. I'll be out in 
 a jiffy me self and 3'ous can bet that 
 Nelle will bring in something wurse 
 wile. 
 
 Florence picks up the card reads 
 it then puts it in her pocket. Billie 
 sits at table and eats. 
 
 Nelle. Sis here tinks she is too 
 good to help us get wot we need from 
 de rich guys. It don't blong to dem 
 more den to us — dey never worked 
 for wot dey got. Yous poor daddy 
 is in Sing Sing now case he is poor 
 and the man is rich who sent him 
 there. If ever I caught dat yahoo in 
 de right place he neber would send 
 another poor man up— (she gets up 
 to go and as she goes out she says) 
 I goes over to Doyers street to meet 
 a guy dat has de dough dat we need 
 to get our bread wid — (she laughs.) 
 
 Florence. Mother I would like to 
 go to the Mission in Doyers street to 
 hear more bout that Jesus thfit the 
 little lady told me bout. 
 
 Nelle. (angry) You can't go you 
 lazy thing. Wot you mean an\' how? 
 That hussey that talked to you told 
 you lies. You would do better if you 
 would do as me and Billie is going to 
 do. Don't get that coco noggin of 
 yours full of trash like that Salvation 
 Armv hussevtole vou; sides vou can't 
 
go cas some of dem chinks der in 
 China town would get you. but den 
 he wouldn't get much. 
 
 [Nell exit left side) 
 
 Billie. So yous think dat woman 
 tole you what is so wen she tole you 
 that big story bout that feller Jesus? 
 
 Florence. Yes, brother, I am sure 
 she told me true and she told bout 
 Heaven. The place we go wen we 
 die if we are good and try to do 
 right. 
 
 Billie. I believe she lies cas wen 
 we die, we only go to de hole in de 
 ground. How can we go up to 
 Heaven when we go down in de 
 ground? 
 
 Florence. I think the lady tole 
 me wot is so and I want to go to the 
 Mission°*to"^ have some one tell me 
 more about Jesus and Heaven. 
 The man you swiped the watch from 
 tonight was a preacher. I want to 
 see him. He can tell me bout Jesus. 
 
 Billie. You kin see him if 3^ou 
 want to but sure tell him dat Billie 
 de Kid am a good boy, dat he neber 
 swipe any thing — (aside) unless he 
 gets a good chance. (Billie laughs.) 
 
 Florence. I will not say that you 
 never swipe any thing. I'll tell him 
 that I want you to learn about Jesus 
 and I'll ask him to tell me all about 
 him so I can tell you, {Billie goes 
 out left side.) 
 
 Florence. I don't cate what thev 
 all say. I believe that Jesus is good 
 and he will help me if I find out how 
 to ask'^him. O I do want to be 
 good like the lady told me to be. 
 End 2nd Scene 
 Curtain down 
 
 Scene III 
 
 In Blind Phils Study. Carpet on 
 floor, reading table, pictures on wall, 
 easy chairs, etc. Phil has a large 
 book on table to represent the blind 
 bible. Phil repeats the 23rd Psalm 
 as he repeats the last line a knock is 
 heard off left side. 
 
 Phil. Come in. 
 
 (Enter Florence from left side) 
 Goes up to opposite side ol table 
 from Phil. 
 
 Florence. My brother gave me 
 3'our card telling where you lived. 
 I come to ask you about Jesus. I 
 want to know more about him. 
 
 Phil. My dear girl, I'll l)e glad 
 to tell you about Jesus but what 
 made you think aliout him? 
 
 Florence. One time last summer 
 I was over to Chatham Scj[uare 
 beggin when the Salvation Army 
 came up to the corner where I was 
 and began singing and telling about 
 God and about Jesus and one little 
 lady dressed in blue with a funny 
 bonnet on come up to me and took 
 hold of my hand and kissed r.ie and 
 said, little girl do you know about 
 Jesus? I tole her I did not. No one 
 ever told me anvthing — then slie tole 
 me a whole lot. She said if I would 
 be good that Jesus would take me to 
 Heaven and I would never have to 
 beg or steal or do anything that was 
 wicked, so ever since I have been try- 
 ing to be good. I wont steal any 
 more now nor I wont lie and I want 
 to be good all the time. 
 
 Phil. What is 3^our name? 
 
 Florence. Florence Nolan is me 
 name. Me father is Jcems, the Yeg- 
 
man. He is now on the Island doing 
 time for robbing a man. Me Mitdder 
 is Nelle who used to be dc Bowery 
 Oueen and BilHe de Kid is me brother. 
 
 Phil. Well Florence, I believe 
 that Jesus sent you to me. Sit down 
 and I'll tell you about him. {She 
 sits down.) {He stands up by her and 
 hivs his hand on her head.) Well, 
 my dear, nearly 2000 years ago the 
 world was very wicked so God con- 
 cluded that he would give all men a 
 chance to be redeemed — so he sent his 
 only son on earth to teach the people 
 how to live and how to do God's 
 will. The people were very wicked 
 and after Jesus, who was God's only 
 son, had lived until he was about 33 
 vears old, the people concluded to kill 
 Him, so the}' got him and gave him a 
 trial and condemned him to die on the 
 cross. They nailed him to the cross 
 and he died and they buried him and 
 after three days He arose and now 
 He is in Heaven with God and he 
 knows all about us. He knows that 
 you want to be good and He will help 
 you. You can talk to Jesus and he 
 will hear you and will help you do 
 just as you want to do. All you 
 have to do is to get down on your 
 knees and tell Jesus just how you feel 
 and ask him to help you. He never 
 will fail you. 
 
 Florence. Oh Mister, is that all 
 true? Will Jesus help me do what I 
 want to do? 
 
 Phil. Jesus will help 3'ou to do 
 just as you want to do, so long as 
 you want to do right. 
 
 Florence. {Clapping her hands 
 and says) 
 
 Oh Good\% goody, goody I am 
 going to ask Jesus to help me get my 
 
 father, mudder and brudder to know 
 about Him and love Him, just as I 
 love Him. Mister, wont you help 
 me? Wont you ask Jesus to help me? 
 Phil. Yes, my dear, I will help 
 you and I think .that great good will 
 come from our united efforts. 
 
 End Scene Third 
 
 Curtain 
 
 Scene IV 
 
 In Phils Study same as previous 
 scene {a few changes in fixtures.) 
 Phil reading his Bible. A knock at 
 door. 
 
 Phil. Come in. (And Nelle 
 comes in on left side.) 
 
 Nelle. And are ye the preacher? 
 
 Phil. Yes Madam, I am a min- 
 ister of the gospel. 
 
 Nelle. My little sis has been 
 tellin bout you. She was here about 
 six months ago. She wanted to come 
 again. I wouldn't let her cas I thot 
 I didn't want her to hear bout your 
 nonsense bout that feller Jesus. But 
 Sis is sick now and she kept telling 
 me to go and fine yous. Sc I got a 
 kid to show me wer you lived. Sis 
 had your address on a card and now 
 I am here. Sis wants you to come to 
 my house an see her. 
 
 Phil. Where do you live? 
 
 Nelle. At de corner of Bloom 
 Street and de Bowery. 
 
 Phil. Go and tell her that I'll be 
 there as soon as I can. 
 
 Nelle. Well 
 purty sick. 
 
 I'll hurry cas Sis is 
 
[She goes off left side and in a minute Florence. [Raises her head and 
 returns.) takes hold Phills hand.) 
 
 Nelle. Mr. preacher it is very 
 dark and its raining an I don't know 
 wich way to go to git home. I never 
 was this far away from de Bowery 
 before. My little sis is very sick an 
 I expect her to die. De kid that show 
 me the wav here has gone. Oh wot 
 will me do? Me wants to see my 
 little sis. Me has a feeling here dat 
 hurts me. ( Places her hand over her 
 heart.) 
 
 Phil. My sister in trouble, if you 
 v^ill allow a blind man to lead you 
 I'll take you to the corner of Bloom 
 street and the Bower}- to your home. 
 The darkness makes no difference to 
 me. I know the right way to go just 
 follow me. {The blind man goes off 
 the left side feeling his war with his 
 cane, Nelle following.) 
 
 End of Scene Four 
 Curtain 
 
 Scene V 
 
 In Nells home — Same room as 
 2nd Scene. A cheap cot with little 
 Florence on it. Billie de Kid and 
 Jeems, the Yegman, on the side facing 
 audience and back part of stage. 
 Back in the right hand corner is a 
 cross about 6 foot tall and a black 
 curtain in front of it so it is hid from 
 sight. 
 
 {Enters Phil and Nelle) Nelle takes 
 seat near foot of cot. Phil goes up 
 to Florence and lays his hand on her 
 head. 
 
 Phil. My little sister wanted me 
 to come and see her. 
 
 Oh I am so glad that \^ou come. 
 Please tell me daddy and mudder bout 
 Jesus for I am going to Jesus purty 
 soon. 
 
 Phil. Jesus is the best friend we 
 ever had. He will take care of us if 
 we only trust in Him. And when the 
 time comes we will be ready to go 
 to Him and live happy ever after- 
 wards. There can be no trouble, no 
 sorrow, no pain. All will be joy 
 when we get to where Jesusis. Jesus 
 can make the blind see for he says so 
 in this wonderful book that he has 
 given to the woi'ld as a guide. {He 
 holds up the Bible and repeats Matt. 
 20:29-34) and if you people here 
 wants to see with new eyes so that 
 you will understand all about our 
 Lord Jesus who is the light of the 
 world, all you will have to do is to 
 have faith and trust in Him and you 
 will receive lioht. Now, I am blind 
 and cannot see the things of this 
 world, yet I can see the beautiful 
 things of the world where Jesus is 
 and if you have a desire you may see 
 the same beautiful things with the 
 same strong light that I see them. 
 
 Nelle. Mr. Preacher we are all 
 too bad. Jesus would have noffin to 
 do with us. 
 
 Phil. This book which is the 
 words of Jesus says that if you ac- 
 cept Him and believe in Him you wnll 
 be saved. 
 
 Nelle. Jesus can't save me. I 
 have done ever mean thing that any 
 woman could do. I am past savin. 
 
Phil. Jesus says for God so loved 
 the world that he <^ave his only be- 
 gotten Son that whosoever bclieveth 
 in Him should not perish but have 
 everlasting life. 
 
 Jeems. [Rising to his feet leaning 
 forward holds out his hands towards 
 Phil.) Dos yer mean ter say dat 
 Jesus will save such a bloak as me. 
 Me who has killed my feller man, me 
 who has robbed, who has served time 
 for doing all kinds of crime. Save 
 me, who has turned many a trick dat 
 has never been found out dat Ise the 
 feller that done dejob. Mr. Preacher, 
 I am Jeems the yegman, de pulice all 
 no me. I have done many a job in 
 dis city dat no one nose but I just got 
 out of Sing Sing and if any cop from 
 de Battery to Harlem got their glim- 
 mers on me I would be a gonner cas 
 dey wants me for a bad trick that I 
 turned and they can prove gainst me. 
 I'd hev to go to der Island fer ten 
 years fer dis job. 
 
 Phil. Though your sins were as 
 scarlet Jesus will make them as white 
 as snow\ When He was nailed to the 
 cross he suffered for you as well as 
 for me. Only accept him, then all 
 things will come right. 
 
 Florence (Raises her head and 
 holds out her arms as though reach- 
 for some one) there is Jesus he has 
 come for me. how beautiful, ma 
 ma, daddy, BilHe! Oh I wish that 
 you all was ready to go. Good-bye! 
 Good-bye! Come! Come! See the 
 light! Come! 
 
 [Lays back down) 
 
 Nelle. [Raises to her feet) Oh 
 Mr. Preacher, don't let her go. I 
 can't give her up. There is a pain 
 here. [Places her handover her heart) 
 
 I guess I love my little sis. 
 
 Phil. She has gone to Jesus and 
 now is safe in his arms. If we believe 
 in Jesus and trust in Him we will 
 spend eternity with Him. {All kneel 
 and Nearer niy^God to thee is sung by- 
 six or eight girls behind cut tarn). 
 
 Jeems. Mr. Preacher I think I 
 am going to see dat light. I fefl as 
 if I wanted Jesus to take care of me. 
 
 Nelle. And I am willing to trust 
 in Jesus. show me the w^ay. 
 
 Billie ( Wiping his eyes and says 
 in broken voice) Mr. Preacher I 
 wan to go long wid de crowd. Sis 
 has tole me nuff bout Jesus dat I 
 want Ilim. I can see de light ahead. 
 It has been all darkness in de past. 
 
 [All still kneel wg) 
 
 At this time the curtain before the 
 cross is drawn back and there will be 
 a girl about Florences age holding to 
 the cross {Use a strong light) and 
 leave this scene while the girls behind 
 the curtain will sing Rock of Ages. 
 As curtain is drawn back after the 
 hymn is completed all rise to their 
 feet. 
 
 Nelle. Mr. preacher you have 
 shown us de way from de past dark- 
 ness to de future light. Now I want 
 to tell you bout one thin dat Jeems 
 and I done bout twelve years ago. 
 We v^as working one of our games on 
 Park Row an as v^e wus passin a 
 store we saw a baby in a buggy. It 
 was a boy bout two years old. 
 Jeems an me took dat boy and got to 
 our room. We raised dat boy. We 
 showed him how to steal, to sw^ipe 
 everything that he could, we showed 
 him how to git things out of de rich 
 guys pocket, and Jeems tole him how 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 to do de trick of pickin locks and 
 crackin de cribs and how to hit de 
 cops on der head in der right place so 
 he could make his git away. Dat 
 boy is BilHe de Kid. He is not our 
 boy. {She points at Billie) Can we 
 be forgiven for dat? 
 
 Phil. [ very excited) Did the boy 
 have any jewelry on him? 
 
 Nelle. Yes he had a chain around 
 his neck — we sold dat — but he had 
 dis mettle fastened to de chain, 
 [She hands Phil a medal about the 
 size of a dollar) 
 
 Phil. What does it say on this 
 medal? 
 
 Nelle. W. K. son of P. K. 
 
 Phil. William ' Kline, son of 
 PhilHp Kline. Thank God. He is my 
 lost son. {Holds his arms out and 
 Billie goes to him and Phil embraces 
 him and holds him a moment. Billie 
 acts as though crying.) 
 
 Phil Twelve years ago] my son 
 was stolen from my wife and^ I on 
 Park Row. We hunted everywhere. 
 We spent most all of our fortune that 
 we had trying to find him. My 
 good wife worried until she died less 
 than two years after she lost the 
 boy. I was left alone. A disease 
 came to me and took away my sight. 
 But praise the Lord Jesus came to 
 me and gave me a new sight so I 
 could see the new light. You ask if 
 you and your husband can be for- 
 given for taking this boy and doing 
 as you have done, I will say that 
 
 Jesus has ta 
 
 as I expect 015 910 033 9 ^_ 
 
 even this is forgiven against you. 
 Out of the darkness of the past we 
 are led into the new light of the 
 future. 
 
 The End 
 
 These plays can be secured from C. 
 E. Thomas the Author. Columbus, 
 Citv, Iowa. 
 
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