THE JTflK 
 
 OF OFTinun 
 
 9 
 
Class P^ (o35 
 Ronlc .79^ 1 
 Copyright N° 
 
 COPHflGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
©OLD 17302 
 
 dhe 
 Star of Optimism 
 
 J? S)rama in Seven Jlcts 
 
 B Y 
 
 eCiston McMillen 
 
 * A QENTLEfldN OF THE 3 A R * 
 
 Let every one of us please his neighbor 
 For his good unto edification " 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress by the Author, in the 
 year 19^9, in the office of the Librarian at Washington, D. C. 
 Copyright, 1909, A. D., by Liston McMillen. 
 
Dramatis Personae. 
 
 The King and Queen of England. 
 
 Rouseau, a pioneer in international evolution. 
 
 In Constellation. 
 [Senator, an able jurist and theologian. 
 Mary the accomplished wife of the 
 Senator. 
 Irene, their brilliant daughter.] 
 Dr. Raymond, in love with Irene. 
 Vallmer, an able jurist and infidel. 
 John and Julia, engaged. 
 Mysterious Tramp. 
 Dead Eye. 
 Miscellaneous Characters. 
 
 ACT I. 
 [Scene: Apartment at the residence of the Sena- 
 tor, in easy reach of Chicago; valley traversed by a 
 river; bright full moon.] 
 
 (Enter Senator and Mary, affectionately arm in 
 arm.) 
 
 Senator: 
 
 My dear just think of it! No quarrel 
 Yet, and we have been marriei nearly 
 A month! 
 
 Mary : 
 Yes, our honeymoon will end this evening! 
 Four weeks ago to-nightj we celebrated 
 Our marriage. I am' pleased to see 
 You remember the date! 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Four weeks ago to-night! How the time 
 Has flown! 
 
Mary : 
 It has been such a siweet, glad time, 
 And so precious. And yet it must all 
 End. See! The moon is setting never again 
 To be a honeymoon to us! 
 
 Senator: 
 On the contrary, my dear, it seems to me, 
 Our honeymoon has just begun! I love you 
 More than ever before! 
 
 Mary: 
 Many happy moons or years, we will have — 
 Deo Volente — as the moons come and go. 
 But it is true, sadly true, that the first moon 
 Of our wedded life and love is about 
 To set forever! Honeymoon! Sweet, blissful 
 Honeymoon! Good night! And good by! 
 
 Senator: 
 Hold, my dear! I have a thought that 
 May have come from where matches are 
 Ma do! 
 
 Mary : 
 I am all attention for your idea 
 And its cheer! How can I forget 
 Your many happy inspirations, in these days 
 Of the voice of the bride, the voice 
 Of the bridegroom, the voice of mirth 
 And the voice of gladness? 
 
 Senator: 
 You remember the wonderful prophet that gave 
 Command: "Sun be thou still upon Gibeon 
 And thou moon in the Valley of Ajalon"? 
 Mary : 
 Yes. 
 Senator: 
 That great event and our mighty love 
 Inspire me to command the moon to stand 
 
 •3— 
 
Still, for one year! And so our honeymoon 
 Will not end to-night! It has only begun; 
 And will last a year! 
 
 Mary: 
 I see! And so you plan for twelve 
 Moons in one! But suppose it should not stay 
 Its course, because I am of little faith? 
 
 Senator: 
 Even then, my dear, the moon will not 
 Go down in our hearts. For love is 
 Greater than faith. 
 
 Mary: 
 The pathos, the humor, I see, and admire 
 The admixture — the parable, such apt 
 Illustration! Truly a word fitly spoken 
 Is like pictures of silver in apples 
 Of gold! 
 
 Senator: 
 How many happy thoughts we get, from 
 The sacred record! "Sun be thou still upon 
 Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of 
 Ajalon"! 
 
 (Enter Vallmer.) 
 
 Vallmer. 
 Eloquent imagination, Senator! Sublimely so! 
 But you do not believe the sun 
 Stood still? Surely you do not believe 
 That story? 
 
 Senator: 
 Why not? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 The sun already stood still, as related 
 To the earth. Our planet, you know, revolves 
 Around the sun, at the rate of a 
 Thousand miles a minute; and on its 
 Own axis, it distances the cannon ball! 
 
 4— 
 
You certainly do not believe there was 
 A wreck of matter and crash of worlds? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; I do not believe that Mars, 
 Neptune and Uranus were thrown out of 
 Gear; nor Jupiter; nor Saturn; nor any 
 Other star for that matter. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Hoiw science is dissolving those old wives' 
 Fables! It is a good story though! 
 The writer had a fine imagination! 
 Very fine! 
 
 Senator: 
 But, my dear friend, I do not think 
 It is a fable. The sun as I view the 
 Record, seemed to be stayed, by reason 
 Of the greater refraction of its rays, through 
 Density of the air, miraculously increased; 
 And under the law of faith; it was recorded 
 According to the conception of the amazed 
 Eye witnesses. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Along some such line, I suppose, you 
 Would account for the intervention of the 
 Star of Bethlehem, without any disturbance of 
 The astronomical equilibrium? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, methinks, that was simply optimism 
 At iwork; or clothed in a luminosity 
 Like that of a star. 
 
 Vallmer. 
 So. you believe all the stories in 
 The Bible? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, I believe in some sense or other, 
 They are all true. 
 
 Vallmer. 
 Not the flood-story? 
 
 — 5— 
 
Senator: 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Vallmer. 
 
 Daniel and the lions? 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Vallmer. 
 
 The fish-story? 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Yes. 
 Vallmer. 
 One more test, Senator: The rib-story — 
 You draiw the line there? Surely you 
 Do not believe that tale? 
 
 John and Julia (entering): 
 We do. 
 John: 
 Of course we do! Here is my lost 
 Item of anatomy! I have just found it! 
 My name is written there! J-O-H-N! 
 
 Mary (to Julia) : 
 Why, Julia dear, when did this happen? 
 This is the first I have heard of 
 Your engagement! 
 
 Julia (mirthfully): 
 Just a few moments since. John has been 
 A suitor, importunate, during the past year; 
 But I could never gain the consent 
 Of my mind. To-night, however, he claimed, 
 If any such letters were there, they 
 Were his; and of course, I had to go 
 With the lost property! (All laugh.) 
 
 Mary (to John) : 
 I am afraid you were drawing upon 
 Your imagination, when you thought you 
 Found those letters. 
 
 ■6— 
 
John: 
 Make examination for yourself. 
 
 Mary: 
 May be your prejudice or passion affects 
 Your persusion. 
 
 John: 
 Well, they ought to be there, if they 
 Are not there. 
 
 Julia: 
 Yes, they ought to be there! And I 
 Have heard Mr. Vallmer say that, in law, 
 Whatever ought to be is considered as being; 
 And his fine judicial mind, is not 
 To be denied. (All laugh.) (Exit Vallmer.) 
 
 Senator: 
 And so you twain have found the 
 Crystal river. 
 
 John and Julia? 
 Where is the crystal river? 
 Senator: 
 Where true love is, there is the crystal river. 
 
 All. 
 Where true love is, there is the crystal river. 
 
 Mary (to Julia) : 
 Your love-story is very beautiful. Pray 
 It may not end like a novel, 
 Or a play. 
 
 Julia: 
 Why so? 
 Mary: 
 They all end with marriage. 
 
 Senator: 
 I would not heed the vagaries of 
 The novelist or play-wright, my dear. The Bible 
 Says: "Wives, love your husbands." 
 
 Mary: 
 It is not written so expressly. "Husbands love 
 Your wives" is the way it is written. 
 
Senator: 
 Why, as it seems to you, was no 
 Express command given that iwife should love 
 Husband? 
 
 Mary: 
 The wife does not need to be expressly 
 Told to love her husband. God has seen 
 To that by nature. The implication in the 
 Divine word, is enough for her. 
 
 Senator: 
 I am glad to hear you say so 
 My dear. Your mood caused me to fear 
 Our honeymoon was drawing to a close. 
 
 Mary: 
 It was only under a cloud. I love 
 Your romantic idea of twelve moons in 
 One. 
 
 Senator: 
 And now, my dear, may I ask you 
 To give your undivided attention for a 
 Moment, to the corollary. 
 Mary : 
 To-wit: 
 Senator: 
 To woo! 
 Mary: 
 Namely! 
 Senator: 
 The wedding trip should last as long as 
 The honeymoon. 
 
 Julia: 
 
 Do you hear that J-O-H-N? 
 
 John: 
 
 I hear it. 
 
 (Exit John and Julia laughing.) 
 
 Mary: 
 
 Well, now, my dear, as we are tD have 
 
Such delightful trip, what shall be the 
 Itinerary? I will go with you, wherever 
 The spirit of romance may lead, whether 
 Over the land or over the sea! 
 
 Senator- 
 Would it please you, my dear, to visit 
 The Holy Land? 
 
 Mary: 
 Why the Holy Land? 
 
 Senator: 
 I would like to see the Valley of 
 Ajalon. I want to stand on the identical 
 Ground, where the prophet stood, when the moon 
 Obeyed his strong command: "Sun be thou still 
 Upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of 
 Ajalon"! 
 
 Vallmer (entering): 
 Poor deluded man! How men will hug 
 Delusion! 
 
 Julia (re-entering with John): 
 The idea! That woman is an hallucination! 
 
 John : 
 Who said that? 
 Julia: 
 Mr. Vallmer seems to think so. 
 
 John : 
 If he had a girl he would not think 
 So! I opine that woman is a good thing 
 And iwedlock is a great proposition. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 My thought was misunderstood. And yet I 
 Warn you gentlemen, you must not expect 
 Too much of wife or sweetheart. Out of 
 Sight,, out of mind, with woman! Except 
 Present company! Every rule has its exception 
 And the exception proves the rule! 
 
 —9— 
 
Senator: 
 Heaven pity you, dear friend! You have 
 Lost faith, both in God and .woman. 
 
 Mary: 
 Were you never in love, Mr. Vallmer? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Yes, once upon a time. 
 Mary: 
 Why did you not marry? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I lost my heart, but not my head. 
 A man must lose both his head 
 And his heart to get married! 
 
 (Exit John and Julia laughing.) 
 Mary: 
 In your bitterness toward woman, you 
 Do not include your mother? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I have no recollection of my mother. 
 She died while I was in infancy. 
 
 Senator: 
 So. you grew up, without being trained 
 In the nurture and admonition of 
 Divinity? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I iwas never under, even the amiable 
 Superstition of Santa Claus. I have heard 
 Of the laughter of a child, on its first 
 Discovery of filled stockings, but never witnessed 
 Such an incident. 
 
 Senator: 
 No recollection of any maternal care? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 None whatever. 
 
 Senator: 
 How much will be charged to environment 
 In the final round up! 
 
 —1-0— 
 
Vallmer: 
 It is the business of man to conquer 
 His surroundings. 
 
 Senator: 
 But in his early minority he is the creature 
 Of circumstance. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, Senator, I will be glad to take 
 These questions up with you, when we 
 Meet again. But I must bid you 
 Good by now. I leave romance for Egypt. 
 To-morrow 
 
 Mary (smiling) : 
 Curiosity, you know, is the name of woman. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I am going to find rest in the 
 Solitude of the Pyramids, and enjoy a 
 Quiet visit with the Sphinx. It does not 
 Vex you with questions about the future. 
 It lets you do all the talking and all 
 The thinking. 
 
 Senator: 
 Silence is vocal if we listen well 
 To that monument of a civilization 
 That flourished in the day, when the sun 
 And the moon stood still and watched 
 And wondered at its dying throes 
 And meaning, in an optimistic universe. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 If the lips of the Sphinx shall move 
 Or its eyes sparkle with life, I will believe 
 In the supernatural; otherwise not. 
 
 Senator: 
 What, dear friend, would enable you to believe 
 That Christ is risen and his eyes again 
 Shone with life? 
 
 —11— 
 
Vallmer: 
 
 Nothing, but to see him raised from the dead 
 Myself. 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Let me ask you as we part, to think 
 
 Over the fact that that doctrine would require 
 
 Him often to suffer. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I cannot help the severity of my 
 Position. I believe only what I see. 
 If the Sphinx should speak or shed 
 A tear for humanity, I will try and 
 Meet you in the Holy Land and tell 
 You about it. When do you start 
 On your twelve moon wedding trip? 
 
 Senator: 
 I am in the hands of my wife. 
 
 Mary: 
 I will be ready without delay. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well success to both of you and a 
 Happy voyage. But before iwe part, I 
 Would greatly appreciate a song from 
 A singer that has a voice so sweet 
 That she never needs to be coaxed 
 To sing. 
 
 Mary (smiling.) 
 What shall I sing? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 We will leave the selection to the Senator. 
 
 Senator: 
 Suppose you sing "The Thousand Million By-by" 
 My dear. It has often hushed me to sleep 
 And iwhen our friend is cradled in the sea, 
 He may think of it, and the love that 
 Turned the scale in my earliest recollections. 
 
 — 12— 
 
Mary: (Sings) 
 Mamma is rich, so very rich 
 In a dear little boy! 
 A thousand million dollars, — 
 A thousand million dollars, — 
 Could not buy 
 Such joy as she finds 
 In her dear little boy. 
 
 Dear little heart, so very dear; 
 
 Angels love mamma's boy! 
 
 A thousand million angels, — 
 
 A thousand million angels, — 
 
 Sing a song 
 
 Of the joy that she finds 
 
 In her dear little boy. 
 
 Close eyes so sweet, and go to sleep 
 
 Mamma's dear little boy! 
 
 A thousand million by-bys, — 
 
 A thousand million by-bys, — 
 
 By-o-by 
 
 Dear Lord send, in his love 
 
 To her dear little boy. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Such an exquisite little song! Almost thou 
 Persuadest me to be a Christian! 
 
 Senator: 
 First the blade, then the ear, then 
 The full corn in the ear! If the 
 Faith-life has begun in you, may an 
 Overruling Optimism fertilize it, by the 
 Decadence, abounding in the land of unbelief 
 You are about to visit. A dividend 
 Must finally be declared upon all the 
 Works of Omniscience. It rests with us 
 Whether iwe will be the full corn 
 In the ear, or serve as fertilization 
 In the field. 
 
 —13— 
 
Vallmer: 
 If I am abandoned to be fertilization 
 At the root of the tree, the fruit 
 Of the tree should not say to me 
 I am holier than thou. 
 
 Senator: 
 If it is vouchsafed to me to be 
 As fruit, in the divine vineyard, I 
 Would not, and could not cast the 
 First stone at any sinner. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What was written in the dust or sand 
 In that case? 
 
 Senator: 
 I do not know. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What did that procedure mean? 
 
 Senator: 
 I am not sure that I know that. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 It is refreshing to find a religionist 
 That does not know everything. 
 
 Senator: 
 We are all finite. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, dear friends, farewell! or as they 
 Say in France: Au revoir! 
 
 Senator: 
 We say both to you dear friend; 
 Fare you well and au revoir! 
 A thousand million by-bys, — 
 By-o-by 
 
 Dear Lord send, in his love 
 To our dear — very dear friend! 
 
 (Exit Vallmer.) 
 Mary: 
 Oh that we had the wisdom to win 
 
 ■14- 
 
That gifted soul to repentance! I iwonder 
 If he will ever seek and find 
 The living God? 
 
 Senator: 
 There is a terrible implication in the 
 Text: "Seek ye the Lord, while he may 
 Be found." 
 
 Mary: 
 But over against that implication is the text: 
 "Him that cometh unto me, I will 
 In no wise cast out." 
 
 Senator: 
 He may never come! The tree gets its 
 Inclination from its nurture! How much! 
 Oh, how much! I owe to my mother 
 For the seed sown in tender years! 
 
 (Stage Suddenly darkened.) 
 
 Kinetoscopic Views: 
 
 (1) Babe on its mothers breast. 
 
 (2) A little child playing among flowers. 
 (3). Sunday school filing from church. 
 
 (4.) The beloved disciple John outrunning a co- 
 disciple, on the morning of the resurrection of our Lord 
 to verify the news. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 [Scene: Train standing in field. The sun is two- 
 thirds eclipsed by the moon. Senator, conductor and 
 brakeman are standing by train.] 
 Mary (Sings) 
 
 I sing of a union — a twonderful union — 
 
 Of a nation born in a day! 
 
 Of a land and its throne — 
 
 Its marvelous throne; 
 
 And a river of peace — a pure crystal stream — 
 
 ■15- 
 
That flows o'er its hills and valleys 
 Through the hearts of a dear blessed people, 
 
 1 sing of a freedom — a wonderful freedom — 
 
 Bought by the blood, shed by her sons! 
 
 And the deeds of these men — 
 
 Their valorous deeds; 
 
 And liberty's cost — a pure precious stream — 
 
 That reddened its hills and valleys, 
 
 For a union beloved by the people. 
 
 I sing of a peace — a wonderful peace — 
 
 Of an age of peace, — forevermore! 
 
 Of a land, just and true — 
 
 Its victory great; 
 
 Through Him that is risen — the Prince of the 
 
 peace — 
 The abounding peace, — in the land 
 Teaming iwith the wealth of its people. 
 
 I sing of a Father — an infinite Father, 
 
 Of a people, garnered by him! 
 
 To a land that he loved 
 
 Enlightening the world! 
 
 And a leader of kings — a teacher of peace, 
 
 Through peace o'er its hills and valleys 
 
 In a union beloved by its people. 
 
 Senator (Advancing) 
 See! my dear, the sun is eclipsed by 
 The moon! They both seem to be standing 
 Still; as though they had paused awhile — 
 As in olden time — to listen to 
 Your beautiful song of peace! 
 
 Mary: 
 They have the music of the spheres, and 
 Methinks, a voice of clay can have but 
 Little charm for them. 
 
 —16— 
 
Senator: 
 Voice of clay! I marvel at the great 
 And iwonderful God that can make 
 Such a voice as that out of clay! 
 
 Mary: 
 It may be that all music is akin 
 Whether celestial or terrestial. We will view 
 It so, if by faith and song we 
 Can prolong our honeymoon and wedding 
 Trip, a year! 
 
 Senator. 
 I have even a greater plan, my dear! 
 In our journey around the iworld, let 
 Us gain inspiration by which to stay 
 The moon, until death shall intervene, 
 And thus our honeymoon may last 
 Till then! 
 
 Mary: 
 A lifetime honeymoon! You seem to be 
 A quiver of surprises! 
 
 Senator. 
 If we can evolve a year of domestic 
 Happiness from a mere satelite, surely the 
 Earth can be depended upon to supply us 
 Down to our golden wedding; as it is 
 Eighty times larger than the moon, and 
 Should do that much more for us. 
 
 Mary: 
 The pathos and the humor! You break 
 My heart, and yet I laugh! 
 But what makes it so dark? 
 
 Senator. 
 This is the instant of total eclipse. 
 
 Mary: 
 What romantic thing will happen next? It 
 Suggests the fancy of the appearance of 
 The moon to order at midday, 
 
 ■17- 
 
Swayed by your magic wand! 
 
 (The train is suddenly lighted with electric lights.) 
 (Enter Dead Eye and Comrade, coming down from 
 train.) 
 
 Dead Eye (to Comrade) 
 I have an impression of disaster to 
 This train! My dream was bad last night, 
 And something tells me: "Woe is this 
 Train!" And see! The sun is eclipsed 
 By the moon! That bodes ill to this train! 
 And the engine is killed! Strange 
 Things cluster here and tread one 
 Another's heels! 
 
 Comrade. 
 Imagination makes cowards of us all. 
 
 Dead Eye 
 But see that comet rising above yonder 
 Horizon! What shall w r e say of its 
 Appearance at this juncture? 
 
 Comrade (to Senator) 
 How iwould you opine in such a 
 Case, dear sir? This ominous comet seems 
 To pile perplexity upon the gloom of 
 This premonition! 
 
 Senator. 
 We must beware of superstition, dear friends! 
 Both science and revelation recognize that 
 Dreams often come through a multitude 
 Of cares; and mere coincidence is without 
 Significance, in scientific research. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 I believe in premonition, sir. 
 
 Senator. 
 We should certainly shun such an idea 
 As worthy only of the dark ages! 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 I have heard the gentle tapping of 
 
 —18— 
 
Something invisible; and seen slate writing; 
 And been in trances! 
 
 Senator. 
 Holy Writ is all the slate-writing we need 
 In the parable I sing. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 There was writing on the wall, at 
 One time! 
 
 Senator. 
 There is no need for the appearance 
 Of that terrible hand in our day. The 
 Bible is able to make us wise unto 
 Salvation; and that is sufficient. Let 
 Well enough alone is a good legal 
 Maxim. It will save us from apparitions 
 And foolish notions. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 The Mormons had a new revelation. 
 
 Senator. 
 When congress spoke they came out 
 With still another. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 Mahomet received the Koran from heaven. 
 
 Senator. 
 A tree is known by its fruits. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 Swedenborg got an inspired interpretation 
 Of the bible. 
 
 Senator. 
 It is harder to understand Swedenborg 
 Than it is the sacred writings, themselves. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 Who then will interpret the bible for us? 
 
 Senator: 
 Interpret it for yourself, after getting 
 All the light you can from good books, 
 Your pastor and other able teachers. 
 
 —19— 
 
Dead Eye: 
 What is your objection, sir, to a special 
 Warning from heaven? 
 
 Senator. 
 Under the law of faith, a dire premonition 
 May bear fruit, though it lias no 
 Foundation, other than the baseless fabric 
 Of a dream. It is the disposition 
 Of God to deal with us, according to 
 Our faith, and we should be careful 
 In iwhat we believe. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 We cannot help what we believe. 
 
 Senator. 
 We have the right to use common sense. 
 God loves a reasonable man. 
 Dead Eye: 
 Dreams often come to pass. 
 
 Senator. 
 We should regard such a case as 
 A coincidence, rather than on acount of 
 The dream. The admission of a dream 
 In evidence, as to future joy or sorrow 
 Treats God as though he is unreasonable; 
 And if our God is unreasonable, we 
 Must be unreasonable, ourselves; as a stream 
 Cannot rise higher than its source. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 How does seeking new revelation treat God 
 As unreasonable? 
 
 Senator. 
 The bible contains all that a reasonable 
 God can say to this world. When 
 We have exhausted that message, it will be 
 Time enough to seek another. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 What then is our guide as to the future? 
 
 —20— 
 
Senator. 
 Hope is the only wise prospection of 
 Specific future events. This quality is exhilerating 
 When founded on faith in divine grace 
 And loving kindness; especially so, when 
 It is strengthened by the signs of the times. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 What is hope? 
 
 Senator: 
 Hope is the aspiration of faith, 
 Seeking realization. It denotes the 
 Optimistic spirit as contra-distinguished from 
 Pessimism and despair. It anticipates the 
 Genial spring in the storms of winter, and 
 The mildness of autumn in the heat 
 Of summer, and aiwaits the evolution 
 Of love in time of pain; while wondering 
 At its tracery, in sorrow, as well as 
 In time of joy. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 What are these signs of the times? 
 
 Senator: 
 The indications in the general providences; 
 Such as the red and lowering sky; A 
 Strong political current; the bloom of orchards; 
 Or the ordinary course of nature, when 
 We have met its requirements. We plow 
 In hope, sow in hope, but God gives 
 The increase. We are here to use 
 The forces at our command. Do the best 
 You can, from day to day, and leave 
 The evolution of your life, to divine 
 Supervision, If the railway operatives were 
 All under the influence of this thought 
 Our hope of safe journey, would be 
 Much stronger. No doubt, whatever, would arise 
 To disturb our peace, and our hope 
 Would approach near the degree of moral certainty. 
 
 —21— 
 
Dead Eye: 
 How many degrees has hope? 
 
 Senator: 
 The forecast of hope has three degrees of 
 Strength: Moral certainty, probability and 
 Possibility. We are justified in acting upon 
 Our anticipation, in either of these cases. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 But our specific hopes sometimes fail. 
 
 Senator: 
 Our specific desire may not always be 
 Realized. But love never fails; and 
 Love is greater than hope; and the 
 Greater includes the less. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 Why does love never fail? 
 Senator: 
 Love born of faith in a risen Redeemer 
 Endureth all things and submits to 
 Or adopts the divine will under all 
 Circumstances; and this oneness of the human 
 Will with the divine, precludes the predication 
 Of failure; for God either does or suffers 
 All things; and his ways and wisdom 
 Are as good or better than our 
 Projections. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 What relation has a risen Redeemer 
 To this hope? 
 
 Senator: 
 When the fact that Christ is risen, is 
 Established, it intensifies the conviction 
 That grace, mercy, loving-kindness, salvation 
 And helpfulness are attributes of 
 The living God; and our hope is well pleasing 
 To him, when it involves such conception 
 Of the Divine nature. 
 
 ■22- 
 
Dead Eye: 
 Have you any samples of hope on hand? 
 
 Senator: 
 I always have some of the wine on 
 My side-board. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 I fain would sample it, where the 
 Ingredients comprise moral certainty? 
 
 Senator: 
 I think it is the revealed intention 
 Of the Almighty that those who die 
 In the faith of the risen Christ 
 Shall survive and enjoy the better and 
 Enduring substance in the life to come. 
 
 Comrade: 
 That tastes good! It seems to be fermented! 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, it is based upon the idea 
 Of the Lord's death, arrested by his 
 Resurrection. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 What in probability? 
 
 Senator: 
 
 I look for safe journey. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 That lacks both age and strength. 
 
 Senator: 
 It is slightly fermented however with the 
 Possibility of death. 
 
 Deavl Eye: 
 Well, now, if you please, we would taste 
 Some of your unfermented elixir? 
 
 Senator: 
 I hope for the development of a 
 National political movement, based upon the idea 
 Of federal intervention in our railway system. 
 
 ■23 
 
Dead Eye: 
 There is nothing in the signs of the times 
 To make that probable? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; hut it is possible; and iwould be 
 In harmony with the truth. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 We are prohibitionists. But this seems to be 
 Innocuous. 
 
 Senator: 
 Drink, friends! Drink abundantly! 
 
 Dead Eye (as one testing): 
 This seems to be something in the nature 
 Of the wine of astonishment! 
 
 Comrade: 
 Does your hope involve the idea of 
 Government-ownership of the railway companies? 
 
 Senator: 
 Nobody ever has, or even can own a 
 Railway company. It is a mere legal 
 Entity, in possession of a franchise. 
 To go through toiwns, cities and farms; 
 And across highways: and kill 
 The unwary who fail to stop and look 
 And listen. 
 
 Comrade: 
 I thought the stockholders owned the company. 
 
 Senator: 
 The stockholders only possess the franchise of 
 Assembling in town meeting, so to speak, 
 And electing a board of directors. 
 
 Comrade: 
 What about the dividends? 
 
 Senator: 
 A stockholder merely has a right of 
 Action against the treasurer of the company 
 For his dividend after its declaration. But 
 
 —24— 
 
The board cannot be compelled to declare 
 
 A dividend; as it is a free moral 
 
 Agent, in possession of a certain degree of 
 
 Sovereignty belonging to the people, and is 
 
 Delegated to the board in trust for 
 
 The people — pro bono publico — the prosperity 
 
 Of the stockholders being a mere incident 
 
 Of the situation; and often a very uncertain 
 
 Incident. 
 
 Passenger: 
 
 What railway policy do you favor? 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to me that congress in 
 Furtherance of the federal postal interests 
 Should provide that all railways 
 Shall constitute postal routes; and in the 
 Interest of efficiency in that service 
 And the general welfare of the people 
 And the promotion of national police, 
 Peace and prosperity, ordain reasonable freight 
 Rates and a universal moderate passenger rate, 
 Without racial discrimination; and subsidize 
 The iweaker roads, by liberal mail contracts, 
 Sufficient to make up the loss, if any, 
 Arising from governmental intervention. 
 
 Comrade: 
 Would you regard two cents per mile 
 As a reasonable passenger rate? 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to me that a higher rate 
 Than that unduly infringes upon the poetic 
 Quality in travel — the holy spirit of 
 Poetry being the blossom and fragrance 
 Of hope, the test of justice and secret 
 of grace with God and man. 
 
 Comrade: 
 How would you secure obedience to the law? 
 
 —25— 
 
Senator: 
 By encouraging the stockholders, especially 
 The minority, to issue their proxies 
 To a federal bureau; and a tax of 
 Ten per cent upon all other railway 
 Proxies, would serve as a stimulus 
 In that direction. Along this line, it 
 Would be wise for the government, 
 To go into the market and buy this 
 Class of stocks, from time to time, and 
 Re-sell them, among the people, reserving 
 The right of proxy. Pending the development 
 Of such a system, congress should provide for 
 The appointment of a receiver by the court, 
 Whenever a railway is operated, unreasonably 
 Whether as concerns the employees, the public, 
 Or the stockholders. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 What iwould you hope to accomplish in all this? 
 
 Senator: 
 Under such a policy, it seems to me 
 The mails would be safer; accidents would be 
 Less liable to occur; racial discrimination 
 Would disappear; and justice iwould obtain 
 Everywhere to all classes interested. 
 I think the federal government and our 
 Railway system should get married and thus 
 Mutually conserve each other. The government 
 Would in this way recover the rib of 
 Sovereignty, it has lost in its deep sleep 
 During the past hundred years. 
 
 Dead Eye: 
 Your optimism, dear sir, verges upon 
 An Utopian dream. And now that the 
 moon has gone off the sun, your wine 
 Seems to lack the ice of reasonableness 
 Out here in this summer solstice. I 
 
 —26— 
 
Am still under impresesion of disaster 
 To this train, and I iwill do violence 
 To rny faith If I ride farther upon it. 
 
 Comrade: 
 I shall always, dear sir, remember your 
 Courtesy; and will consider your views 
 At a more convenient season, but am 
 Constrained to go iwith my friend. 
 (Exeunt.) 
 Mary (alarmed) : 
 Suppose, dear husband, I should refuse 
 To go on this train, in view of 
 The dire thoughts and dreams of these 
 Friends? I, myself, was troubled last night 
 In my sleep, and thought of Pilate 
 And the strange dream of his wife, 
 And her message to him! 
 
 Senator: 
 Beware, my dear, of evolving a new Bible; 
 Which would be involved, if we are 
 To have a new set of divine communications 
 To men. One God, one Bible and 
 One wife are enough at one time. 
 
 Mary: 
 Your thought is beautiful, dear! One God, 
 One Bible and one wife! And yet, 
 Accident may occur to this train? 
 
 Senator (humorously): 
 It ivvould give the surgeons or undertakers 
 A chance, possibly! Or the wrecking crew! 
 It is an ill-wind that blows nobody 
 Any good! 
 
 Mary: 
 Your fortitude shaves close between grim humor 
 And mirth. 
 
 Senator (rallyingly) : 
 It is better, my dear, to use parables 
 You are familiar with. You have no 
 
 ■27- 
 
Experimental knowledge of a close shave 
 You know! 
 
 Mary (smiling in her perturbation): 
 
 A merry heart doeth good like a 
 Medicine. 
 
 Senator: 
 Life is truth! And humor is the oil 
 To make it smooth; or light up 
 Hope; which like the search-light adorns 
 And cheers the night! 
 
 Mary: 
 Your tongue is like the pen of a 
 Ready writer! And yet the engines sometimes 
 Clash! 
 
 Senator: 
 You must not let your fears and 
 Fancies make you morbid, my dear! 
 Come, say the word! Shall we go 
 Or stay? 
 
 Mary: 
 If faiths collide and 
 Love is bruised 
 And by and by 
 Should heart grow faint; 
 Or hope is wrecked 
 And love may die; 
 Or hope is gone 
 And love is dead, 
 Let a body cry! 
 
 Senator: 
 We should not cry, my dear, before 
 We are hurt, nor be in bondage 
 To fear! 
 
 Mary: 
 Do you leave it to me, to say 
 Whether we shall go or stay? 
 
 —28— 
 
Senator: 
 In immaterial things; and things not vital, 
 Though important, my wife can have 
 Her iway! Let my love leave me 
 And not me , my love! If we cannot 
 Ride together, iwe will walk together 
 Until we see eye to eye. 
 
 Mary: 
 Whither thou goest I will go; and 
 Thy people shall be mine; and thy God 
 Shall be my God! And I will be 
 Your one wife! 
 
 Senator: 
 We will bank upon the divine promises 
 And the unsearchable riches revealed there! 
 We have a surety that could justify 
 As rightful heirs of all things, and 
 We are joint heirs with him! 
 
 Mary: 
 I marvel at your sublime faith! 
 
 Senator: 
 Why should our hearts be troubled, when 
 All things iwork together for good to them 
 That love God. This must he true 
 As God does or suffers all things. 
 
 Mary: 
 It must be, of course, that God is good. 
 
 Senator: 
 Nobody can doubt it who considers 
 The fruitful fields. Divine goodness must be 
 In all our thoughts of God or 
 Reason of things, our corner stone! 
 
 Mary: 
 Out of His goodness we build our 
 Hope of safe journey? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; station by station; one at a time. 
 This train cannot leave the track 
 
 —29— 
 
Beyond the next stop until it gets there. 
 We should not be like the man 
 W!ho suffered from a great deal of 
 Trouble he never had. Our hope is 
 Small, if it is not strong enough 
 To look beyond the next stop! 
 
 Mary: 
 You never forbode the future then? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; nor brood over the past! Sufficient 
 Unto the day is the the evil thereof, 
 Whether or no it proceeds from some sin. 
 
 Mary: 
 And so you have no fear? 
 
 Senator: 
 Perfect love, or a reasonably educated 
 Christianity casts out fear. 
 
 Mary: 
 All fear? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; except the fear of God. We are 
 Taught to fear Him. 
 
 Mary: 
 What does perfect love do with the fear 
 Of the Lord? 
 
 Senator: 
 The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
 Of wisdom. But the end of wisdom 
 Or all-round Christianity transforms 
 This fear into reverence; like galvanizing 
 Iron into the Steele rail. All other 
 Fear is cast out like the debris of ore. 
 In the spirit of unreserved submission 
 We say: The divine will be done; as 
 God does or suffers all things and 
 Whatever is, is right. 
 
 Mary: 
 Except sin! 
 
 —30— 
 
Senator: 
 Sin is derived from the idea of 
 Missing the truth. It is not an existing 
 Thing, practically speaking; but belongs 
 To the realm of the past, as an act 
 Done wilfully or ignorantly. The 
 Consequences of sin are and can 
 Only be in the present; and they 
 Are right; for they are just and 
 God is just. The quality of justice 
 Is everywhere recognized, — in the church — 
 In judicature — in the press — and 
 Last, but not least, in the theater. 
 
 Mary: 
 Does the theater teach justice? 
 
 Senator: 
 The theater is a terrible temple of 
 Justice. Let no guilty man escape, seems 
 To be the law of the theater. 
 
 Mary: 
 Why do you think so? 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Why, see how we crown the memory 
 Of our great martyrs; but execrate the 
 Assassins. We shotw the latter no mercy 
 On the stage. The soul that sinneth 
 It shall die. Notwithstanding, they have 
 Paid the penalty, their execution is 
 Perennial on the stage. Although elsewhere 
 We iwalk gently over the ashes of 
 The clear! . 
 
 Mary: 
 I feel just now under the spell and 
 Inspiration of what you say, it would not 
 Be so, if I had the ordering of 
 The play. 
 
 —31— 
 
Senator: 
 How would you evolve the scenario 
 Of the play, my dear? 
 
 Mary: 
 What does scenario mean? 
 
 Senator: 
 The outline and current of the story. 
 
 Mary: 
 Methinks, in my scenario, I .would wash 
 Away the mark from the brow of Cain 
 In the blood of the great Atonement! 
 And the direful spot from the hand 
 Of David, who killed the husband of 
 His paramour; and of Judas, who 
 Betrayed his Master; and of the apostle 
 Wlho consented to the murder of Stephen, before 
 His conversion. And then I iwould come 
 On down to Burr and Arnold and 
 Place them at the altar with Brutus. 
 And next to them the assassins of 
 Our martyred presidents would kneel; and 
 All look up and behold this same 
 Great sacrifice for sin; and so; be 
 Absolved, through remission of sins that 
 Are past! And thus the drama would 
 Have happy ending. 
 
 (Sound, of aproaching relief engine.) 
 
 Senator: 
 Your representation might be hissed, my dear, 
 By some who do not understand such 
 Things. 
 
 Mary: 
 If that should occur. I would sprinkle 
 The stage with sand. 
 
 Senator: 
 Dancing iwould not be in harmony with 
 Such a scene! And besides, my dear, 
 It is not usual for a star to dance 
 On the stage! 
 
 —32 — 
 
Mary : 
 I would not dance, my dear! But 
 Write in the sand, while they were 
 Hissing me! 
 
 Senator: 
 Why would you do that? 
 
 Mary : 
 A malediction written in the sand 
 Would soon be washed away by 
 The rain. 
 
 Senator: 
 I marvel no longer, my dear, at our 
 Hope of honeymoon down to fullness of years! 
 God is blessing me, in you, and on account 
 Of you, because you abound in such great 
 Compassion, mercy and forgiveness! My 
 
 heart burns 
 Within me, as I realize the significance 
 Of your thought! 
 
 Conductor: 
 All aboard! 
 
 (Engine-bell rings.) 
 (Senator and Mary enter the train.) 
 (Stage suddenly darkened) 
 (Kinetoscopic view of swiftly moving train.) 
 (Stage suddenly lighted) 
 (Operator rushes out on platform of village station.) 
 Operator (to friends standing by) 
 O friends! I have made a terrible 
 Mistake! I misunderstood the message and 
 Missed its truth! I read it; carelessly! 
 There will be an awful wreck! Hundreds 
 Will be killed! The shrieks of the 
 Wounded! The widows and orphans that 
 Will mourn! (Faints and falls.) 
 (Stage sudenly darkened) 
 (Kinetoscopic view of collision of passenger trains) 
 Curtain. 
 
 —33— 
 
Kinetoscopic Prologue to Third Act. 
 
 (1.) Train crossing the bridge at Niagara Falls. 
 
 (2.) Congress in Joint Convention. 
 
 (3.) The Senate in session. 
 
 (4.) The Supreme Court in session. 
 
 (5.) The President and Cabinet in session. 
 
 (6.) The Return of the Navy. 
 
 (7.) Passengers entering ocean steamer. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 [Scene: State-Room of Atlantic Steamer — Storm 
 is rising.] 
 
 Mary( sings): 
 
 If hope is but a bubble 
 
 It is a pleasing toy 
 
 And every passing trouble 
 
 But gives us as to joy. 
 
 Then seize the passing treasure 
 
 In light of evening star 
 
 Awake the notes of pleasure 
 
 Along the sweet guitar! 
 
 Senator ( entering ) : 
 That is beautiful music, my dear! Very fine 
 Indeed! But will you allow me to criticise 
 The sentiment? 
 
 Mary: 
 
 How would you criticise it? 
 Senator: 
 Hope is not a bubble, to those 
 Who have faith in divine loving kindness. 
 When founded on this faith, it is not 
 A toy; but an anchor to the soul 
 With which it enters the veil of the future. 
 
 Pilot: 
 Ship-a-hoy! 
 
 Distant Response: 
 Ship-a-hoy! 
 
 —34 — 
 
Mary : 
 Ho;w would you make it read? 
 Senator: 
 If hope of heart, is anchor 
 In every ship-a-hoy 
 Then every passing trouble 
 But gives us as to joy. 
 Mary: 
 That does not fit my mood so well. 
 
 Senator: 
 If you will analyze your song, my dear, 
 You will see you did not really mean 
 What you sang. 
 
 Mary ; 
 How so? 
 
 Senator: 
 You sing of efferverscence. 
 Mary: 
 Wihat is the hope of which you sing? 
 
 Senator: 
 It relates not only to the better and 
 Enduring substance in the life to come; 
 But has the promise also, of this life — - 
 The home, the vineyard, — the children play in: 
 
 round— 
 The roses, the bees, and the apple-blossoms — 
 The comforts we have in civilization! For 
 These things are not bubbles, nor vanity, 
 Nor insanity, when viewed as gifts from 
 The spirit of love. The ebulition of 
 The inauguration is not all there is, 
 Of the presidency. Life is real and 
 Earnest; as it comes from God 
 Who is earnest and true! 
 Mary: 
 Your thoughts and parables are too deep 
 For me this evening, my dear. I am 
 All at sea! 
 
 —3 5— 
 
Senator (humorously): 
 I am at sea too, my dear. We are 
 Both at sea! 
 
 Mary (cheering up): 
 Yes, and this state-room is fine. 
 
 Senator: 
 Very fine indeed! If you have a lady 
 With you, .when you travel, you get 
 Well-treated. 
 
 Alary: 
 Yes, even if we do sometimes meet 
 With a wreck. 
 
 Senator: 
 I was just thinking of our collision. 
 It is a great wonder that none of 
 The pasengers were injured. It iwas 
 A very narrow escape! 
 
 Mary (dryly): 
 Yes, it was a close shave. 
 
 Senator (smilingly): 
 Now, my dear, you must not throw- 
 That tup to me! I admit you know 
 More about a close shave, than you did. 
 But humor aside, while our hope was 
 Not realized as specifically as we planned, 
 Yet it did not fail. We escaped 
 Without injury and came through on the 
 Next train. So we are here and 
 That incident is closed. 
 
 Mary: 
 And we are prisoners of hope that 
 The next stop is far away! 
 Senator: 
 But innder the same divine supervision 
 Of the evolution of our way, more 
 Wonderful that the way of the eagle 
 In the air. 
 
 —36— 
 
Mary- 
 It is grand indeed to explore, but 
 Never exhaust the mystery of the sea. 
 I often think of those who would 
 Enjoy the voyage across the sea 
 But are not able to take it. 
 Senator: 
 In your thought and consideration of 
 The poor or unfortunate you must not 
 Be morbid, my dear. God has use 
 For the strong and the weak — the rich 
 And the poor. 
 
 Mary: 
 He preached the gospel to the poor. 
 
 Senator: 
 And made his grave with the rich. 
 
 Mary : 
 He told the rich young man to sell 
 All he had and give to the poor. 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to me that that was a test 
 Of the young man, analogous to the 
 Command to Abraham to sacrifice his son. 
 
 Mary: 
 You think that is not of general application? 
 
 Senator: 
 No more than the command to sacrifice 
 The son of the patriarch. The sacrifice 
 Of children is certainly not required 
 In our time. 
 
 Mary: 
 It is easier for a camel to go 
 Through the eye of a needle, than for a 
 Rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Senator: 
 That is only a half truth. The fact is 
 That nobody can enter that kingdom 
 Except through divine grace. The rich have 
 
Less conscious need to seek and find 
 God, unless they are afflicte I; and after 
 Conversion, more readily become apostates 
 For the same reason. 
 
 Mary: 
 Philanthropy is a christian grace, is 
 It not? 
 
 Senator: 
 The rich man that is liberal to 
 His employees, and reasonably remembers 
 The poor, considering his other obligations 
 And benevolences, will certainly never 
 Regret, it, and will come more within 
 The purview of divine mercy, himself. His 
 Appetite will be better, his food more 
 Nourishing; and grace will come in upon 
 Him, that money cannot buy. The omnipresent 
 God himself is of the essence of life, 
 Rather than abundant possessions. They are 
 Not vital, but mere things added 
 To the indwelling vital kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Mary: 
 Do you think there is really such a thing 
 As divine intervention in the affairs 
 Of men, in our time? 
 
 Senator: 
 I have no doubt about it whatever. 
 
 Ma ry : 
 Why then should one be rich and another 
 Poo: ? Or one train go through and another 
 Fail ? 
 
 Senator: 
 Your thought is answered, my dear, in the 
 Parable of the men who had borne 
 The heat and burden of the day. They 
 Made complaint that the eleventh-hour 
 Hand was paid as much as they; and 
 The capitalist answered: "Shall I not do 
 
 -3S 
 
What I will with mine awn"? Along 
 This line Omnipotence seems to vindicate 
 Himself in the distribution of gifts. "Who 
 Hath first given to him and it shall be 
 Recompensed to him again"? 
 
 Mary: 
 Do you think capitalists have the right 
 To do what they will with their own? 
 
 Senator: 
 Certainly; otherwise they would not be 
 Created in the image of divine sovereignty 
 Or be exponents of that quality in God. 
 
 Mary: 
 The Labor Union does not seem to take 
 That view of it. 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to me that order is working 
 At the wrong end of the line. God 
 Has set the governmental power of taxation 
 Over against the power of capital. The 
 Power of the government to tax is 
 Unlimited and it has the right to do 
 W|hat it will with its own. The 
 Remedy it seems to me is a pension 
 In fullness of years for faithful labor, 
 From the funds derived in the exercise of 
 This power of taxation of capital. 
 (Flashing of lightning.) 
 Mary: 
 Is a pension in old age due to labor? 
 
 Senator: 
 Every man in this country is subject 
 To be called in the Posse Comitatus 
 And the military and naval service. 
 The power of the government inheres in 
 This fact; and it owes something to 
 Each atom of that power. If the 
 
 3 — 
 
Hand is there ready for the job 
 
 He is entitled to reward, whether the 
 
 Works start or not. 
 
 Mary: 
 If I am not getting in too deep 
 Water for the laity, I am wondering how 
 Such taxation of capital could be 
 Accomplished? 
 
 Senator: 
 What the husband knows, the wife knows 
 Or should know; for they are one you 
 Know. It seems to me that the 
 Federal government should gather into its 
 Treasury, the excess, above a certain limit, 
 Of all annual incomes, whether arising from 
 Legacies, inheritances, gifts, business, or 
 Otherwise; and the federal receipt should be 
 Credited upon any similar tax, levied 
 By the state. 
 
 Mary: 
 Is there any hope for such an idea? 
 
 Senator: 
 I think our civilization is likely to find 
 Some such remedy as that, and thus 
 Jetty that branch of the crystal river 
 Against plutocratic tendency! Wealth swollen 
 Beyond a certain limit previously ascertained 
 And defined, should be carried off, in 
 A race like this to the federal mill; 
 And thus save the low lands of 
 Business life from devastation! Two thousand 
 Years from now, they will wonder at our 
 Billionaire-breeding civilization ! 
 
 Mary: 
 You are not a socialist? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; but a million men gave their lives for 
 This country! Is money more precious than 
 
 — 40— 
 
Life? The son of Lord Roberts was worth 
 More to him that the Transvaal! O my son, 
 Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! Would 
 God, I had died for thee, O Absalom, 
 My son, my son! 
 
 Mary: 
 
 Would you curb the financial genius? 
 
 Senator: 
 
 No; but rather make him a conduit 
 Into the federal treasury, so far as 
 His superfluous accumulation is concerned. 
 It should be the night of financial 
 Ambition to reach this overflow limit 
 And membership in that patriotic roll 
 Of honor; unless the happier course 
 Be chosen of gloryfying Gorl by such- 
 Good work as the support of the gospel. 
 And various benevolences and mercies, and 
 Thus keeping below the federal outlet, except 
 Where the wealth comes in like a flood. 
 
 Mary: 
 Does not the expression of things taxable 
 In the constitution imply a limitation 
 Of the taxing power to those things? 
 
 Senator: 
 Why, my clear Portia, it imposes the 
 Duty of distributing the taxes over all 
 The express subjects of taxation, and 
 Thus lighten the burden upon all; 
 But implies no limitation on the 
 Taxing power inhering in nationality 
 Unless expressly prohibited. Besides, the 
 Development from a virtual confederacy 
 To a nation, by carving out new states 
 From virgin territory has taken away 
 All implications, wherever they militate 
 
 —41— 
 
Against the inherency of nationality. 
 But, my dear, where did you get that 
 Question? 
 
 Mary: 
 I read the newspapers. 
 
 Senator: 
 You do not believe all you read in 
 The newspapers? 
 
 Mary : 
 1 try to sift what I read 
 
 (Crash of lightning.) 
 
 Senator: 
 The storm is making you nervous, my dear! 
 I would not study these deep subjects 
 Too intently. Theophilus Thistle, the 
 Successful thistle sifter, in sifting a 
 Sieve full of unsifted thistles, thrust 
 Three thousand thistles through the 
 Thick of his thumb. 
 
 Mary : 
 I would like to be more successful 
 Than he was. I am trying to see 
 Whether capital can keep its three 
 Thousand ducats until labor is 
 Ready to die of old age? 
 
 Senator: 
 Render unto God his things; unto capital 
 Its things; unto Caesar his things; and 
 Unto labor its things. Suppose you sift 
 Along this line. 
 
 Mary: 
 What things has labor? It does not seem 
 To have much. 
 
 Senator: 
 His sleep is sweet and his appetite 
 Is good. He has friends and neighbors; 
 A grand country; and the church, if 
 
 — 42— 
 
He cares to avail himself of its 
 Advantages. Neither he ncr the rich : \\ ill take 
 Anything out of this world. We are all 
 On an equality in that respect. 
 
 Mary: 
 If such of us as are fitted to survive 
 In the other world, are to be there 
 Together, without a penny, it seems 
 To me we should do something for 
 The penniless here, rather thnn wait to begin 
 Friendship there. 
 
 Senator: 
 I love you for your sympathy for 
 The unfortunate and unrequited toil; 
 And we will plan together in that matter. 
 But come, my dear: do not worry 
 About the other world. We will not 
 Need money to pay hotel bills there. 
 We will be in Father's house, where there 
 Is music and dancing. 
 
 Mary: 
 What a beautiful thought: In Father's house, 
 Y\ here there is music and dancing. 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, my dear, it is so grand over 
 There, that I find myself, in my thoughts 
 In a close place. 
 
 Mary (smiling): 
 Another close shave, I suppose. 
 
 Senator: 
 You will not laugh at me? 
 Mary : 
 No; if I laugh at all, I am sure 
 It will be with you. 
 
 Senator: 
 Well, I find myself wondering, whether 
 I would rather stay here with you 
 
 — 43— 
 
Or go over on the other side of Paradise 
 And leave you here on this side 
 To bless some other man! 
 
 Mary: 
 You horrid creature! The idea that I 
 Could love another man! If I 
 Should die could you love another? 
 Senator (humorously): 
 It would not look well to remain 
 Single. It would appear as though my 
 First marriage was a failure. The grand 
 Success of this present wed-lock, it seems 
 To me would justify a second experimenx. 
 In the same direction, in the event of 
 The demise of either of us. 
 
 Alary (smiling) : 
 Did you ever read the story of 
 The man who undertook to shut the bees 
 Out cf his orchard, when in bloom? 
 
 Senator: 
 How was that? 
 
 Mary: 
 He did not succeed! 
 
 Senator: 
 Ha! ha! ha! Well proceed! 
 
 Mary: 
 I am trying to find how love 
 In a cottage, can survive without 
 Bread? 
 
 Senator*. 
 It cannot do it! But in the home 
 Of faithful labor the barrel of meal never 
 Exhausts and the cruise of oil fails not. 
 The dish however, should be sweetened; 
 As this is a land flowing with milk 
 And honey; and there is enough to go round 
 And should and will be distributed, 
 By the government, becoming a competitor 
 
 —44— 
 
In the market for labor, through devotion 
 Of its surplus revenues to public 
 Improvements, including rivers and 
 Harbors and highways. 
 
 (Crash of lightning.) 
 
 Mary: 
 Your platform looks good to me; and 
 I would vote for it, if I could vote. 
 
 Senator: 
 Yooi are represented through me, at 
 The ballot-box. By the act of wed-lock 
 The husband becomes the delegate of 
 Kis wife, in matters of suffrage. 
 And we all like to be delegates 
 To Congress, conventions, stockholders meetinj 
 And such things. So you see, my dear, 
 This is one of the ways, in which 
 The woman is the glory of the man! 
 
 Mary: 
 
 'So then you think I should be 
 The. vine around the tree? 
 
 Senator: 
 In the parable I sing, my dear, man 
 Stands for the government, and woman 
 Is the railway, twining around, among 
 The hills, and over the mountains and 
 Across the valleys, like a river 
 Pure and clear as crystal. 
 Mary: 
 We must be circumspect in the use 
 Of parables. See where yours is leading 
 You! The railway is running the 
 Government in these days! 
 
 Senator: 
 No, my dear; the government and the railway 
 Are merely getting into harmony! 
 
 _45— 
 

 Mary: 
 So the wife is the crystal river 
 Of which you sing? 
 
 Senator: 
 It flows in her heart, my dear! Where 
 True love is, there is the crystal river, 
 Whether it be of God, or home or native land — 
 These three being correlated by the same spirit, 
 Like heat, light and electricity, by 
 The same essence. 
 
 (Sharp crash of lightning.) 
 Mary: 
 Win at a dreadful storm! Surely Neptune 
 Is busy to-night! I sometimes wonder 
 If there is not something in the old 
 Theology, that the devil is the Prince 
 Of the Power of the air and storm. 
 
 Senator: 
 There is no devil, my dear. 
 
 Mary (startled): 
 No devil? 
 
 Senator: 
 No: nor never was, in fact. 
 Mary: 
 How did such an idea get into this 
 World, if there is no devil in fact? 
 
 Senator: 
 There was a conception in the ancient 
 World, of divinity as a diabolcs, or 
 Devil, which means liar— all their 
 Mythological creations, or deities, being liars 
 Under the law of faith Christ delat with 
 The world according to its conception; 
 And said they were the children of 
 The devil. For, if, by faith, the father 
 Of spirits is a liar, then his children are, 
 And must be; as a stream cannot 
 Rise higher than its source. 
 
 —4 6— 
 
Mary: 
 Were all men liars in ancient times? 
 
 Senator: 
 David said they were. He admitted, however, 
 That he was hasty in that expression. 
 
 Mary: 
 Then you think the idea is false 
 That there is an all-pervading, intelligent, 
 Malicious spirit, and he and the only 
 True God are engaged in a close race 
 For human souls, now one under the 
 Wire, and now the other? 
 
 Senator: , 
 You have sifted that out right, my dear. 
 The warfare of God is with irreligion 
 And false religion: and he is covering 
 The earth with true religion, as the water 
 Covers the sea. 
 
 Mary: 
 Then you do not dispute the truth 
 Of the gospel? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; I take God at his word. It 
 Is the standard to which we must all 
 Appeal. If there is anything wrong in 
 The case, it is in my way of construing 
 The word, and not in the word itself. 
 I may be wrong in my exegesis; for 
 I am finite. But according to my 
 Conception or view, that word, taken 
 As a whole, does not teach, nor reveal 
 The existence of the devil. There is no 
 Such entity to betray or torment us. 
 The only devil, in any given case, is 
 The devil within, by reason of some 
 False conception of the divine nature. 
 (Crash of lightning.) 
 
 —4 7— 
 

 Mary: 
 Then when we are fighting the devil 
 We are fighting a myth? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; and wasting our time. Our fight 
 Rather, is with false religion, as weeds, 
 Springing up in the midst of our 
 Conceptions of Christ. "What think ye of 
 Christ?" is the important question. As we 
 Are saved by faith in Him and as to 
 His nature; and not by faith in 
 The devil, or any liar real or 
 Imaginary. 
 
 Mary: 
 Why, as you view it, has God left 
 The world under the dominion of war 
 And this myth, for tho last 
 Six thousand years; 
 
 Senator: 
 I have just explained, my dear, that 
 As it seems to me, it is the divine nature 
 To deal with humanity, acording to 
 Its faith — the behests of his own holiness 
 Apparently, requiring him to do so. 
 But with wonderful patience he has waited 
 For the development of evidence 
 Sufficient to corroborate the divinity 
 Of his son and truth of his word; and 
 Thereby disabuse the world of its false faith 
 And thus his mercy has always been 
 Rejoicing against justice and judgment 
 Like the gulf stream, we are now crossing 
 Tempers the sea. 
 
 Mary: 
 You do not mean to say, that the 
 Crystal stream, you sing, is also found 
 In mid-ocean? 
 
 ■4 8- 
 
Senator: 
 Yes; it begins in the gulf, and runs 
 Along our coast and keeps us from 
 Freezing, and then across the sea and 
 Does the same thing there. 
 
 Mary: 
 What is the quality of justice, of which 
 You speak? 
 
 Senator. 
 It is love of righteousness and truth, working 
 Within its jurisdiction. It finds exemplification 
 In various ways, in this world. The 
 Exclusiveness of national jurisdiction finds its 
 Counterpart, in its rivers and their banks; 
 While international jurisdiction or concurrent 
 Jurisdiction of the nations over the sea 
 Finds its parable in this bankless stream 
 In the midst of the sea, and duty to keep 
 Its peace — all jurisdictions, however, from 
 The least to the greatest being in connection 
 Wiith, the divine overruling jurisdiction 
 Parabolized, by the ail searching air, or 
 Invisible sea. in which iwe live and 
 And move and have our being and the home 
 Of the lightning, cyclone and rain. 
 (Crash of lightning with roar of mighty rushing 
 wind.) 
 
 Mary: 
 What a dreadful storm! This bankless river 
 Is in a wonderful fury! How can we 
 Talk of the peace of the sea? Unless we 
 Have on board, one with power to say 
 To the waves: ''Peace, be still!" 
 
 Senator: 
 The Prince of Peace is on board the 
 Squadrons of all nations, by virtue of 
 Divine Omnipresence, and the navies of 
 Christendom smile at the fury of the storm; 
 
 ■4 9- 
 
And with the wireless wings of a still 
 Small voice, are commanding the waves 
 To the uttermost parts of the sea. 
 
 Mary (deeply interested): 
 What is this still small voice? 
 
 Senator: 
 An awakened international judicial 
 Conscience that has come to stay, methinks 
 While time shall last. So you see 
 My dear, a storm at sea, only adds 
 Zest to the voyage, as we plow through 
 The waves and sing of the peace of the sea. 
 
 Mary: 
 Then you believe in our navy? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; a moderate armament; sufficient 
 To vindicate our membership in international 
 Police and councils; but avoiding the 
 Idea of an armed peace in the family 
 Of nations! We have prospered a century 
 Without a swollen navy! Why not 
 Another, if we follow the paths of peace? 
 
 Mary (rejoicing) : 
 
 And so the crystal river, you sing, flows 
 Ueber lund und meer! 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Yes, through the trumphs of science, the 
 Sea has been conquered and reduced to 
 A river, in comparison with the ancient 
 Conception of an impassible gulf, which 
 The rich man saw in his dream, and 
 Still confuses theologians, who forget 
 That with God nothing is impassible, nor 
 Impossible. 
 
 (Lightning and rumbling of thunder.) 
 
 —5 0— 
 
Mary: 
 If there is no devil in this storm, 
 It must be then, our friends are mistaken 
 Who think the theater is his workshop! 
 
 Senator: 
 Some men whose faith makes God a 
 Devil or liar, sometimes write plays; 
 And such men sometimes write sermons! 
 
 Mary: 
 You believe then in the drama? 
 
 Senator: 
 It springs from the quality of romance 
 And poetry, in the divine nature. And 
 The more wonderful the play, the nearer to 
 Him, who never spake without a parable 
 Or figure of speech; and in all he said 
 Appears a picture with a background of truth. 
 A woman in love is always a beautiful 
 Picture on the stage. 
 
 Mary (smiling): 
 How about a man in love, on the stage? 
 
 Senator: 
 He makes an excellent back ground to 
 The picture; provided always, that he tells 
 Enough truth on the stage, to make it 
 Appear that he knows something. It is 
 Hard for a woman to make love to 
 An ignoramus or a churl! 
 Mary: 
 You think then that Omnipresence enjoys 
 A good play? 
 
 Senator: 
 God is true and earnest; yet 
 The qualities of humor and play 
 Are in his heart; and laughter there! 
 And glee! Oh, the gladness, 
 The glee! The infinite glee! 
 Of the Almighty, spreading 
 
 —51— 
 
Like the sunlight over the sea 
 While its waves lash the shore! 
 
 Mary: 
 What is the ideal of the theater, as it seems 
 To you? 
 
 Senator: 
 The main purpose, I think, is to instruct 
 Wihile holding the pleased cr surprised 
 Attention, 'with wonder; or scenes of events 
 As though they ;were here and now, that 
 Have been, or might be, or will be; 
 In tragedy, of which terribleness is 
 The essence; or in comedy, wherein we 
 Laugh with one; as when we rejoice 
 With the mother as she receives her son 
 From the war; or where we laugh 
 Not at, but with a man, in view of 
 His prospects, when his fields or 
 Orchards are in bloom; or sing of his hope 
 In humor and pathos, with poetical 
 Rejoicing, while in imagination — the 
 Theater of the mind — a babe is on the 
 Bill of the Play, smiting the marvelous 
 Breasts that give it its life — a parable divln« 
 Of the infantile wrath of the storm that 
 Smites the sea! 
 
 (Crash of lightning.) 
 Mary: 
 Youi' play is fine, hut audience small 
 In the theater of the mind. 
 
 Senator: 
 The grandest play that the world has 
 Ever seen, was to and audience of 
 One! 
 
 Mary: 
 When was that and what was the 
 Scenario of that play? 
 
Senator: 
 The wonderful setting and multiplied symbols 
 And outline and current are given 
 To us, by the loved disciple, who saw 
 This strange drama in the sky, while 
 Banished to barren waste — The Island of 
 Patmos — an epitome of events, down to 
 Our time, and now going on; sublimely 
 Culminating, in a picture of a throne 
 Divine, founded by a spring, as pure 
 And clear as crystal — the source! 
 The wonderful source! of the crystal river 
 I sing! 
 
 Mary: 
 "A measure of wheat for a penny; and 
 Three measures of oats for a penny; 
 And see thou hurt not the oil and 
 The wine"! What does this mean in 
 That Scenario? 
 
 Sena tor. 
 A magnate appeared, methinks, in the 
 Chamber of Commerce, in a great city 
 By a lake, and sold wheat 
 At the rate, of one bushel for three 
 Of oats! but took care not to 
 Hurt the price of his provisions and corn — 
 The oil and wine on change — where 
 The pulse of the world is felt each day! 
 (Enter Messenger.) 
 Messenger : 
 We have a message by wireless from 
 Chicago. They offer a million to settle 
 Your wheat deal! 
 
 Senator. 
 Tell them: All right here! 
 
 (Enter Second Messenger.) 
 Second Messenger: 
 There is a panic in Wall street! 
 
 —53— 
 
Your brokers say they must draw on 
 Your Chicago House, for a million! 
 
 (Senator (after brief meditation.) 
 What day is this? 
 
 Second Messenger: 
 Valentine Day, sir! 
 
 Senator. 
 Well, tell them: All right there! 
 
 Mary: 
 What does this all mean, my dear? 
 
 Senator: 
 Only a storm, my dear, on one branch 
 Of the crystal river! My boat is 
 Strong enough to weather the storm! It 
 Js a poor place though, for a man 
 With only a row boat! 
 
 Mary: 
 I do not understand your parable, my dear. 
 
 Senator: 
 Just two pictures, from the spirit of 
 Love, that sometimes hides a smiling face 
 Behind a frowning providence — two pictures — 
 One of prosperity, the other of adversity! 
 In prosperity be joyful! In adversity consider! 
 
 Mary: 
 Consider what? 
 
 Senator: 
 That we brought nothing into this 
 World; and it is certain we can carry 
 Nothing out; and learn submission to 
 The divine will, when a specific hope 
 Is deferred or disappointed; while we 
 Form a new hope and go ahead. 
 "I have learned, in whatever state, 
 Therewith to be content. I know how 
 To be abased and to abound: Everywhere 
 And in all things I am instructed 
 
 —54— 
 
Both to be full, and to be hungry, 
 Both to abound and suffer need." 
 
 Mary: 
 Where did you learn to be hungry? 
 
 Senator: 
 In the wilderness! 
 (Crash of lightning. Fog signals.) 
 (Stage suddenly darkened.) 
 (Kinetoscopic views: 
 
 (1.) Collision of steamers at sea and rescue of pas- 
 engers. 
 
 (2.) Panic on New York Stock Exchange.) 
 (Curtain.) 
 
 •5§ 
 
ACT IV. 
 [Scene: The King and Queen of England on their 
 throne, in state, usually incident to royalty. Senator 
 and Mary standing near the throne.] 
 Senator: 
 I appreciate the force of your thought, your 
 Majesty, but do not understand, yet, 
 Why you should take such a great interest 
 In the American Lexicon? 
 
 The King: 
 You do not even call your president 
 King, although his power is greater than 
 Mine! You have no king, nor kingdom 
 Nor crown in America, and I am 
 Wondering how, you are able to give 
 Your young people an idea of such 
 Things? How do you get them to understand 
 What ''kingdom of heaven" means, without these 
 Words in your current every day life? 
 
 Senator: 
 You are mistaken, your Majesty! We have 
 A king in America! 
 
 The King: 
 Please explain? 
 
 Senator: 
 Your Majesty, is King of England, and 
 Emperor of India! 
 
 The King: 
 Yes. 
 Senator: 
 And also King of the Sea! 
 
 The King: 
 Why do you say that I am King 
 Of the Sea? 
 
 Senator: 
 The commanders-in-chief of the navies 
 Of this world, are, ex officio, the 
 Joint-Kings of the Sea, charged with 
 
 ■56— 
 
The duty of keeping the peace of the sea — 
 The world's highway, touching all nations; 
 Without which a people is like a farm 
 Without a road. 
 
 The King: 
 So, as commander-in-chief of the British 
 Navy, I am one of the kings of the sea! 
 As you view it? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; and our president, as comander-in-chief 
 Of our navy, is one of these kings 
 Of the sea, jointly with your Majesty, and 
 All other, similar commanders, by 
 Virtue of the situation in which you 
 Find yourselves involved, in relation to 
 International-police. 
 
 The King: 
 Whence comes this International Sovereignty 
 Or joint kingship over the sea, of which 
 You speak? 
 
 Senator: 
 It springs from the inherency of 
 Nationality, that feeds and is fed 
 By it, in return, through the bankless channel 
 Of commerce. So, you see, your Majecty 
 This international kingdom of the sea 
 Prevents the word "kingdom" from disappearing 
 From our thought and Bible; and the phrase 
 "Kingdom of heaven" still stands with us 
 As the sign of an idea. 
 
 The King: 
 We speak of the kingdom of Great 
 Britain. What do your speak of in 
 Your country? 
 
 Senator: 
 We speak of our Union! The people 
 Are the sovereigns, and they delegate various 
 
Phases of their sovereignty around among 
 Divers officials from the president down. 
 
 The King: 
 Wherein do you differ from us? 
 
 Senator: 
 The people here are also sovereign; but 
 By a fiction of the law, among the 
 Multitude exercising some phase or other 
 Of the quality of sovereignty, your Majesty 
 Is the only one spoken of as the severeign. 
 The idea of sovereignty seems to be embodied 
 In you representatively, as the executive 
 Head of the nation; although in fact, 
 It is delegated by the people, through 
 Parliament, or immemorial usage to 
 A large body of officials from the 
 Premier doiwn. 
 
 The King: 
 You think then my office is a sinecure? 
 
 Senator: 
 I hardly think your Majesty, you earn 
 Your ten million, except it be as 
 Commander-in-chief of the navy. You 
 Cannot be divested of that command; as 
 Parliament has no jurisdiction over 
 The sea. That inheres in ycu as 
 Commander of the navy. And the only 
 Way, this inherency can be destroyed, 
 Is to abolish your navy, and thus 
 Practically destroy the life of your 
 Nation. 
 
 The King: 
 Cannot Parliament appoint a Commander-in-chief 
 Of the British navy? 
 
 Senator: 
 None that could be recognized in International 
 Councils! Nobody but kings are eligible 
 There! 
 
 —58— 
 
The King: 
 I see your distinction, Senator, and perceive 
 Its truth; but how, as it seems 
 To you, has it happened, in the course 
 Of the evolution of the British civilization 
 That the crown has become so shorn 
 Of executive power in the internal 
 Affairs of this kingdom? 
 
 Senator: 
 Wihile the Prince-Consort lived, he protected 
 The prerogatives of the Queen. But after 
 His demise the Cabinet assumed this 
 And that function, along the line of 
 The sovereignty of convenience: and a 
 Prerogative once lost, is hard to regain. 
 
 The King: 
 Give an illustration of this matter? 
 
 Senator: 
 The pardoning power inheres in. and 
 Is an high exponent of sovereignty. If 
 The crown was not shorn of this 
 Power, by encroachment, your Majesty 
 Would not suffer an American Lady 
 To languish in prison at the behest 
 Of an insane judge. 
 
 The King: 
 But suppose the king is insane as 
 Well as the judge? 
 
 Senator: 
 In that case you would cease to be 
 A joint-king of the sea; and Great Britain 
 Would disappear from international councils; and 
 Become subject to international police; and 
 Our President would intervene under his 
 International police power and release a 
 Worthy American citizen or himself 
 Be worthy of impeachment. 
 
 -59- 
 
The King: 
 
 But suppose the British Cabinet should organize 
 Resistance to such procedure? 
 
 Senator: 
 The executive head being only nomimal 
 And virtual anarchy existing, in the case 
 Supposed, in the erstwhile British Empire, 
 Canada could be lawfully annexed to 
 The United States. 
 
 The King: 
 But suppose a large number of 
 People in Canada should object? 
 
 Senator: 
 Being without a recognized head, the people 
 Of that territory would have no more 
 Voice than in the case of the Phillipines. 
 The United States, in such case, might consent 
 To the development of a Canadian nationality. 
 But nothing short of that would suit 
 The temper of our people. 
 
 The King: 
 Well, I am glad to say that we 
 Never expect any trouble with the American 
 Branch of the Anglo-saxon race! 
 
 Senator: 
 We must impeach the crown at the 
 Bar of International Police, on the ground 
 Of death at the heart or at the top 
 Before we could intervene in any part 
 Of the British territory, without invoking 
 Divine wrath upon ourselves. The United 
 States never has been, and never will be, 
 Guilty of invasion of the territory 
 Of any recognized ruler in the family 
 Of nations! How can our President 
 Acquire jurisdiction in Canada, unless 
 In some way, your Majesy has lost 
 Or forfeited your right to rule there? 
 
 —60— 
 
Two independent sovereignties on the same 
 Soil is as impossible as the penetrability 
 Of matter. 
 
 The King: 
 Did you not invade the Phillipines? 
 
 Senator: 
 During the regency Spain had no ruler 
 Eligible to international councils; and hence 
 Spanish territory was subject to international 
 Supervision; and we were there by 
 Intervention and not by invasion. 
 
 The King: 
 Was your intervention justifiable? 
 
 Senator: 
 It was in Cuba, but not, methinks 
 In the Phillipines. We went down rightfully 
 To pacify Cuba; but with strange inconsistency, 
 Unsettled a vast Archipelago by 
 Destroying the naval prop of the local 
 Government there, when there was no thought. 
 Nor intention, nor possibility of 
 Withdrawing it from those waters. 
 
 The King: 
 Did President McKinley give the order 
 To find and destroy that Spanish squadron? 
 
 Senator: 
 There is no record evidence that he did, 
 In the archives at Washington. The message 
 Was signed by the Secretary of the Navy. 
 It may have been a daring, ambitious 
 Encroachment, like that that has shorn 
 The Crown of England of so much of 
 Its pristine power and glory. The spirit 
 Of encroachment was abroad in those 
 Wild days. Even our Commodore there 
 Usurped the prerogative to blockade Manilla; 
 And threatened to make war on 
 
 — 61— 
 
Germany, if she did not heed his 
 Rules and Regulations. 
 
 The King. 
 Did not Spain declare war upon the 
 United States? 
 
 Senator. 
 The regency was charged with the duty 
 Of conserving its ward's estate; 
 And had no right to wantonly 
 Jeopardize or waste it. Its 
 Declaration of war was void. It 
 Should have applied to International Conservation 
 For settlement of the questions it had 
 In mind. On the other hand, I 
 Was never proud of our declaration of 
 War against an infant. I would rather 
 Kiss babies than butcher them as 
 Herod did. 
 
 The Queen (smiling): 
 They tell me the politicians kiss 
 The babies in America? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; we think a great deal of 
 Babies in our country. 
 
 Mary: 
 Except in the theater! We shut them out there! 
 
 Senator. 
 Yes; the manager forgets he was an 
 Infant in arms, once, himself; and the 
 Days and nights mother watched over him! 
 Methinks, if I was on the stage, and 
 Should hear a baby cry, it would give 
 Me as much pleasure as to hear 
 Them in church or. at a political 
 Meeting; and we know the more the 
 Merrier there! When the theater gets abreast 
 Of the church, there will be no tags 
 On the babies; and that branch of 
 
 —62— 
 
The crystal river, will be pure as a spring 
 In the parable I sing! 
 
 The Queen. 
 If I was an actress, dear Senator, I 
 Would like to make love to you 
 On the stage. For you would make 
 A good back ground of truth! 
 
 Mary (to the King) 
 I suppose there is no way we can 
 Dissolve this mutual admiration society? 
 
 The King: 
 The Queen knows a good thing, when 
 She sees it. 
 
 The Queen. 
 That is why I married the Prince 
 Of Wales. 
 
 (All laugh.) 
 The King. 
 Well, Senator, in your bird's-eye view 
 Of my kingdom, is there nothing, so far as 
 You can see, that I can do in its 
 Internal affairs? 
 
 Senator (smiling). 
 Well, you entertain the diplomats and 
 Have good dinners! 
 
 The King (smiling) : 
 Yes. 
 Senator. 
 You make life pleasant for strolling 
 Americans! 
 
 (All laugh.) 
 The Queen. 
 We sometimes entertain angels, unawares 
 In that way. 
 
 The King. 
 Wjell, Senator, continue the inventory. I 
 Am interested in knowing how 
 Others see us. 
 
 —63-— 
 
Senator. 
 
 Well, I notice you set the fashions! 
 
 The King. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Senator. 
 
 Open Parliament? 
 
 The King. 
 Yes. 
 Senator. 
 Encourage the theater? 
 
 The King. 
 Yes. 
 Senator. 
 Promote the races? 
 
 The King. 
 Yes. 
 Set a good example hy going to 
 Church? 
 
 The King. 
 
 Yes. 
 Senator: 
 Reaping some of your wild oats? 
 
 The King. 
 How do you know that? 
 
 Senator: 
 The record is that all have sinned 
 And come short of divine glory? 
 
 The King. 
 Well we cannot gainsay that record? 
 
 Senator. 
 No; the best way is to acknowledge the truth! 
 
 The King. 
 I am willing to be judged by 
 A man that judges me by himself. 
 
 Senator (to Mary): 
 The only thing we can witness against 
 
 —64— 
 
The King and the Queen is that they stole 
 Our hearts. 
 
 ( All laugh merrily.) 
 
 The King. 
 Well, Senator, how do you make "thronos" 
 Read in your American Bible, seeing 
 You have no throne there? 
 Senator. 
 We are seeking to evolve a throne, or 
 Exponent of "thronos" that shall endure for 
 All time; and to that end are promoting 
 A plan for the dedication of a tract 
 On our Atlantic sea-coast, or an Island 
 Near there, to international jurisdiction; 
 And the erection there of a Temple of Peace, 
 Where the Conservators of the Peace of the Sea 
 Shall meet in royal state! 
 
 The King. 
 
 What do you expect from such an Assembly? 
 
 Senator: 
 
 Many things, as the years come and go: 
 It would review claims of fraud, accident 
 Or mistake in the findings of International 
 Arbitrators; approve, revise or reject reports 
 Of International Commissions; consider the de- 
 cadence 
 Of nationalities and the claims of new nations 
 To recognition; and make any needful 
 Provision for the government of the sea 
 And international space on land — supervising 
 The evolution of new nations, from time to time. 
 Last, but not least, suffice it to say that 
 We expect from that throne by the sea 
 A mandate, forbidding the use of the sea 
 In furtherance of war of invasion of 
 Any recognized nationality; and thus clip 
 The naval wing of war of invasion; so that 
 Dragon will never fly again; and thereby 
 
Confine all squadrons to the international 
 Police-jurisdiction over the sea, 
 And dead or nominal dynasties or 
 Decayed republics on land. 
 
 The King. 
 But how could your president take part 
 In such a conference? Is he not 
 Required to submit his dealings with other 
 Nations to the Senate? 
 
 Senator: 
 Nothing but treaties! The results of this 
 Conference would not be of that class — being 
 Judicial rather than contractual or 
 Legislative; except the formulation of 
 Its rules of procedure. 
 
 The King. 
 But under your constitution Congress has 
 Power to declare war! How could your 
 President unite or engage in any 
 Intervention without this antecedent 
 Declaration? 
 
 Senator: 
 That declaration is not necessary to the 
 Exercise of police power, whether national 
 Or international. President Lincoln in the 
 Exercise of national police, called for 
 Seventy five thousand volunteers, before Congress 
 Assembled; and President McKinley acted 
 Without a congressional declaration in the 
 Boxer insurrection. 
 
 The King: 
 Is not this idea of there being any 
 International Law a dangerous thought? 
 
 Senator: 
 Why so, your Majesty? 
 
 The King. 
 Does not that idea imply a power 
 Over nations? 
 
 — 6G— 
 
fcenator: 
 No, your Majesty. Nationality denotes 
 Supremacy over its territory. A 
 Power over supremacy is a solecism! 
 International law is not a law over 
 Nations! It is the law of the space 
 Between nations, primarily the sea; 
 Incidentally international space on land. 
 
 The King. 
 What is international space on land? 
 
 Senator: 
 Where there is no recognized nationality; 
 Or dead or nominal dynasties or republics; 
 Such as would be in England, if 
 Your Majesty should be deprived of 
 Your command of the navy; or should 
 Be adjudged insolvent, corrupt or 
 Insane; or mob-violence should prevail. 
 
 The King. 
 How do we ascertain international law? 
 
 Senator: 
 By precedent and the perfection of 
 Human reason, as near as may be! 
 The Golden Rule is the basic thought of all 
 International law. Upon this hangs all 
 The law and the prophets. The essence 
 Of international law is the law of 
 The highway or commons. Every nation 
 Should keep to the right and give half 
 The road, no odds how large its 
 Automobile may be; and every man 
 Should behave well in a public park. 
 
 The King. 
 Who constitutes this judiciary in the family 
 Of nations? 
 
 Senator: 
 The ultimate commanders of the navies 
 Of the world, including your Majesty, 
 
 -6 7- 
 
The emperor of Germany and the 
 President of the United States. 
 
 The King: 
 But some navies are much larger than 
 Others? 
 
 Senator: 
 A bicycle has as much right to 
 The highway as an automobile. But 
 From policy as well as courtesy 
 The latter is generously given the 
 Right-of-way; or boorishly takes it; 
 And the smaller craft gives the 
 Ocean-steamer a wide berth, when 
 Moving in the same harbor or they 
 Meet at sea. 
 
 The King: 
 Your parable is not clear to me 
 Senator! 
 
 Senator: 
 Great Britain and the United States 
 Should and would have great influence 
 In such a conference; but technically 
 The vote of the smallest navy should count 
 As much as the largest; like the vote 
 Of some obscure member of Parliament 
 Counts as much as the most influential; 
 Or the Senator from the smallest state 
 In our Union as one from the 
 Most populous! 
 
 The King: 
 But suppose some of them, especially 
 The smaller should become unfaithful 
 Or venal? 
 
 Senator: 
 The remedy is to refuse to recognize 
 Such a ruler in international councils 
 And treat his territory as international 
 Space on land. 
 
 es- 
 
The King: 
 Who is the judge of the membership 
 In this International Assembly? 
 
 Senator: 
 Every Assembly known to modern 
 Civilization is the judge of its own 
 Membership and the majority rules. 
 
 The King: 
 Would not this conference consolidate all 
 Nations into one rationality? 
 
 Senator: 
 It would have no jurisdiction over 
 Any recognized nationality. Its jurisdiction 
 Would attach only to the sea and 
 International space on land! 
 
 The King: 
 Where do we get authority for the 
 Idea of International Police-Power? 
 
 Senator: 
 We have a mandate of civilization to 
 That effect; which will more clearly 
 Appear when we consolidate the 
 Oceans, or make them one, so to speak! 
 
 Mary (smiling) : 
 You must not mind him, your Majesty! 
 He has oneness on the brain! 
 
 The Queen (appreciatively): 
 I have heard of such cases. 
 
 The King (smiling) : 
 I hope the brain storm will spread! 
 You seem to be a righteous people, 
 Senator; and I am wondering how 
 You translate "crown of righteousness" in 
 Your American Bible — seeing that 
 You have*no crown over there? 
 
 Senator: 
 It conduces, you know, to brotherly kindness 
 To borrow of one another, in the family! 
 
 —69— 
 
So we borrow the word "crown" from 
 
 The British civilization. "He that would borra 
 
 Of thee, turn not thou away"? 
 
 The King: 
 You already owe us several billion! 
 How much more do you want? 
 We sometimes wonder over here, if 
 You Americans want the earth! 
 
 Senator: 
 No; we want your crown! I have 
 No doubt, your Majesty, that you 
 Would lend your crown to the 
 President of our International Conference: 
 And you, of course, would wear 
 It, when you, yourself, should be 
 Called upon to preside; and in 
 This way it would appear on our 
 Side of the Atlantic sufficient to prevent 
 The idea from becoming absolete over 
 There! 
 
 The King: 
 I think highly of your iciea in the 
 Interest of a common English-American 
 Bible and the peace of the sea; which 
 It clearly enjoins. The plan of 
 Erecting an international throne 
 Appeals to me strongly! 
 
 Senator: 
 I am a prisoner of hope, your Majesty, 
 In this matter and thank God for 
 Your gracious words and take courage! 
 (Senator weeps for joy.) 
 
 The King (sympathetically): 
 By the way, Senator, if the site should be 
 Chosen on your main land where 
 Wbuld you locate it? 
 
 Senator (recovering his composure): 
 Anywhere, your Majesty, by the sea! 
 
 
 
The steel rail runs like a crystal river 
 
 Up and down our coast! 
 
 Anywhere along that stream will do! 
 
 The King: 
 Can you secure the necessary legislation? 
 
 Senator: 
 Our people are not hasty in making 
 Up their minds. But I think it 
 Will come in due time. 
 
 The King: 
 How will you raise the funds for 
 This enterprise? 
 
 Senator: 
 That is the business of the Prince 
 Of Peace, working through such 
 Instrumentalities as he may choose. 
 
 The King: 
 Do you expect the help of the divine 
 Prince of Peace in this enterprise? 
 
 Senator. 
 Methinks it is his work. 
 
 The King: 
 My crown, which represents a dominion 
 Upon which the sun never sets is 
 Always at his disposal. 
 
 Senator: 
 Our prayer is that the glory of 
 Your sun-set-less crown may never 
 Be tarnished nor diminished! 
 
 Mary (to the Queen): 
 And that you may have a lifetime 
 Honeymoon, in the shade of your 
 Moon-set-less crown! 
 
 The Queen. 
 Ah! if it could only be cloudless! 
 
 The King: 
 No clouds, no rain, my dear! 
 
 — 71 — 
 
The Queen. 
 Yes, there is consolation in the thought 
 That there is a time to every purpose 
 In an optimistic universe! No snowy cumulus. 
 No sleigh bells! 
 
 The King: 
 No stormy nimbus, no storm-doors! 
 
 The Queen. 
 No filmy cirrus, no poetic sky! 
 
 The King: 
 No liquid stratus, no umbrella-man! 
 
 The Queen (sighing) 
 No poetry, no life-time honeymoon! 
 
 The King (smiling). 
 No summer-heat, no fans, nor fan-language 
 Between lovers! 
 
 The Queen (pleased) 
 That is better. 
 
 (All laugh merrily.) 
 Senator: 
 We sympathise with your Majesties in your 
 Efforts to prop up the moon, for 
 Life. We know how it is ourselves, 
 As we are working along that 
 Same line! 
 
 The King: 
 Since when, Senator? 
 
 Senator: 
 Since we got the Archipelago. The 
 Moon always shines, now, somewhere on 
 Our sun-set-less realm! 
 
 The Queen (merrily to Mary): 
 How are you getting along with your 
 Lifetime honeymoon? 
 
 Mary (smiling): 
 It shines as bright as ever! 
 
 The Queen (merrily): 
 I would make the most of it, while 
 It lasts! 
 
 —72— 
 
The King: 
 The sting in these shining hours is, 
 That they pass away all too soon! 
 
 Senator: 
 There is a faith that takes away 
 All the stings of this life! 
 
 The King: 
 I suppose then, dear Senator, the sting 
 Of death has no sting or terror for 
 You in the parable you sing? 
 
 Senator: 
 Methinks death is promotion! And when that 
 Subject comes up in my mind, I am 
 In a strait, twixt two; whether to stay 
 And cheer up my wife; or to go 
 And see the glory revealed in the 
 Transfiguration! 
 
 The King: 
 How do you settle it? 
 
 Senator (Smiling). 
 Well, I consider I might as well 
 Stay here until the close of our 
 Lifetime honeymoon! 
 
 The Queen. 
 I do not know whether to laugh 
 Or weep! 
 
 Mary : 
 I have learned to do both, dear Queen, 
 At the same time. 
 
 The King (to Senator). 
 You must often have faced death 
 To look upon it with such fearlessness? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, we saw death in all its forms 
 In the war for the union. Those were terrible 
 Days, your Majesty, when civil liberty and 
 The world's future, through a mysterious 
 
 ■73- 
 
Providence, hung trembling in the balance 
 In the hands of two men! 
 
 The King: 
 To whom do you refer, Senator? 
 
 Senator: 
 General Grant, the soldier-patriot, on our 
 Shores, and Prince Albert, the unfaltering 
 Friend of America over here! 
 
 The King: 
 The praise of the father is grateful to 
 The children and children's children! 
 
 Senator: 
 We cherish his memory and honor 
 His name in America! 
 
 The King: 
 Were you in that war? 
 
 Senator: 
 I was an orderly of the General. 
 
 The King: 
 He loved his comrades! 
 
 senator: 
 Yes, and loved them to the end, 
 Until his life went out like 
 His candle in the wilderness! 
 I love these same boys! They are 
 Diamonds, in the parable I sing! 
 
 The King: 
 You expect to meet him and his 
 Comrades? 
 
 Senator: 
 My hope abounds that way, and all 
 Other good ships-a-hoy! 
 As we take our leave, your Majesty, 
 Lest we tax your patience. 
 
 The King: 
 Not so soon, Senator! 
 
 -74- 
 
Senator: 
 There is a time to withdraw, without 
 Making your neighbor twice glad! 
 
 The King: 
 The word neighbor must have a 
 Broad significance in your American 
 Lexicon? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, it is coextensive with parishioner, 
 In our American Bible. 
 
 The King: 
 The parish is limited in this country. 
 
 Senator: 
 The world was John Wesley's parish. 
 
 The King (smiling). 
 Well, take care of that lifetime 
 Honeymoon! 
 
 Senator: 
 The same to you, your Majesty! 
 
 The Queen (to Mary). 
 I hope to meet you at that conference 
 By the sea! 
 
 Mary: 
 That will be fine! 
 
 Senator : 
 You must not forget to bring the 
 Crown with you! 
 
 The Queen. 
 I will see to the packing of it 
 Myself! 
 
 The King: 
 We want to see our two new neighbors 
 Again, soon! 
 
 Senator: 
 Thank you, your Majesty! This is a good neighbor- 
 hood! 
 I find a friend of my boyhood, located 
 Here, by virtue of divine omnipresence! We 
 
 —75— 
 
Bid you good-by as we leave you 
 In such good hands! 
 
 The King: 
 Good-by dear friends! As we taste the sweets 
 Of reciprocity and seek good from the 
 Spirit of good cheer! 
 
 (Stage Suddenly Darkened.) 
 Kinetoscopic Views: 
 
 (1) The Senator's Vision of the Temple of Peace. 
 
 (2) The House of Lords in Session. 
 
 (3) The House of Commons in Session. 
 
 — 76>— 
 
ACT V. 
 
 [Scene: Veranda of way-side inn in the Valley of 
 Adjalon, — bright full moon.] 
 
 Senator: 
 At last, my dear, our hope is 
 Realized! This is the valley of Adjalon! 
 
 Mary: 
 It is indeed a grand view! Where 
 Does this scene appear on the map? 
 
 Senator: 
 We are about two thirds of the way 
 From the Holy City to the Mediteranean 
 Sea , around which center all the chief 
 Events of ancient history — the greatest of 
 Which, and of all time, is the Cross! 
 
 Mary : 
 Has this region any connection with 
 Grecian and Roman History? 
 
 Senator: 
 Alexander the Great passed near this point, 
 Upon his march to the conquest of 
 The Holy City; and the twelve Caesars 
 Ruled here, and ov r er the civilized world, — 
 The first six, Julius Augustus, Tiberius, 
 Caligula, Claudius and Nero, connected 
 As blood relations, hanging up in the 
 Gallery of history, like the major planets 
 In our solar system! 
 
 Mary: 
 Who is the sun around which these 
 Stars of history shine? 
 
 Senator: 
 Christ was born in the reign of Augustus; 
 And was crucified under Tiberius. His 
 
 —77— 
 
Disciples were first called Christians at Antioch 
 Here in Asia Minor, in the days of Claudius; 
 And were burned as torches, in Nero's 
 Gardens at Rome! And so the sun of 
 Christianity arose, and since then has always 
 Been the center of the world's literature! 
 
 Mary: 
 It is truly enchanted and enchanting 
 Ground! I do not wonder at the 
 Prophet's courage to stay the moon 
 In such a view as this! 
 
 Senator: 
 And this is the very same moon, 
 My dear; and it will shine on our 
 Friends at home twelve hours from now! 
 
 Mary (smiling at her fancy) 
 I will throw it a kiss and maybe 
 It will throw it down to them — 
 Some company enjoying a moon-light 
 Picnic on the crystal river, on some such 
 Night as this! 
 
 Senator: 
 I do not object, my dear, to your 
 Tossing a kiss to the man in the 
 Moon! But I draw the line there! 
 
 Mary: 
 Set me as a seal on thy heart; 
 As seal upon thine arm; for 
 Love is stronger than death; 
 Jealousy is cruel as the grave, 
 The coals thereof are coals of fire! 
 A most vehement flame! 
 
 (Electric lights in the inn are turned on) 
 (Enter Vallmer) 
 Vallmer: 
 Glad to see you, my friends! Very glad 
 Indeed! 
 
 — 7S— 
 
Senator: 
 Hello, Vallmer! The pleasure is mutual 
 I assure you! 
 
 (All shake hands.) 
 Vallmer (rallyingly) 
 I wonder at your shaking hands, with 
 A foe to your religion! 
 
 Senator (smiling) 
 If ye salute your brethren only 
 Wihat do ye more than others? Do not 
 Even the publicans the same? 
 
 Mary (mirthfully) 
 You look as though you enjoyed travel, 
 Without an encumbrance? 
 
 Vallmer (gallantly) 
 I sometimes think it would be better 
 If I was encumbered. 
 
 (All laugh.) 
 
 Senator: 
 How is the Spinx? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 It is there just as it was four thousand 
 Years ago! 
 
 Senator: 
 Learned nothing from it? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Not a thing! If it ever saw or 
 Heard of the staying of the moon 
 During the forty centuries it has been 
 Bayed, around there, it said nothing 
 About it. 
 
 Senator: 
 I see you are as faithless as ever. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 If I should say I came here 
 On a wireless ray, by way of the moon, 
 What would you say? 
 
 —79— 
 
Senator: 
 I would ask you if you met 
 Santa Claus on the way up there? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 You know what becomes of the unbelievers. 
 
 Senator: 
 Faith is the assent of the mind, to 
 An alleged fact, based upon evidence, 
 In the exercise of reason. 
 
 Vallmer : 
 You would have my testimony that 
 I came by that route. 
 
 Senator: 
 But the story would be unreasonable — 
 Inherently improbable! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 How about the story of the Ascension 
 Around here somewhere? 
 
 Senator: 
 A tree is known by its fruits. The 
 World must judge Christianity by its 
 Fruits. If there is no corroboration 
 There, it must be rejected! 
 
 Mary (mildly) 
 I would that we postpone theological 
 Subjects until tomorrow, and all have 
 A good visit this evening. 
 
 Senator: 
 I notice that our friend is more pleased 
 Wlhen entertained along this line than 
 Any other. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Yes, it is as hard for the Senator and 
 Myself to avoid locking horns, as the boys 
 And girls from kissing each other 
 When out playing a letter in the postoffice. 
 
 Mary (smiling.) 
 It seems to be disputation merely for 
 Disputation's sake. 
 
 —80— 
 
Vallmer (laughing). 
 I must confess that I enjoy the comparison 
 Of notes with a thinker like your husband. 
 I would be glad if we could see alike 
 On these subjects, but the thought uppermost 
 In my mind, as I travel in this region, 
 Is, as to whether the son of God, ever 
 Appeared here; and I find my heart 
 Recoils from the idea. So I suppose 
 We might as well agree to disagree 
 And be discharged from the case. 
 
 Senator: 
 The trouble with your parable, if my wife 
 Will pardon me a moment, is that 
 You demand to be a witness, rather than 
 A juror; like Thomas, who refused 
 To believe in the resurrection of his 
 Master, unless he should put his fingers 
 In the print of the nails and thrust 
 His hand in his side. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 It is claimed that he was given 
 The test he demanded. 
 
 Senator: 
 That was in the day of the development 
 Of eye-witnesses. But now the evidence 
 Is all in; and it is enough; and God 
 Is seeking faithful jurors. The venire 
 Is out for reasonable men; endowed 
 With power to weigh evidence and bring in 
 True verdicts. If you should become 
 A witness, you would not be eligible 
 To sit on the jury. 
 
 Vallmer. 
 I do not understand your parable. 
 
 Senator: 
 As an honest jurist, in a case, what 
 Kind of men do you want on the jury? 
 
 —81— 
 
Vallmer. 
 I want reasonable men, of course. 
 
 Senator: 
 And men that are not witnesses in 
 The case. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Yes. 
 
 Senator: 
 Well, that methinks, is the kind of men 
 God is seeking to try his case. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Why am I not eligible to be a 
 Juror? 
 
 Senator: 
 You refuse to believe, except what you see; 
 And reject all truth outside of your 
 Personal knowledge. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, if God has left me destitute 
 Of the faith-faculty or power to acquire 
 Faith-knowledge of an unseen fact, 
 Why, then, am I to be damned for 
 My unbelief? 
 
 Senator: 
 Why some are born blind or deficient 
 In any respect, physical, mental or 
 Spiritual is involved in divine mystery. 
 But I think, dear friend, you were 
 Sufficiently endowed with the faith-faculty, 
 And I am wondering whether it has perished 
 Like any other faculty will perish 
 From non-use. The loss of this faculty 
 Is a peculiar species of damnation, in 
 This present time; whatever may be the 
 Developments in the future! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, I am willing to take evidence 
 Of matters occurring in the course of 
 Nature: but not beyond that. 
 
 — S2— 
 
 
Senator: 
 Then there are some things you will believe 
 Without seeing? 
 
 Vailmer: 
 Yes; but not of the supernatural! That 
 Is impossible; or at least too improbable! 
 
 Senator: 
 But suppose there is strong corroboration? 
 
 Vailmer. 
 What are some of the specimens of this 
 Alleged corroboration? 
 
 Senator: 
 The heavens declare the glory of God. 
 
 Vailmer. 
 Yes; I believe in the existence of 
 A deity of some kind; and the 
 Heavens are proof that he has a 
 Wonderful conception of the beautiful 
 And the sublime! It is this crucified 
 And risen Son that I deny! 
 
 Senator: 
 What do you do with the existence 
 Of the church, from the day the word 
 Christian first appeared in this world 
 At Antioch, down to the present time? 
 
 Vailmer: 
 It is an item in the case, but not 
 Convincing. 
 
 Senator: 
 The bible itself is a collection of books 
 More wonderful in its contents, development 
 And preservation, than any miracle recorded 
 There! It is the standing miracle of the ages! 
 
 Vailmer: 
 Do you consider that book self-proving? 
 
 Senator: 
 With nature attached as an exhibit, it is. 
 
 Vailmer. 
 How an exhibit? 
 
 —S3— 
 
 
Senator: 
 The invisible things, of God, are clearly seen 
 Being understood by the things that are 
 Made, even his eternal power and divine 
 Nature. This makes the things that are made 
 An exhibit to the divine record, in 
 The parable I sing; and we should study 
 It. in the light of these things, or the 
 Phenomena about us, as part of the 
 Record in the case. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Does an illustration of your thought occur 
 To you? 
 
 Senator: 
 Consider, for example, the wonderful scenarios 
 Written there two thousand years ago 
 Of the then future events, but now 
 Being developed! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 To what do you refer? 
 
 Senator: 
 They are all great and marvelous! But 
 I have in mind just now, the scene 
 Where the church in its glory, as 
 We find it today, was pictured in the 
 Sky, as a bride coming down from heaven 
 Adorned for her husband! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 That, of course, strikes you favorably just now! 
 
 Senator (ignoring the sally) 
 And an angel flew across the horizon 
 With the everlasting gospel in his hands 
 While Satan fell as lightning from the sky. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What is this Satan? 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to be the accusatory quality 
 Of lex talionis, tbat evinces itself, in 
 
 ■84- 
 
Our civilization, after any overt criminal 
 Act! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What does his fall mean? 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to denote a change in our procedure 
 Whereby those who have lost their sovereignity 
 Or right thereto, whether sane or insane 
 Will be dealt with upon the same principle; 
 And in an inquest of criminal propensity 
 The past history, including any and 
 All conduct, good or bad, will be 
 Admissable, the same as in an inquest 
 Of lunacy. 
 
 YaUmer: 
 The idea and taint of felony and 
 Defense of insanity -\vould then disappear from 
 Our civilization? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, and the policy wil be to 
 Heal the criminal, the same as the 
 Homicidal maniac is healed and becomes 
 A man, once more among men. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man 
 Shall his blood be shed. 
 
 Senator: 
 That anathema was met, along with all 
 Others, on the cross. Wie may electrocute 
 Such a man, whether he is sane or 
 Insane; and many a homicidal maniac 
 Is mobbed and killed without trial. 
 But we are not required to inflict 
 The capital penalty; and would better not; 
 As it is a strange sight to see one 
 Sinner send another sinner to electrocution 
 Or the felon's cell. We should rather 
 Heal and save as many as may be 
 
 ■85- 
 
And thus avoid condemnation ourselves. 
 He that converteth the sinner from the 
 Error of his way, shall sa^e a soul from 
 Death, and hide a multitude of sins. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What will be done with the incorrigible? 
 
 Senator: 
 While there is life there is hope, for 
 With God nothing is impossible that 
 He wills to do. But of course, as long as 
 Men think or act as though they know 
 More than God, there will be more or less 
 Need of restraint and guardianship. For such 
 Conceit tends to madness. Men in their 
 Madness said that Christ was beside 
 Himself and had a devil. But my 
 Hope is that the time is not distant, when 
 The world will see that he was reason 
 Incarnate, and that there is reason 
 For all things, and an underlying optimism 
 In all things; and that along some 
 Such line as this the curse of insanity 
 Will be lifted from humanity. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What scriptures do you base this optimistic 
 Hope upon? 
 
 Senator: 
 "Come now, saith the Spirit, and let us 
 Reason together; though your sins be 
 As scarlet, they shall be as wool; 
 Though they be red like crimson, they 
 Shall be white as snow." 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Any other? 
 
 Senator: 
 "There shall be no more curse." 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Where do you find that? 
 
 ie— 
 
Senator: 
 In the scenario of John, where the 
 Crystal river begins its flow through 
 The hearts of men; and as fast as 
 It finds its way there. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, Senator, the visions and dreams of 
 The bible are wonderful; but there is 
 One point where you must always fail! 
 
 Senator: 
 Where is that? 
 
 Vallmer! 
 la the promises! It is written; if ye have 
 Faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye 
 Shall remove mountains! Now let us see 
 You move a mountain! (laughs gleefully) 
 Cast Gibeon into the Valley of Ajalon, 
 For instance! 
 
 Senator: 
 That is not as impossible, as you might imagine! 
 A mountain is only a series of hills. If 
 You resolve the mountain into its hills or 
 Constituent elements it is gone. The 
 Moving the hills is the serious business, — 
 One at a time, by patience; as in 
 The case of the steel rail that is 
 
 Filling every valley, bringing low every mountain 
 And hill, making the rough places 
 Smoothe, and the crooked straight. 
 
 Vallmer! 
 The desert shall blosom as the rose! 
 Let us see you make a flower appear 
 Where none ever grew before! 
 
 Senator: 
 The flowers in the dining-car and the 
 Observation-car, and worn on the 
 Train, make it hard to find a desert 
 Anvwhere in the world! If I take 
 
 
The wings of the morning and fly 
 
 To the uttermost parts of the earth, there 
 
 I find the Lily of the valley and 
 
 The Rose of Sharon! 
 
 Vallmer! 
 Well, now, seeing you have the mountains 
 Reduced to a plain and the arid districts 
 Reclaimed, you do not seem to leave 
 Much standing-room for the orthodox idea 
 Of nell in this world! I am wondering where 
 It will come in, when your new earth 
 And new heaven are fully developed? 
 
 Senator: 
 Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom is a 
 Parable of the decay of the moral nature; 
 And according to the scenario of John 
 It was to be cast into the second death. 
 
 Vallmer! 
 What does the second death mean? 
 
 Senator: 
 As I understand that figure of speech 
 It signifies the loss or sovereignty 
 Incident to insanity, in all its forms; primarily 
 Including the phase known as second child-hood! 
 Sovereignty represents life! The child is 
 Subject to tutelage or guardianship; and 
 Hence, is legally dead. When a man 
 Dies at the top, whether before or 
 After the decay of his moral nature, 
 He is subject to guardianship; and hence is 
 Legally dead the second time. 
 
 Vallmer! 
 Then accorling to your view, the casting 
 Of hell into the second aea^n involves 
 The transforming of the penitentiary into 
 An asylum where the inmates are discharged 
 Upon the development of patriotism and 
 Good will to men? 
 
Senator: 
 It seems to me so. 
 
 Vallmer (meditatively) 
 Once a man and twice a child! 
 
 Senator: 
 He that overcometh shall not be hurt 
 Of the second death. I am relying on 
 That promise; and hence expect my 
 Sovereignty or right to make a will, 
 Or do what I will with my own, 
 To continue until my demise! 
 
 Vallmer! 
 And so you think the second death 
 Derives its significance primarily from dotage. 
 
 Senator: 
 I can find no other explanation. 
 
 Vallmer! 
 Can a man recover from dotage? 
 
 Senator: 
 Did you ever know of such a recovery? 
 
 Vallmer! 
 I never did. 
 
 (Enter Tramp-musician. Furnishes exquisite 
 sic and takes up collection. All contribute.) 
 Vallmer! 
 That is very fine music, my friend! I 
 Wonder at your taste in selection! You 
 Seem to have seen better days. 
 
 Tramp : 
 That which hath been is now; and 
 What is to be hath already been! 
 Vallmer, (to Senator) 
 He is not a lunatic is he? 
 
 Senator: 
 He seems queer. 
 
 Vallmer! 
 Where did you come from? 
 Tramp: 
 I do not know. 
 
 —89— 
 
Vallmer! 
 Where are you going? 
 
 Tramp : 
 I do not know. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Where did you stop last? 
 
 Tramp: 
 I never stop anywhere! I am always 
 In motion! 
 
 Vallmer (to Senator) 
 Do you suppose he is an imposter, simulating 
 Insanity! 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to me he is daft. 
 
 Vallmer (derisively) 
 Perhaps you were cast into the second death 
 Somewhere? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Well, judge it is up to you. 
 Vallmer: 
 What are you doing over here? 
 
 Tramp : 
 I am gathering pictures, drawn by a 
 Master hand, two thousand years ago. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What is your collection worth? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Not less than a thousand million. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 You must be a rich man? 
 
 Tramp: 
 I am poor in this world's goods, but 
 Rich in faith. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Now let us see; how old do you 
 Say these pictures are? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Two thousand years. 
 
 — 9-0— 
 
Vallmer: 
 I suppose you were there and saw 
 Them painted! Possibly you are the 
 Egyptian mummy I saw the other 
 Day with the Sphinx, and have concluded 
 To open your eyes and come around 
 And be neighborly? 
 
 Tramp: 
 I believe and therefore I speak. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Are these pictures well preserved? 
 
 Tramp: 
 They were drawn on the sky and are 
 As bright as a mid-summer day! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I suppose they sparkle like love 
 At first sight? 
 
 Tramp: 
 They were painted by the spirit of love. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, now, we are very curious to know 
 Who you are. 
 
 Tramp: 
 Suppose I am the mummy of 
 Which you speak, animated by an angel 
 As you suggested a moment ago. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Any tramp can claim to be an 
 Angel. 
 
 Tramp. 
 But they are not all able to act 
 Well, that part. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, which are you doing; simulating insanity 
 Or impersonating an angel? 
 
 Tramp. 
 Consider the clouds! Some have water and 
 Some have not. 
 
 —91— 
 
Vallmer: 
 You must have slept in the dew 
 Last night? 
 
 Tramp. 
 My head was filled with the dew; and 
 My locks with the drops of the night! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 How was your head filled with the dew? 
 
 Tramp. 
 From the clouds. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Were you sleeping over here on Mt. Gibeon 
 Up among the clouds? 
 
 Tramp. 
 No; the clouds were in my head 
 Along with my pictures. 
 
 Mary (to Vallmer) 
 Cannot you see, dear Mr. Vallmer, that 
 His intellect is clouded? A mighty 
 Genius in ruins! 
 
 Senator (to Mary) 
 It seems to me, rather, my dear, that 
 There is method in his madness. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, sir, you are not as big a fool 
 As you let on to be, are you? 
 
 Tramp. 
 Children and fools tell the truth! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 How do you justify yourself in your course' 
 If your story is true you are wasting 
 A lot of substance that should be given 
 To the poor. 
 
 Tramp. 
 That is what Judas said. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 How do you know Judas said that? 
 
 Tramp. 
 I believe and therefore I speak. 
 
 —92— 
 
Vallmer: 
 Well, if you are such a great believer 
 Suppose you play something apropos to the 
 Mighty events, that are claimed to have transpired 
 Around here. 
 
 Tramp. 
 What shal I play? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Sailing around the moon will do. They 
 Say it stood still, somewhere around 
 Here! 
 
 Tramp. 
 Beware of sacrilege! 
 I have no such records. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, they say when Nero ruled over 
 This country he danced while Rome 
 Was burning; and Christians on fire, were 
 The torches that lighted his gardens! 
 Now play something apropos to those 
 Tragic scenes, in the Eternal City. 
 
 Tramp. 
 Who will do the dancing? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 An electrified or angelized mummy 
 Ought to be able to reproduce the scene 
 Exactly as it occurred! 
 
 Tramp. 
 Who will be Nero? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 If it will help you any, T will 
 Represent him! 
 
 Tramp (to Mary) 
 Do we have the permission of the lady 
 To give this dance of death! 
 
 Mary: 
 Mr. Vallmer seems to be managing 
 This to suit himself at his own inn! 
 
 — 9'3>— 
 

 
 Vallmer: 
 
 On with 
 
 the 
 
 dance! 
 
 Tramp. 
 
 Let joy 
 
 be unconfined? 
 
 
 
 Vallmer: 
 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 
 Tramp. 
 
 The lid 
 
 off? 
 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Yea. 
 Tramp. 
 Eighty miles an hour? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Yes! Pull the throttle to the limit! 
 (The tramp dances skillfully and wonderfully to 
 music of the character indicated and Vallmer to stimu- 
 late him dances madly himself) 
 
 Tramp (turning to Vallmer) : 
 Go it while you are young! Ha! ha! ha! 
 
 (patting him familiarly.) 
 You heat the devil! Ha! ha! ha! 
 Let us see you beat hell! Ha! ha! ha! 
 
 Vallmer (sobering up): 
 Well sir, if you are an angel, you 
 Must be a pretty bad one! 
 
 Tramp. 
 Wihat more would you expect of an angel 
 Handicapped by an electrified mummy? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Good angels do not go around 
 Dancing like the devil, do they? 
 
 Tramp. 
 Joseph Jefferson acted well his part. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Ha! ha! ha! Well you are not Joe 
 Are you? 
 
 Tramp. 
 I did not say so. 
 
 —94— 
 
Vallmer: 
 Well, are you? 
 
 Tramp: 
 If they hear not Moses and the prophets 
 They will not be persuaded though one 
 Arose from the dead. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 That would depend upon, whether he should claim 
 That he had come from some habitation of 
 Liars. Such a claim as that of course, 
 Would discredit his testimony in advance. 
 
 Tramp: 
 How would you know, where the witness 
 Had come from, except his word? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Then as I understand you, if you was 
 In the other world, you would not 
 Come back here as a witness? 
 
 Tramp: 
 No: I think Abraham is right in that 
 Matter. He has been observing these things 
 Ever since the Sphinx was born and his 
 Judgment must be worth something. My 
 Testimony would be merely cumulative evidence. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Then according to your idea, if a man 
 Is risen from the dead, he had better 
 Keep still about it? 
 
 Tramp: 
 If a man should go around in the 
 Community and let it be known that 
 He had an idea in his head, that 
 He had died, and is risen from the 
 Dead, he would be considered insane. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 If I should see the grave opened 
 Would I not believe? 
 
 Tramp: 
 You would see it. 
 
 —95— 
 
Vallmer: 
 But the credibility of the risen, as to 
 Matters beyond, would still be up to 
 The jury? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Believers would not need such evidence 
 It being merely cumulative. The unbelieving 
 Would reject it, along with the evidence 
 Already introduced or offered. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Then there may be a good many 
 Risen and going around through this 
 World! 
 
 Tramp: 
 There may be! There are more things in 
 Heaven and earth than are dreamed of 
 In our philosophy! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 In your lucid intervals you reason well. 
 
 Tramp : 
 If my present lucidity is established 
 I am discharged from the case. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 But 'Who wil care for you, in 
 Your next spasm of lunacy? 
 
 Tramp: 
 We will cross that bridge, when we 
 Get to it! Meanwhile I am entitled 
 To the presumption of sanity? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Men are sometimes deluded on one 
 Point, but sane on others. 
 
 Tramp: 
 If we adopt that test, you must get off 
 The bench. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 
 Why so? 
 
 Tramp: 
 
 —96— 
 
No man is free from delusion. There 
 Is a vein of madness in every man. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 If that is true, you must be 
 Lugging some delusion around with you. 
 I am curious to know what it is? 
 
 Tramp: 
 If I knew, I would lay it aside. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well now, if you please, let me see 
 If I can establish your identity. You 
 Will not be to blame, if I discover it 
 Without your telling it? 
 
 Tramp: 
 A man is not to blame, for that which 
 He cannot avoid. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 They say the ruling passion is strong 
 In death? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Yes. 
 Vallmer (presenting a flesk of wine) 
 Joe have one on me. 
 
 Tramp: 
 I sweared off; but I wont count 
 This once! Here is to your health, and 
 Your families! And may you all 
 Live long and prosper! (Drinks.) 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Ha! ha! ha! Well Joe you are all right. 
 
 Tramp: 
 I feel pretty good. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, Joe are you immortal? 
 
 Tramp: 
 I have made a start. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Now Joe, you have found out, by this time 
 That man has no soul? 
 
 —97— 
 
Tramp: 
 If you say, you have no soul 
 I will admit it. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Neither have you! 
 
 Tramp: 
 I will not admit that. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 How is Gretchen? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Gretchen is charming! I have never seen 
 A medchen charming like my Gretchen! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Another lifetime honeymoon, I suppose. 
 
 Tramp: 
 The honey-moon of stage-folk is eternal! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 An eternal honeymoon! Senator he seems to go 
 You one better! 
 
 Senator: 
 I see he does. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Your tourist car must be fine? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Cushioned in green! Curtained in white! Gretchen 
 Says the canopy is just heavenly! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Adorned with pictures worth a thousand million? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Ah! if you could only see, the lights 
 And shades and golden hues! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What is the itinerary of this eternal 
 Wedding trip? 
 
 Tramp: 
 At present we are going with one 
 Of the planets around the sum! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 And so you and your chene medchen 
 
 —98— 
 
Journey, on and on, forever and 
 Ever! 
 
 Tramp: 
 While men come and go; as go 
 They must! Methinks soon, doubtless very soon, 
 The curtain will be lowered in your own 
 Case! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 What put that delusion in your mind? 
 
 Tramp: 
 We must look beyond the scenes, if 
 We would see the hand that looses 
 The silver cord. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I thought you drank to my health 
 And wished me long life. 
 
 Tramp: 
 That <was on the stage. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, now, let us leave the stage for 
 For awhile, and Hamlet and all his methods, 
 And have some words of truth and 
 Soberness. If one should die, and was 
 About to be risen, where would you 
 Advise for his reappearance? 
 
 Tramp: 
 There is no precedent or claim of 
 Anything of that kind in all the 
 Literature of the world, except here in 
 Palestine; and I would follotw the 
 Precedent, if I had my choice in 
 The matter. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Did anything of that kind occur 
 Here, except the alleged resurrection of 
 The divinity of Christianity? 
 
 —99— 
 
Tramp: 
 Yes, after He arose, many of the saints 
 Who slept, arose and went into 
 The Holy City and appeared to many. 
 
 Vallmer : 
 How do you know that? 
 
 Tramp: 
 I believe, and therefore I speak. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, Senator, you may take the witness. A 
 Man with a delusion like that, would not have 
 Far to go to reach the asylum. He is 
 An insane actor and imagines he is 
 Joseph Jefferson; but tries to conceal his 
 Delusion with the cunning often seen 
 In lunacy. He is probably some preacher 
 Crazed by higher criticism and love 
 Of sensationalism, and ending -with a 
 Mania for the stage. 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to me there is method in 
 His madness. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 No; he is mad as a March hare! 
 
 Senator: 
 Some have entertained angels unawares. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 We 1 ' if he is an angel, he must be 
 A destroying angel; for I saw homicidal 
 Mania in his eye, in that dance. 
 
 Tramp: 
 Except ye repent ye shall all likewise 
 Perish! Wisdom crieth without; she iittereth 
 Her voice in the streets saying: Why do the 
 Heathen rage and the people imagine anything 
 Is vain; and set at naught the 
 Annointed! He that sitteth in the heavens 
 Shall laugh! The Lord shall have them 
 In derision! 
 
 —100— 
 
Vallmer: 
 Your mind seems to be wandering! What do you 
 Mean by such a blow out as that? 
 
 Tramp: 
 The engine whistles at the crossing! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well Joe, or bird, or beast or devil or 
 Whatever you may be, how much do 
 I owe you for that dance? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Three hundred million. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 That is a good deal of money! 
 
 Tramp: 
 Dreams come high these days! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well Joe, charge it. 
 
 Tramp: 
 All right! But I ought to have had 
 Another hundred million! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well Joe, you could have had it, if 
 You had asked it! Ask and ye shall receive! 
 And ask a plenty while you are asking! 
 If you would be a goblin among goblins 
 You must gobble 
 
 With the goblins and gobble everything 
 In sight! 
 
 Tramp: 
 Do we get what we ask for? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Yes. 
 
 Tramp: 
 
 Every time? 
 
 Just as we ask it? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 
 Yes. 
 Tramp: 
 
 — 101— 
 
Vallmer: 
 
 Yes. 
 Tramp: 
 Then I want your head! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 W{hy so! 
 
 Tramp: 
 That is the way bad dancing accounts 
 Are settled over here! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 There is no precedent for that over 
 Here, I hope? 
 
 Tramp: 
 John the Baptist lost his head that way. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 How do you know that occurred? 
 
 Tramp: 
 I believe, therefore I speak. 
 Vallmer: 
 Wiell, these disguised angels are not 
 Dangerous, are they? 
 
 Tramp: 
 It is not wise to trifle with them 
 Whether disguised or otherwise. 
 Do not monkey with the buzz-saw! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 The idea of an angel using slang! 
 
 Tramp: 
 That proverb is beginning to be used 
 By the best speakers and writers, and 
 Is worthy of a place in the classics! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 I thought the angels were ministering spirits 
 And never hurt anybody? 
 
 Tramp: 
 You forget the angel that destroyed 
 The first born in all the region 
 Overlooked by the Sphinx! Justice and judgment 
 Are attributes of God, as well as mercy! 
 
 — 10 2— 
 
Vallmer: 
 Well, you would not scare us with 
 The idea that the King of kings is with a 
 Poor tramp like you, 'would you? 
 
 Tramp: 
 He said, when ye feed the hungry 
 And visit the sick or in prison, 
 Ye do it unto him! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 You do not mean to say that 
 He is in the felon's cell? 
 
 Tramp: 
 He is there by virtue of the omnipresent 
 Spirit that raised him from the dead. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Well, we ought to get him out of 
 There, in some way? 
 
 Tramp: 
 What is your plan? 
 
 Vallmer: 
 The Senator here has a plan of 
 Converting the penitentiary into an asylum. 
 
 Tramp: 
 That is a grand thought. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 But what do we gain by it, if 
 We shall leave him in the maniac's 
 Cell, plus this new ward of quasi-maniacs? 
 
 Tramp: 
 Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
 For mourning and the garments of praise 
 For the spirit of heaviness. 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Another singular blow-out! Your lucid interval 
 Seems to be passing off! How can beauty 
 Be derived from ashes? 
 
 Tramp: 
 A railway line is a jewel, that 
 Has good ballast; and the road-bed 
 
 — 1'0'S— - 
 
Is stronger. Methinks I see the picture 
 In the sky! The sea of glass 
 Mingled with fire! The engine on the 
 Glistening rail, with hopeful hearts 
 In ceaseles flow! 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Much study of the clews and labyrinths 
 Of an alleged optimism has certainly 
 Made you mad! 
 
 Tramp: 
 My fish is lost and my line 
 Is broken! Ah, but he was a beauty! 
 (Exit.) 
 
 Vallmer: 
 Ha! ha! ha! His mind is in the happy 
 Hunting ground 'where the fishing is 
 Good! Ha! ha! ha! I am sorry Joe, 
 Yo>u lost your fish and broke your line! 
 Beter luck next time, I hope! 
 Here is to the succes of all good 
 Fishermen, whether their line be long 
 Or short or broken! And may you all 
 Live long and prosper! For methinks 
 We are all a long time dead! 
 Vanity of vanities is beter that this 
 Vagary of vagaries, — this extract of Christo-Science 
 Known as optimism! The dead have risen! 
 The sick are healed! Fish stories galore! 
 Wildly weird and weirdly wild! I have lost 
 My fish and my line is broken! Ha! ha! ha 
 Oh, my heart! My heart! My heart! 
 (In pain and bewilderment he clasps his breast 
 conclusively and fall in sudden death. The 
 Senator rushes to him quickly and opens 
 his vesture. ) 
 
 Mary (in consternation): 
 This is awful! Is he dead? 
 
 Senator (nervously): 
 I am afraid so. 
 
 — 10 4 — 
 
Guide (entering) 
 What is the matter, sir? 
 
 Senator ( dejectedly ) : 
 Our friend seems to have fallen dead! 
 
 Guide: 
 Is it possible? 
 
 (Rushes quickly to the remains and makes 
 examination. ) 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to be a case of heart failure. 
 
 Guide (rising) : 
 I sympathize deeply with you both. 
 
 Senator: 
 It is indeed sad! Very sad! 
 
 Guide: 
 What can I do for you? 
 
 Senator: 
 Please notify the authorities of this , 
 
 Sudden death; and we will wait 
 Here until you return. (Exit Guide.) 
 
 Mary: 
 How sudenly his life went out! 
 
 Senator (meditatively): 
 Poor Vallmer! He died without hope; and 
 His friends mourn, with but little, if 
 Any hope! 
 
 Mary : 
 It is hard to think that all 
 That intelligence has disappeared forever! 
 
 Senator: 
 How strongly that question presses upon us, 
 As -we stand in the shadow of this 
 Sad event! 
 
 Mary: 
 It is hard to think we will never 
 See him again! 
 
 Senator: 
 The destiny of those who die, without 
 Faith in the risen Christ is to me, 
 
 —105— 
 
A mystery! We do not expect to see 
 A trained horse or pet animal again. 
 If a biped goes through life, with 
 No more conception of divine truth, than 
 A quadruped, what hope is there in 
 The one case, more than the other? 
 
 Mary: 
 Do you doubt your own imortality? 
 
 Senator: 
 As I understand the scenario of the 
 Crystal river, those who believe in the 
 Risen Christ and submit to and 
 Harmonize with the divine volition, will live 
 And reign with Him forever! 
 
 Mary: 
 So, you rest in that confidence? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; and do the best I can from day 
 To day, and leave the evolution of 
 My life, to divine supervision, and thank 
 Him for his grace past, present and 
 Future — the quality of mercy, grace and 
 Loving kindness, always being present with 
 Me — the quantity, whether it be more or 
 Less, being with him, or for him to say. 
 And I seek grace to serve him acceptably 
 With reverence and circumspection. For our 
 God, in parable, is a consuming fire! 
 And children learn by experience and 
 Observation to deal circumspectly with 
 Fire, or any other phase of power! 
 
 Mary : 
 And so you think we can only mourn 
 For our friend as those who have 
 Little, or no hope, of seeing their friends again? 
 
 Senator: 
 We know this: That infinite mercy and 
 Wisdom will do right! And we will leave 
 The case in his hands; being glad to know 
 
 — 106 — 
 
It is in such good hands, while we 
 Wonder at the mystery of faith, on 
 The one hand, and unbelief on the 
 Other hand that everywhere abound! 
 (Enter official and deputies.) 
 Official: 
 I am sorry, my dear sir, to learn 
 Of the suden death of your friend, 
 But it is my official duty to take charge 
 Of the remains. 
 
 Senator: 
 You answer to the -Coroner in America. 
 Yes sir. 
 Senator: 
 Let the law take its course; and thereafter 
 We will confer as to the shipment. 
 
 (Exit official and deputies with remains.) 
 Mary: 
 That awful prophecy of death! 
 
 Senator: 
 Beware of the fallacy! Post propter hoc, ergo hoc! 
 
 Mary: 
 I am troubled in spirit by it! 
 
 Senator: 
 It may have been a mere coincidence, my dear. 
 
 Mary: 
 I would be less disturbed if I only 
 Knew who that tramp was. 
 Senator: 
 I respected his silence on that point. 
 
 Mary: 
 He may have been Joseph Jefferson, unawares! 
 
 Senator: 
 He may have been! If not, he was 
 A wonderful imitator! I suppose you 
 Noticed I asked him no questions? 
 Mary: 
 Why not? 
 
 — 107— 
 
Senator: 
 He was insane or a mighty angel 
 Or impersonator. 
 
 Mary: 
 So you think the death of Vallmer may have been 
 A mere coincidence? 
 
 Senator: 
 We will treat it in that way. 
 
 Mary: 
 I see you still believe in one God 
 One bible and one wife? 
 
 Senator: 
 Resolutely so! I do not care to talk 
 To the angels, knowingly, until I attain 
 To the other world, and become a peer 
 Among them, and have a jury of my 
 Peers in the settlement of the deep questions 
 They may raise; where I will have an 
 Advocate with the Father, who is able 
 To take care of me! The angels may visit 
 Me, unawares; otherwise not! For Abraham 
 Has revoked their credentials; and if any 
 Trouble arises, while they are confessedly 
 Around, they are liable to be blamed 
 For it, whether justly so or no! 
 
 Mary: 
 But suppose this was not a coincidence 
 And this Tramp is an angel 
 Ill-concealed, and loosed the silver 
 Cord of Vallmer, why not yours also? 
 
 Senator: 
 I am ready for my peerage! 
 Mary: 
 
 And so my loss would be your gain? 
 
 Senator: 
 Death is certainly promotion to them 
 That believe in the risen Christ. 
 
 — 1'OS — ■ 
 
Mary: 
 If we could only look forward so 
 Confidently to the future of our 
 Friend, in this hour of his terrible 
 Demise! 
 
 Senator: 
 With God all things are possible that 
 He wills to do. Let this be our great 
 Consolation as we leave his case, as well as 
 Our own in his hands, and submit 
 To his will, whether in weal or woe. 
 
 Mary: 
 I am distressed by this lonely death 
 In foreign lands, without kith or kin. 
 
 Senator: 
 It is sad, my dear! No tear in all 
 The world but ours! 
 
 Mary: 
 My heart is heavy! I am acquainted 
 With mystery and dejection, and greatly 
 Depressed by this unsearchable providence. 
 
 Senator: 
 There is a hand to help, my dear, 
 In an hour like this, if we seek 
 It! 
 
 Mary (kneeling, sings) 
 
 Come unto me all ye that labor 
 
 And are heavy laden, and I will give 
 
 You rest! 
 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn 
 
 Of me, and ye shall find rest 
 
 Unto your souls! 
 
 For I am meek and lowly in heart 
 
 And my yoke is easy, and 
 
 My burden is light! 
 
 (Stage is slowly darkened, the Senator standing, 
 while his head is drooped in sympathy.) 
 
 — 109— 
 
Kinetoscopic Views: 
 (1) The Holy City. 
 (■2) The Coliseum at Rome. 
 
 (3) TheParthenon of Athens. 
 
 (4) The Sphinx. 
 
 (5) The Weeping Willow. 
 
 Curtain. 
 
 110— 
 
ACT VI. 
 [Scene: Apartment House in Chicago. The Sena- 
 tor is seated in meditation in his parlor in the first 
 story. Phone-booth on the left. Dr. Mayo is read- 
 ing in his study in the second story. Phone-booth 
 on the right. The side of each booth, to the audience 
 is open.] 
 
 Irene: 
 Father you wanted to see me? 
 
 Senator: 
 I sent for you, my daughter on a 
 Matter that breaks your father's heart. Twenty 
 Years ago, I asked the father of your 
 Mother, what Dr. Raymond has asked of 
 Me tonight.! He is coming for his answer 
 And I leave you with him. For this 
 Cause shall a man leave his father 
 And mother and cleave unto his wife. (Exit.) 
 (Enter Dr. Raymond.) 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I am glad to see you, my dear 
 Irene! Your father has left my case 
 With you? 
 
 Irene: 
 A woman should have time to think 
 Over a matter of such great importance 
 To her! (Smiling) But you have popped the 
 Question so nicely, the battle is more 
 Than half won. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I will call tomorrow for your 
 Answer. I have an important Cesarian 
 Operation, or I would be glad to spend 
 The evening here in the halo of 
 Parental love that surounds you, and fill 
 The cup to the brim with a lover's 
 Devotion. 
 
 Irene: 
 What is a Cesarian operation, Doctor? 
 
 — Ill— 
 
Dr Raymond: 
 When Caesar was born, it was necessary 
 To make the delivery through the side; 
 And the incisions, of the patient for 
 That purpose, are known in surgical science 
 As the Cesarian operation. 
 
 Irene (astonished): 
 Is this a possibility in the honeyed 
 Words of man to 'woman? 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Truth compels me to say it is. 
 
 Irene (still astonished): 
 And this is a possible culmination of 
 The feast you invite me to, by 
 The cup filled to the brim? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 My dear, the fall from love to science 
 Is too great a shock! 
 
 Irene: 
 It seems to me that love-making 
 Is a kind of war, against one, who 
 By the customs of this world does not 
 Bear the sword! If wedlock exposes her 
 To the operation you describe! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I do not understand your parable. 
 
 Irene: 
 The hospitals abound with this class of 
 Patients and the surgeons are getting rich 
 If marriage is a mere sheath of a 
 Knife, dagger or sword, woman has the 
 Right to test the mettle of that sword. 
 If a tiger is assailed by a spearman 
 It has the right to defend itself 
 With the weapons it possesses. The right 
 To defend against the sword inheres 
 In woman as well as in man! 
 
 —112— 
 
Dr. Raymond: 
 The right to use the sword does not 
 Necessarily imply that it must be used. 
 When one of His diciples cut off 
 The servant's ear, the Master told him 
 To put up his sword and healed it. 
 
 Irene: 
 Christ was a sacrifice for sin. But 
 The sacrifice of woman can no more 
 Atone for sin, than the sacrifice of man 
 In war. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Lincoln thought that the Civil War, was 
 An atonement, by the sword, for every 
 Drop of blood, drawn by the lash, 
 Drop for drop. 
 
 Irene: 
 That sacrifice was in vain, until it 
 Developed an inspiration to die to make 
 Men free, as Christ died to make them 
 Holy! So the availing sacrifice in that 
 Strife was made on the cross! 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I cannot now discuss the mystery of the 
 Cross! It is enough to say there is madness 
 In your idea, that woman must sheath 
 Per chance, a dagger in her lover's heart! 
 
 Irene: 
 I am just and love must insist 
 On justice. A man bearing a sword 
 Is only entitled to that which he conquers. 
 You must conquer me or I can never 
 Be your wife! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What madness! 
 
 Irene: 
 I will bring two swords! You must wrest 
 One of them from me if you 
 Would 'win the hand that holds it! 
 
 —113— 
 
Dr Raymond: 
 I cannot consider this matter now. My 
 Patient is wating for me, and I 
 Moist take my leave. 
 
 Irene: 
 There are other surgeons in the case? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Yes; I am only called in consultation. 
 
 Irene: 
 Then we must settle this matter to-night. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Perhaps I had better stay and reason 
 You out of this delusion! Excuse me 
 A moment and I will cancel my 
 Engagement, by phone. 
 
 (He enters booth and calls Central for No. 6G6. 
 The phone of Dr. Mayo, rings and he enters booth.) 
 (Exit Irene.) 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Is this Dr. Mayo? 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Yes. 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I will have to be excused from our 
 Case this evening, Dr. 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 I am sorry to hear that Dr. Raymond! 
 We would like your counsel very much! 
 What is the trouble? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I have an important case of my own! 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Can you not postpone it? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 No; I am required to attend to it 
 Right now! 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 You are not hurt yourself? 
 
 —114— 
 
Dr. Raymond: 
 No; it seems to be a case of lunacy 
 In a very dear friend of mine, but 
 Of a type I have never seen before! 
 Nor heard of! Nor read about in 
 The books! 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 How does the malady exhibit itself? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I will discuss it with you, when 
 I see yo<u. It is an offshoot of 
 Some idea that was developed in 
 The Garden of Eden! 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Well we will excuse you and get along 
 The best we can. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Be very careful Doctor! She is one of the 
 Grandest women that lives! She is not 
 One of the kind of women that think 
 They know more than God. She thinks 
 That he has made woman on as 
 Good a plan as he could devise! 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Well, I do not see how the plan 
 Could be improved upon myself. Both 
 Man and woman are fearfully and 
 Wonderfully made! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 How does her husband stand the outlook? 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 He seems to be in greater distress about it. 
 Than she is. 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 That is often the case. 
 Men are not as heartless as women 
 Think they are. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Wjell, success to you. I may get around 
 
 —11-5— 
 
There, in an hour or so, if my 
 Lunatic does not kill me! 
 
 (Dr. Mayo resumes his reading; and Dr. Raymond 
 re-enters the parlor.) 
 
 (Irene reenters the parlor, with two swords. A 
 star is on the front part of her dress, and the skirt 
 reaches a little below the knee.) 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What does that star mean? 
 Irene: 
 I am a candidate for membership in the 
 Star-brigade! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What is that? 
 
 Irene: 
 They that turn many to righteousness shall sliine 
 As the stars forever. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 You look rather as though you were dressed 
 For private theatricals. 
 
 Irene: 
 I am dressed to kill! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 If a man marries a lunatic with his eyes 
 Wide open, he should stick to his bargain! 
 
 Irene (tendering weapons): 
 You may have the choice of swords, Doctor; 
 They are of equal mettle! Papa brought 
 Them from the war! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 How can I wantonly jeopardize the life 
 Of one I love? You can have my 
 Heart's blood! Oh mad one! But ho>w 
 Can I shed one drop of the precious 
 Blood of the woman I love? 
 
 (Enter Senator and stands at entrance.) 
 Irene: 
 It is cowardly to come after one with 
 A sword that bears no sword. I 
 
 — 11.6r- 
 
Can never love you as a wife 
 
 Ought, except you wrest the sword from 
 
 Me. You will then have the right 
 
 To lead me captive to the altar. 
 
 For then I am defenseless; and do 
 
 No violence to the law and duty 
 
 Of self-defense. If you jeopardize your 
 
 Life for me, I will do no violence 
 
 To my sense of justice in entering 
 
 Into peril for you! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 The husband suppports the wife by the sweat 
 Of his brow. 
 
 Irene: 
 I cannot enter into marriage on the basis 
 Of barter and sale. I am financially 
 Independent and do not need to marry 
 For money. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 How then would a rich girl ever be able 
 To marry? 
 
 Irene: 
 Sacrifice, on ycur part, is the only thing, 
 That will justify sacrifice en my part. 
 I could love you if you should endanger 
 Your life in an attempt to rescue me 
 From fire or other peril. But there 
 Being no danger, now present, I 
 See no oportunity for jeopardy, except 
 To attempt to wrest the sword from me. 
 A woman must know in some way 
 That her husband loves her. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I might give you a good chastisement 
 With the rod! About a thousand years 
 Ago, William of Normandy, satisfied his 
 Sweet-heart of his royal affection, in 
 That way! 
 
 —117— 
 
Irene (smiling) : 
 You could not very well do that 
 While I hold this sword! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 The fact that a man proposes to stake 
 His happiness on you for life, is evidence 
 In itself. 
 
 Irene: 
 It is evidence; but not sufficient! If 
 My faith-faculty is weak, I suppose 
 I must suffer for it! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 But suppose I should happen to kill you? 
 
 Irene: 
 I take that chance. I would rather die 
 Than marry a man, without sufficient evidence 
 Corroborative of his declaration of affection! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 If I was in peril of some kind 
 Would you not jeopardize your life 
 For me? 
 
 Irene: 
 That is not the situation. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I am in jeopardy of being an old 
 Bachelor! A horrible fate! 
 
 Irene: 
 Well, then make sacrifice for some girl; 
 Or marry some one that needs your 
 Money! If you are willing to stake 
 The life of both of us, methinks 
 That neither of us will ever have 
 Occasion to consult a divoroe attorney! 
 
 Senator (approaching) : 
 She is right Doctor, under the law of faith. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I find myself involved in a great mystery! 
 Her position amounts to lunacy; but she 
 Fortifies it with marvelous ingenuity — a 
 
 —US— 
 
Phase of madness, I have never seen 
 
 Ere this. She must have been under some 
 
 Strange prenatal influence; as her insanity 
 
 Seems to be congenital. Did you or 
 
 Her mother have any planetary superstition 
 
 Before she was born? 
 
 Senator (smiling) : 
 We figured a good deal, in those days 
 On a life-time honeymoon; and as to 
 How we could stay the moon, without 
 Disturbing the stars in their courses. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 How did your lifetime honeymoon turn out? 
 
 Senator: 
 It seems to be improving with age! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Well, Senator, I would like an amiable 
 Conceit, like that, in my own family; 
 And if that is all the hereditary taint 
 There is in the case, I will make 
 This sword test, on condition, that 
 If I shed one drop of your daughter's 
 Blood, you will slay me immediately! 
 
 Senator : 
 That would make me a murderer. 
 Dr Raymond: 
 But duelling is prohibited by law. 
 
 Senator: 
 A contest between friends or lovers 
 To wrest the sword w r ould not be 
 A duel. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 The situation is a hard one. This girl 
 Has amazing brilliancy and I cannot give 
 Her up. 
 
 Senator: 
 The untutored Indians race for the girl 
 And the spoils belong to the victor. 
 
 —119— 
 
Dr. Raymond: 
 But our civilization is not barbarian. 
 
 Senator: 
 What shall we say then as to the political 
 Race? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Senator, is there no way that we 
 Can overcome this strange idea that 
 Has found lodgment in your daughter's 
 Mind? 
 
 Senator: 
 The better way is to let her faith 
 Or conception of the situation run its 
 Course. We may be able to find 
 An outlet farther down the line. 
 
 Dr. Raymond (taking his sword): 
 Very well. 
 
 Irene: 
 Are you ready? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Do me the kindness to begin the contest. 
 I do not want it to be said 
 Of me that I ever made an assault 
 Upon a woman. 
 
 Irene: 
 No! You are to conquer me. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Irene will you not pierce my heart 
 And end this madness? 
 
 Irene: 
 This is no time for gallantry. That 
 May come later. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Be on your guard. 
 
 (He assails her and they fence briskly. He gradual^ 
 ly assumes and remains on the defensive.) 
 Irene (as they pause) : 
 Dr. Raymond you are not seeking to wrest 
 My sword from me? 
 
 —120— 
 
Dr. Raymond (determinedly): 
 Be on your guard. 
 
 (He assumes the offensive and they fence fiercely, 
 and the Doctor is wounded in the cheek.) 
 Irene (in consternation) : 
 Oh , Doctor, you are wounded in the cheek! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 W(hat else did you expect? 
 (Places his handkerchief to the wound.) 
 
 Irene: 
 The sight of blood nearly makes me faint! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Excuse me a moment and I will phone 
 Dr. Mayo to stitch up this wound. 
 (Enlers booth and calls as before, and Dr. Mayo en- 
 ters his booth.) 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Is that you, Doctor? 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Yes. 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I wish you would come down a 
 Moment and stitch up a litle wound 
 For me. 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 All right. I will be down immediately. 
 (They both leave booths.) 
 
 (Enter Dr. Mayo.) 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 What is the matter, Doctor? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Oh, Irene and I have just been having 
 A little discussion -with swords; and 
 I received a little wound here in 
 The cheek. Sew it up, Doctor, please! 
 Dr Mayo (sewing up wound): 
 What does this discusion mean? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Oh, just two fools met. 
 
 —121— 
 
Irene (sweetly) : 
 Does it hurt much? 
 
 Rr. Raymond: 
 Oh, do not mention it. 
 
 Irene (to Dr. Mayo): 
 The stitches are not painful, in a 
 Cesarian operation are they? 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 No; the only severity in that operation 
 Is the confinement until the incisions 
 Heal. 
 
 Irene: 
 How long is that? 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 About as long as the moon to go 
 Round the earth; or a hen to hatch 
 Her chickens; or typhoid to run 
 Its course. 
 
 Irene : 
 Is there any connection between those 
 Phenomena? 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 They are distantly related by mystery; 
 Otherwise they seem to be mere coincidences. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 If I should contract typhoid fever from 
 Exposure in my professional rounds 
 I suppose you would take care of me? 
 
 Irene: 
 The idea that I would not take care 
 Of my husband in typhoid! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I do not believe you would be so 
 Heartless. 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 If you will suspend this discussion for 
 A moment, I will cover the wound 
 With court-plaster. (Applies it.) 
 
 — 122 — 
 
Irene (to Dr. Raymond): 
 Does court-plaster derive its name 
 From courting? 
 
 Rr. Raymond: 
 I never looked up the derivation. 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Ha! ha! ha! You might look it up 
 Doctor, and favor us with a thesis, at 
 The next meeting of our surgical association. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 I will draw on my general information 
 And give you my ideas now, Doctor, 
 If you can stay and hear them ! 
 
 Dr. Mayo: 
 Ha! ha! ha! I will wait for your more 
 Deliberate views. I must excuse myself now. 
 As I have an important matter, waiting 
 On me. Ha! ha! ha! (Exit.) 
 
 Dr. Raymond : 
 Senator, I used to thing that Irene 
 And I had some sense. 
 
 Irene (kisses her father): 
 These horrid men! I shall never marry 
 Anybody! It is a terrible thing to get 
 Married! 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Celibacy is worse! Wihere will you stay? 
 
 Irene: 
 With Papa and Mamma. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 If they should die, then what? 
 
 (Irene (meditatively) 
 It would be lonely — very, very lonely 
 If Papa and Mamma should die. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 You have no legal claim on them? 
 
 Irene: 
 I am positively charmed with your 
 Brutality! I feel like I was being driven 
 
 —123— 
 
With goads, like an ox, or hitched 
 To a plow, as they do in Deutchland! 
 
 Senator: 
 Do not be hasty, my dear! We will bring 
 This matter out clearly by a little patience. 
 I want you both to see that there 
 Is a sense in which man cannot 
 Wrest the sword from woman. She can 
 Surrender the sword and become as an 
 Animal ruled over by man; but I do not 
 Think the Doctor wishes to marry a virtual 
 Animal, nor be wedded to a slave. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 I do not yet understand your thought? 
 
 Senator: 
 W,e conquered the south and justice submits 
 To the arbitrament of the sword; while the 
 Defeated party has the consolation that 
 It was 'worth fighting for; and both 
 Parties think more highly of each other 
 Than before the conflict. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Then, if I do not wrest the sword 
 From your daughter, at the peril of 
 My life, I must marry an animal, or 
 Advocate race suicide, by example, if not 
 By precept. 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, or you must disarm her by some 
 Other sacrifice or jeopardy, that satisfies 
 Her sense of justice. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Senator, I will take that sword, or 
 Perish! 
 
 (They renew the conflict fiercely and the Doctor 
 loses his sword.) 
 
 Senator: 
 Let me again remind you Doctor that 
 Man cannot wrest the sword from woman! 
 
 — 124 — 
 
You are blind! You cannot see the 
 Angel that is upholding her hands! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What Angel? 
 Senator: 
 The angel with the flaming sword that 
 Keeps the gates of the Garden of Eden. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Where is the Garden of Eden? 
 
 Sentinel: 
 Where true love is, there is the Garden 
 Of Eden! 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 Men often do get wives in this country 
 Without running against ideas of this 
 Kind! 
 
 Senator : 
 Before they get a wife, imbued with 
 A sense of justice and thus worth 
 Anything more than an animal, their hearts 
 Are often broken, and they would 'welcome 
 Death. Insanity sometimes sets in. And 
 How often relief is found in the 
 Divorce court, from the intolerable condition 
 Arising from the feeling in the wife 
 That she is giving more than she receives. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 If the woman is void of justice, then what? 
 
 Senator: 
 Then how easy it is for a richer 
 Man to take advantage of the 
 Situation and lead the animal captive 
 With his showy equipage, and tinsel 
 Of wealth, or other attraction. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 What then is the remedy? 
 Senator: 
 The only sword, as it seems to me, that 
 Can conquer woman is the sword that 
 
 —125— 
 
Pierced the heart of the Son of God! 
 
 Otherwise than that man must rule his 
 
 Wife; and has always done so, in all 
 
 Unchristian lands, — the primal curse pronounced 
 
 Upon woman reducing her to a state 
 
 Of subjection, being the natural result of 
 
 But mitigated by her loss of the quality 
 
 Of justice. 
 
 Dr Raymond: 
 How does the cross affect this situation? 
 
 Senator: 
 That curse was lifted by the divine 
 Decree that the seed of the woman should 
 Bruise the head of the serpent and it 
 Should bruise his heel. That heel 
 Was bruised four thousand years later 
 Vicariously, on the cross; and that vicarious 
 Sword is the only sword that woman 
 Can or ever has accepted and be just. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Is that the reason that young men, and 
 Women, grown up in the church together, 
 Marry so readily? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; they mate as readily as doves. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 And so you think the sword of the 
 Crucifixion turns the edge of the naming 
 Sword that guards the gate to paradise? 
 
 Senator: 
 Look Doctor, at the christian wives and 
 Mothers in Christendom; and compare their 
 Glory and honor, with the condition of 
 Females in all tribes and people, where 
 Christ has not been received, and be 
 Convinced! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Why do you speak of them as females? 
 
 — 12 6 — 
 
Senator: 
 To distinguish them from the women 
 That are the glory of Christendom! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 I do not yet understand the philosophy 
 Of this plan of salvation as related to 
 Wedlock? 
 
 Senator: 
 The cross relieves the christian wife and 
 Mother of the sense of injustice in her situation; 
 Not by destroying the quality of justice 
 Within her, but, by fulfilling its demands. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 How so? 
 Senator: 
 Christ, as it seems to her, has made a 
 Greater sacrifice for her, than she can ever 
 Possibly make for her husband and children! 
 Ke bought the home as well as the church; 
 And hence she gives herself for her family 
 Freely: without doing violence to her 
 Sense of justice; which must perish, in 
 View of the greater sacrifice she makes 
 For the family than man, unless her 
 Conscience is fed or satisfied by the 
 Still greater divine sacrifice for her. 
 Otherwise than that woman is swindled when 
 She enters the marriage relation. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What seems to be the divine purpose 
 In all this? 
 
 Senator: 
 Out of these sacrifices that are made by 
 Christian men and women, in their various 
 Relations, in recognition of the sacrifice 
 Of Christ for sin, God evolves love — 
 A divine nectar — and invites us all 
 To sup with Him! No phase of this love 
 Is more precious to Him than mother-love; 
 
 —127— 
 
Except the love on the cross, wherein 
 Christ died for his enemies; in the midst 
 Of an awful scene of desolation, only 
 Relieved from pessimisism, by the 
 Inextinguishable quality of optimism in God, 
 Evincing itself in tracery, sublime, by the 
 Presence of his mother, in a sacred trio 
 Of Marys, and the commission of her 
 To his bosom-friend and disciple, after 
 The remainder of the smitten and scattered 
 Flock forsook him and fled. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 How does Christianity relieve woman from 
 The curse of subjection? 
 
 Senator: 
 In christian -wedlock, the husband and wife 
 Are joint sovereigns over the family, charged 
 With the right and duty of construing 
 The divine word, as related to the 
 Family. This opens a field for the 
 Exercise of the judicial quality, by both 
 Of them. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 But suppose these two sovereigns clash? 
 
 Senator: 
 An appeal to the divine word will settle 
 All such difficulties. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 But suppose they differ as to the 
 Meaning of the word? 
 
 Senator: 
 The party holding the affirmative, should make 
 All reasonable concession; and does so in all 
 Concurrency of which we have any knowledge 
 From the play-ground up to the joint 
 Sovereignty over the sea. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 But in the epistle to Timotheus, the 
 
 — 128 — 
 
Apostle declares the husband should rule 
 His house. 
 
 Senator: 
 Concurrently, however, with his wife! As in 
 That same letter she is declared to be 
 The guide of the house; which, in the original 
 Means despot. Hence it is clear that 
 The husband should let the despot 
 Have her way, as long as she runs 
 The home according to her conceptions of 
 The divine record, to which they both 
 Appeal. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 You seem to believe in equality of 
 Man and wife? 
 
 Senator: 
 The wife of the Indian follows rather than 
 Promenades with him. On the other hand 
 It is pleasant to see one of our American 
 Girls in the joy of her first promenade 
 With one of her neighbor boys. She 
 Is a little proud, perhaps, of the 
 Concurrency! Holds her head pretty high 
 Sometimes, in her newly found dignity! But 
 I suppose, I will be about as proud 
 When in the dance of the family of natioms 
 The governor of the feast shall issue the 
 Divine call: Promenade all! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Do you still have that dream Senator? 
 
 Senator : 
 It looked dark a score of years ago 
 When the echo from Mduila resounded at 
 Port Arthur! But the prospects are getting 
 Brighter, every year. The concurrency of 
 The Atlantic with the Pacific, via Panama, 
 Looks as though righteousness and peace 
 Have married and started on a 
 Honeymoon, without end! 
 
 —129— 
 
Dr. Raymond: 
 As you view it, then, an ideal marriage 
 Involves the exaltation of woman? 
 
 Senator: 
 When we were married my wife thought 
 She had made something of an 
 Acquisition. She went back to the 
 Primary arithmetic and figured, whereas 
 One times one, is only one, two times 
 One is two, And when Irene was 
 Born, we said, three times one are 
 Three. And when she marries, four 
 Times one will be four. And 
 If God should give us a grand 
 Child, then there will be five; and 
 I will be very thankful — very, very 
 Thankful! O! how devoutly I will praise 
 The Giver of good gifts for His grace! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 So you hold, the regeneration of this world 
 Involves the rescue of woman by the 
 Sacrifice of the Son of God! 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes, we lost our paradise through her; 
 And we must go where we lost it, 
 If we would find it; And go in 
 Where woman walks abreast of man 
 Rather than follows him! 
 Irene: 
 I see, dear father, the crystal river, of 
 Which, you and mamma so often sing! 
 I never understood it until now! 
 
 Senator: 
 My dear daughter, dearer to me than 
 The apple of my eye, as the side of 
 Christ was pierced for you, His child, 
 Will you not suffer incision of your side, 
 
 — 130— 
 
For your child, if the surgeon's knife 
 
 Shall be nece'ssary? 
 
 (She hands her father her sword and kisses him.) 
 
 And you Dr. ! Will you not look to 
 
 That same sword and the divine record 
 
 Of it, as the only possible source of 
 
 Equality and harmony in the home, and 
 
 A stream of conjugal love, pure and clear 
 
 As crystal, flowing from the throne 
 
 And heart of God? 
 
 Dr. Raymond (meditatively): 
 The mystery of marriage! The mystery of 
 The church. Two great blessed mysteries! 
 
 Senator: 
 The man who understands these truths, and 
 Is able to deliver his wife, from the knife. 
 By teaching her them and thus lead her 
 To Him, whose yoke is easy and burden 
 Light, is worthy of my daughter; otherwise 
 Not; for marriage is an awful failure 
 Unless through its mystery, the husband and wife 
 Find their way up to the mystery 
 Of the Head of the church; which He calls 
 His bride, and gave himself for it. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Your parable, Senator, involves a very 
 High opinion of a christian woman! 
 Senator : 
 (Pouring out three glasses of wine.) 
 Let us drink together this toast: "The woman 
 Is the glory of the man." 
 All: 
 "The woman is the glory of the man!" 
 (All drink.) 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What kind of a woman, Senator, did 
 The apostle have in mind, when he 
 Penned that beautiful sentiment. 
 
 —131— 
 
Senator: 
 
 Methinks it was a christian woman. 
 Irene 
 (Taking the Dr's arm affectionately): 
 If the wife should be a christian, what 
 Should the husband be? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 What is good enough for the women 
 And children, is good enough for man! 
 
 Irene: 
 But suppose one or the other continues 
 In unbelief? 
 
 Senator: 
 Let the unbelieving depart if they will. 
 But I will never leave my wife 
 Whether she believes as I do or no! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Where do you get that sentiment, Senator? 
 
 Senator: 
 From the Apostle Paul. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 He was a wonderful jurist. 
 Senator: 
 I have often noticed the admiration of 
 Surgeons for the legal profession. 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 The love of truth, in all the learned 
 Professions is consolidating them into 
 A Mutual Admiration Society. 
 
 Irene: 
 What are the learned professions? 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Every avocation under the sun, requires 
 Scientific knowledge. 
 
 Irene: 
 I have the degree of Mistress of Home Science! 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 My wagon is hitched to a star! 
 
 — 132 — 
 
Irene: 
 Vvfhen did you take the degree of 
 The Science of Beautiful Thought? 
 
 (Enter Mary, pausing at entrance.) 
 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 You remember the night we were on 
 The crystal river? 
 
 Irene: 
 Yes. 
 Dr. Raymond: 
 Well, that night, a kiss that glanced off 
 The moon twenty years ago, and 'was lost 
 Among the stars, glancing from one to 
 Another, finally got its bearings, and took 
 A bee line for earth, and hit me 
 Between the eyes, as we were anchored 
 In the shadow of the oak; and that 
 Was the last of me! Wireless wings have been 
 Working in my heart ever since! 
 Mary (advancing) : 
 Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou 
 Shalt find it after many days! 
 
 Senator: 
 But yours was on the moon, my dear! 
 
 Mary: 
 The moon was in the water, by virtue of 
 Its broken reflection, in the parable, I sing. 
 
 Dr. Raymond (to Irene): 
 Come, my dear, while we are under 
 This blessed prenatal influence, let us 
 Seek the parental blessing! This kind of 
 Heredity, working in your blood, suits me! 
 It is a mighty tonic! 
 
 (They both kneel before the Senator and he places 
 his hands on their heads while all bow a moment in si- 
 lence.) 
 
 —13 3 — 
 
Senator: 
 Wlhereas we had but one child, we now 
 Have two! Unto us a child is born! 
 Unto us a son is given! 
 (Stage suddenly darkened.) 
 (Kinetoscopic views: 
 
 (1.) The angel with the flaming sword guarding 
 the gate to the Garden of Eden. 
 
 (2) The Cross. 
 
 (3) A woman adorned as a bride for her husband, 
 suddenly appears in the sky and descends to earth.) 
 
 Curtain. 
 
 —134— 
 
ACT VII. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 [Scene: Veranda at the home of the Senator in 
 Chicago. The time is an indefinite number of years 
 later than Act VI. The Senator is in fullness of years, 
 but hale and hearty. His wife is aged accordingly.] 
 
 (The Senator is seated, reading a newspaper.) 
 (Enter Mary.) 
 Mary: 
 My dear, you seem to be interested 
 In the news this evening. 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; we are very much like the 
 Athenians, who spent their time 
 In nothing else, but either to hear 
 Or tell something new. I suppose 
 Man will always crave something new. 
 
 Mary: 
 Wlhere do you find that about 
 The Athenians? 
 
 Senator: 
 In that wonderful monograph — the 
 Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 Mary: 
 That is looked upon as old news 
 These days. 
 
 Senator: 
 While we welcome the new, we should not 
 Forget the old. The press today simply 
 Adds another page to the annals 
 Of history. All these pages are for 
 Our admonition and instruction. 
 
 Mary: 
 Faith gathers up the past. Hope looks 
 Forward to the future! What is the 
 Relation of love to these two qualities? 
 
 — 135— 
 
Senator: 
 The greatest of these is love; as it lives 
 And works in the present; utilizing 
 The past by faith, and anticipating 
 The future by hope. 
 
 Mary: 
 You admire then the faithful 
 Daily reporter of the newspaper? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; and the enterprising publisher — 
 The one representing faith-work; and 
 The other the quality of hope. Out of 
 These two forces is developed, the 
 Love-feast or present issue of a 
 Good journal. 
 
 Mary: 
 What is in the love-feast today? 
 
 Mary: 
 They say no news is good news; 
 But I am distresed on account of the 
 Lack of news of my friend Rouseau. 
 You remember he went to Africa 
 To hunt for wild game and collect 
 Specimens of wild beasts? 
 
 Mary: 
 Yes. 
 Senator: 
 Well nothing has been heard from 
 Him for a long time. The press 
 Would look brighter to me, if 
 It should give us some glad tidings 
 Of good things concerning him. 
 
 Mary: 
 You must not be too much concerned 
 About him. 
 
 Senator: 
 Love endureth all things. I am 
 Wondering, whether I should test 
 
 —136— 
 
Your fortitude by disclosing to you 
 How deeply I feel on the subject? 
 
 Mary: 
 I hope I may not be put to 
 Too severe a test. And yet we 
 Have always been frank with 
 Each other. 
 
 Senator: 
 I find it very difficult to 
 Broach my thought to you. 
 
 Mary: 
 I am sure you have no wicked 
 Purpose. 
 
 Mary : 
 What would you think, if I should 
 Say that I should like to go to 
 Africa? 
 
 Mary (startled): 
 To Africa? 
 
 (Enter little grandson playing .around in rear of 
 room.) 
 
 Senator: 
 I have studied how I could submit 
 The idea, without causing you much 
 Pain; but I see I have not been 
 Very skillful about it. 
 
 Mary: 
 Do not reflect on yourself. You 
 Prefaced it with great care. But 
 At best the blow is severe. But 
 What can be your reason? 
 
 Senator: 
 I would like to go and see 
 If I can find my friend Rouseau. 
 
 Mary: 
 But you might never return! 
 
 Senator: 
 If we decide that I should go 
 We will be hopeful of safe return. 
 
 —137— 
 
Mary: 
 
 Why should you imperil your life for 
 Him? He was your most determined enemy, 
 And defeated your political aspirations, 
 Notwithstanding your devotion to your country 
 As a union soldier! 
 
 Senator: 
 Political antagonism is not personal enmity. 
 It is the right and duty of every man 
 To stand for his political convictions. And 
 So far as personal choice is concerned 
 That cannot be denied to any voter. 
 
 Mary: 
 You think then that a citizen in the 
 Matter of personal choice has the right 
 To pass by a veteran and do what 
 He wills with his own vote? 
 
 Senator: 
 Every man, who is not a proper subject 
 For guardianship has the right to do 
 What he will with his own. Otherwise 
 He is not created in the divine image. 
 
 Mary: 
 Has Rouseau been of any special service 
 To man, that man should make 
 Sacrifice for him? 
 
 Senator: 
 I think the grandest idea that has entered 
 This world, since the bible was formed, 
 Was evolved through him! 
 Mary: 
 What was that? 
 
 Senator: 
 He was the first to suggest to the world 
 The idea that an International police-power 
 Inheres in civilization — a thought that 
 Has in it the potency to banish 
 War of invasion from this planet — 
 
 —138— 
 
A greater work than to stay the 
 Sun or moon in its course! He 
 Seems to be a pioneer in international 
 Evolution — a mile-stone, rough hewn 
 In the outskirts of the world's peace! 
 
 Mary: 
 Is there any other service in his 
 History, worthy of the plaudits 
 Of mankind? 
 
 Senator: 
 He is also an advocate of the idea 
 That the Golden Rule is of the essence 
 Of all law, including international 
 Law. These two thoughts constitute 
 The only true basis of the 
 Permanent peace of the sea. 
 
 Mary: 
 You are not his keeper? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; he is not under any need of 
 Guardianship; and my hope is he 
 Never will be. But I am his friend — 
 In fact, feel friendly to all my 
 Countrymen, including him; and 
 I would not be worthy of the love 
 That has crowned our .redded life 
 If I should refuse to seek and 
 Help that which may be lost or sick 
 Or captive. 
 
 Mary: 
 Can a man of your age stand 
 The hardship of such a trip? 
 
 Senator: 
 I am remarkably well preserved 
 And my service to my day and 
 Generation is not yet ended. 
 
 Mary: 
 I cannot consider this any more 
 
 — 139— 
 
At this time. My heart is broken — 
 I must have time to think. 
 
 (Kisses the Senator.) 
 Excuse me now, dear. We -will take 
 This up again, when I can think 
 More clearly. 
 
 (She kisses the Senator again and goes out, leaving 
 him with his head bowed in meditation.) 
 Little Grand-son: 
 Grandpa, are you going to Africa? 
 
 Senator (taking him on his knee): 
 This is a very hard part of the 
 Trip — to leave my little grandson. 
 
 Little Grand-son: 
 Are you going to leave me, Grandpa? 
 
 Senator (meditatively) : 
 How many! — many! tore themselves 
 From wife and baby in the days 
 Of Lincoln and never returned! 
 Little Grand-son: 
 You will come back, Grandpa? 
 
 Senator: 
 I hope so, my dear little boy. 
 
 Little Grand-son: 
 I hope so, too, Grandpa. 
 
 Senator (cheering up) : 
 You are a good boy and you love 
 Your Grandpa. ('Kisses him.) 
 (Enter Irene.) 
 Irene: 
 Father, mamma says you are 
 Contemplating a trip to Africa? 
 
 Senator: 
 I am thinking of it, my dear. 
 
 Irene : 
 How can you leave mamma and 
 Baby and me? 
 
 Senator: 
 I hope to return. 
 
 —140— 
 
Irene: 
 But suppose our hope should be 
 Disappointed? 
 
 Senator : 
 Dr. Raymond is a good son. You will 
 All be in good hands. 
 
 Irene: 
 Unless he should die! 
 
 Senator: 
 In the severity and extremity 
 Of this life it is a blessed thought 
 That there is a God of the widow 
 And the fatherless. 
 
 Irene: 
 I know you 'will be sure you 
 Are right, before you take action. 
 But in all your thought about it 
 Remember poor mamma. 
 
 (Starts to withdraw.) 
 Senator: 
 You may take this dear little boy 
 With you. I want to be alone 
 And think this matter over. (Kisses him.) 
 (Exit Irene taking her little boy with her.) 
 
 Senator (In deep meditation): 
 How strange! passing strange, it all seems! 
 To find myself the only surviving 
 Member of the war for the Union! When 
 I sleep in death, the Union Army 
 Will be asleep! The pickets and 
 Officers of the guard all in! And they, too, asleep! 
 The pension roll is dusty; laid away 
 Somewhere, forgotten! Not one is left 
 To tell of those mighty days! Many 
 Sleep on battlefields! Many returned 
 And sleep at home! How soon it will all 
 Be as a tale that is told! A 
 Curtained scene, in the march of events! 
 But their works do follow them! 
 
 — 141 — 
 
If I should not return, it will 
 
 Only be history repeating itself. The 
 
 Spirit of that day is upon me and 
 
 I must needs go and find my friend! 
 
 There is a song in my heart of the brave 
 
 Deeds of a vanishing host; 
 
 And of a hope that all men of good will 
 
 Will find death to be a honey-bee; 
 
 A reunion of all that we love 
 
 And of all that love us, in the 
 
 Presence of the risen Christ; the only 
 
 True object of worship that has 
 
 Appeared in this world, or that 
 
 Ever will be seen, throughout 
 
 The universe of God! 
 
 (Bows his head in silence, reverently in divine pres- 
 ence, while the stage is slowly darkened ) 
 
 —142- 
 
SCENE II. 
 [Scene: Quarters of Rouseau in Africa. A full 
 menagerie; and also a quantity of slain wild beasts and 
 game. Rouseau is standing in watchful attitude 
 with gun in hand. In the rear is a company of natives in 
 costume with spears.) 
 
 (Enter Sentinel.) 
 
 Sentinel (to Rouseau): 
 There is a stranger at the outpost 
 That desires to see ycu. 
 
 Rouseau: 
 Is he white or black? 
 
 Sentinel : 
 White, sir! He says he is from America. 
 
 Rouseau: 
 Who can he be? Out here in the 
 Heart of an African wilderness? 
 Bring him in! It is a wonder 
 That he has not been killed by the 
 Natives, whoever he may be! (Exit Sentinel.) 
 (Enter Senator.) 
 
 Senator: 
 Rouseau I have found you at last! I 
 Rejoice exceedingly to find you alive 
 And well! 
 
 Rouseau (grasping him by the hand). 
 Why, Senator I am surprised! Delighted! 
 I wonder, dear Senator, at your 
 Visit here! What could have brought you 
 Into this African wilderness? 
 
 Senator: 
 We have not heard from you for 
 A long time; and I thought 
 You might need me. 
 
 Rouseau: 
 But how did you find the way 
 Out here? 
 
 —143— 
 
Senator: 
 I knew that if you were in easy 
 Reach of civilization, we would hear 
 From you. So by a process of 
 Induction and elimination, I located 
 You in this region somewhere! 
 And after much search and disappointment 
 I have succeeded in finding you! 
 
 Rouseau: 
 Strange and wonderful man, how could 
 You make such a sacrifice for one, 
 Who defeated your most cherished 
 Political aspirations? 
 
 Senator: 
 What is political preferment to love 
 Of neighbor and friend? 
 Besides I recognize the right of 
 Freedom of choice! Where the 
 Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty! 
 
 Rouseau: 
 But you came here at the peril 
 Of your life. 
 
 Senator: 
 I bared my breast to the bayonet 
 For you and such as you, when you 
 Were in the cradle! If I was not 
 Fanatical, then, why should I shrink now? 
 
 Rouseau: 
 And so you have come out here 
 At the risk of your life for your 
 Enemy? 
 
 Senator: 
 No; I am willing to die if need be. 
 For my friends. No greater love nath 
 Any man than this, that a man lay 
 Down his life for his friends. 
 The glory and honor of dying for 
 Enemies, and evincing that 
 
 —14 4 — 
 
Amazing degree of love, was reserved 
 For the Son of God on the cross. 
 
 Rouseau: 
 You then, would die for a friend 
 But not an enemy? 
 
 Senator: 
 I would love my enemy to the 
 Extent of praying for him and 
 Doing him all reasonable kindness! 
 But would not and could not 
 Emulate the cross! 
 
 Rouseau: 
 You then, count me among your 
 Friends? 
 
 Senator: 
 Political differences should not breed 
 Personal enmity between neighbors 
 And friends. I am the only 
 Surviving member of the Union Army! 
 There was no enmity in their hearts 
 When they came home from the war; 
 And never has been! As the only 
 Fragment left I must not lower 
 The standard! 
 
 Rouseau: 
 Senator, my heart is broken! To think, 
 That your wonderful love has led 
 You into this death-trap! 
 
 Senator: 
 Why do you call this a death-trap? 
 
 Rouseau: 
 The natives have been hostile for 
 A long time and cut off our 
 Communication with civilization by 
 Courier. We are momentarily expecting 
 An attack. We have made every 
 Preparation for defense, including 
 A mine! 
 
 (Sound of rushing atack.) 
 
 — 145— 
 
They are coming now! Every man to his post! 
 
 Here, Senator, is a revolver and 
 
 A sword! But stay out of danger 
 
 As much as possible! If 1 should 
 
 Perish and by any chance or 
 
 Mercy of the natives, you should 
 
 Survive, tell the 'world that our 
 
 Friendship was only hidden behind a cloud; 
 
 But it was there, bright, shining as the sun! 
 
 (The natives make a fierce assault, but by very 
 rapid firing are prevented from entering and finally re- 
 pelled. At the moment of victory a crazed native, with 
 spear in hand, rushes in from the rear, upon Rouseau, 
 who is ignorant of his danger. The Senator rushes in 
 between him and his assailant and is mortally wounded. 
 The native flees and escapes as the Senator falls.) 
 Rouseau: 
 (Easing the Senator with a pillow of pelts.) 
 Senator, are you badly hurt? 
 
 Senator: 
 Yes; the 'wound is fatal. 
 
 Rouseau (in agitation) : 
 Where are you hurt, Senator? 
 
 Senator: 
 Here in my side! I feel very faint, Rouseau! 
 
 Rouseau (opening his vesture): 
 May be it is not fatal, Senator! 
 
 (Explosion of mine.) 
 Senator (aroused by the noise): 
 What was that? 
 
 Rouseau: 
 Our mine has exploded and completely 
 Scattered the attacking party! 
 
 Senator (smiling): 
 I thought I was dreaming of Petersburg. 
 Rouseau (examining the wound): 
 Senator, this an hour of great national 
 Bereavement and precious legacy! 
 
 — 146 — 
 
Senator (dreamily): 
 The army is falling asleep. 
 Rouseau: 
 Is there nothing I can do for you? 
 
 Senator (rousing in dying throes): 
 Wire this message to my wife, Rouseau! She 
 Will understand and be comforted! 
 The sun has set! The moon has gone down! 
 And the Union Army is at rest! 
 But the stars are shining forever! And 
 Among them is the bright and morning star! 
 (Smiles in his transition as a mother comforting 
 her child.) 
 
 Curtain. 
 The end of Act VII and of the Drama. 
 
 —147- 
 
tfOV 6 1»09 
 
 T OR TO CAT 01 
 
 NOV 18 19i