U. E. Hezekiah and Barney disc. rear centre, chained to a ring in the
floor.
HEZEKIAH. I’ll bet ye tew dollars that feller come to the conclewshun
that he must er stole my gun from a whole regiment.
BARNEY. And the grayback thafe at the table, that twitted me about the
guard-house.
HEZEKIAH. Guess he thought he was goin’ through a fullin’ mill.
BARNEY. The blackguard! (_Very sober._)
HEZEKIAH. ’Drather give fifty dollars than ter had yer hit the old
General.
BARNEY. How the divil should I know he was a general, without the two
brass things on ’im?
HEZEKIAH. All them fellers az has ritin’ tools and tables in their
tents, is generals.
BARNEY. Didn’t the sargeant tell me I was never to know one er thim
without the two brass things on him?
HEZEKIAH. It don’t make no difference, now ye bin gone and done it.
BARNEY. Didn’t he begin it, twittin’ me about the guard-house, the
thafe!
HEZEKIAH. He was only callin’ the guard for help.
BARNEY. The blackguard! Whin he was as big as I! And he called thim
three spalpeens a coort, when it takes more than two dozen to make one
er thim any day. (_Door opens R., rebel soldier enters and reads from a
paper._)
SOLDIER. The General commanding orders that the two union prisoners,
O’Flanagan and Goferum, convicted of spying in the confederate camp, be
notified that they are to be shot at daylight. Per order General
commanding. (_Exit soldier, R. Barney and Hez. look at each other a
moment in silence._)
BARNEY. He will do that?
HEZEKIAH. That’s the kind of hairpin he is.
BARNEY. The blackguard!
HEZEKIAH. Wal, I guess I’ve airn’t the powder and shot. If my old
shooter hain’t tapped a hundred and fifty er them critters, you can jest
hope ter holler.
BARNEY. I will get some lawyer to appeal that coort.
HEZEKIAH. You get out!
BARNEY. That was no coort. The constitution of Ameriky says nothing
about a coort like that.
HEZEKIAH. It don’t make no difference. The shootin’ will come. They
don’t care for constitewshuns down here.
BARNEY. I’ll have that thafe tried for murder if he does that. And I’ll
tell him that to his face, too. I don’t care who any man is that will do
an illagal thing like that.
HEZEKIAH. They don’t stop for law down here.
BARNEY. The more the shame for ’em. He will have the contimpt er the
wurruld upon ’im.
HEZEKIAH. It wouldn’t do no good. They’ll bury you at daylight. (_Short
silence._)
BARNEY. And there ain’t niver a praste to be had in this haythen country
at all.
HEZEKIAH. Ye don’t need none. If I hain’t licked rebels enough ter get
ter heaven without a priest, they can jest kick me out.
BARNEY. Havn’t I done that same meself?
HEZEKIAH. So ye have, Barney, and this ain’t yer own country, neither.
If they don’t give ye two harps to my one, it ain’t doin’ the fair thing
by ye.
BARNEY. Divil a bit do I care for a harp, if I can get out er this.
(_Door opens, and Sally appears with two carbines in her hands;
hesitates a moment._)
HEZEKIAH. Now let me die.
BARNEY. ’Pon my word.
HEZEKIAH. Come here, and let me see if you ain’t a ghost. (_Sally lays
carbines behind the box and rushes to embrace Hez._)
BARNEY. Give us a taste er that.
HEZEKIAH. You git out. There ain’t enough ter go round. (_Sally tries to
unfasten irons._)
BARNEY. Oh don’t you spread yourself. I have one er thim. (_Turns
away._)
SAL. (_hunting round for axe._) Hain’t ye got no axe, Hez.?
HEZEKIAH. ’Taint no use, Sal. Them irons can’t be broke.
SALLY. You git out, Hez. You jest show me where they keep the axe.
HEZEKIAH. They don’t leave no axes round here. If ye had one, ye’d get
up such a noise, old Hood and the whole coop would be down here
whoopin’.
SALLY. I got the whole caboodle asleep with opium.
HEZEKIAH. ’Taint no use, Sal. That Keele Brightly said we was spies, and
we’re goin ter get shot at daylight. (_Sally speechless with
astonishment._)
BARNEY. The thafe. (_Sally drops on her knees sobbing._)
SALLY. Oh what shall I do?
HEZEKIAH. I know how’ yer heart is, Sal, but ye can’t do us no good.
Jest git out as fast as ye can, and save yourself.
BARNEY. And tell Gineral Halcom about it, and divil a bit but he will
bat that spalpeen in the mornin’.
SALLY. (_Springing to her feet and wiping eyes._) I have it. (_Dashes
for the door._) I know what I’ll do.
HEZEKIAH. Say, Sal. (_She turns back._) Perhaps I shan’t never see ye
again. (_Sally falls on his breast sobbing._) Tell mother she ain’t got
nothin’ to be ashamed on about me, except I’m rough, and can’t talk so
fine as some folks. Now she is cheated out of her part er the farm, and
the old man is so mean. I don’t know what she _will_ do. I’ve sent her
all my wages and bounty.
SALLY. Keep yer upper lip solid, Hez.; cos if yer lost to yer mother,
she can have a home with me as long as she lives. Good bye. I got to get
ye out, and I ain’t no time to lose. (_Dashes out at R. door._)
BARNEY. ’Pon my word, that gal will knock the hell’s blazes out er thim
spalpeens, or I’m a thafe and a liar.
HEZEKIAH. Ain’t she a rusher?
BARNEY. ’Pon me word she is. Yer a lucky boy to have a gal like that.
HEZEKIAH. Makes me sick, cos it’s all goin’ for nothin’. (_Makes a bad
face, as if to cry._)
BARNEY. Ah-r, don’t be doin’ that. Thim blackguards will be sayin’ yer a
Yankee coward.
HEZEKIAH. The man that can’t grind out some grief at leavin’ a gal like
that, ain’t got brains enough to know what he’s losin’.
BARNEY. Indade! Isn’t Biddy Maloney as fine a gal as she, barrin’ the
fitin’? (_Door opens at R., and Keele Brightly enters, followed by
D’Arneaux and guard, one of whom proceeds to iron D’A. to the same ring
with Hez. and Barney._)
BRIGHTLY. (_Looking about and at prisoners._) As incomprehensible as
ever. The guard drugged and disarmed, and the prisoners unmolested.
Corporal, place a guard of twenty men around this building, and you have
my orders to shoot any person, man or woman, approaching it without
authority. I have placed a barrel of powder beneath, with a fuse
attached, leading out under the door. If the Yankees attack us before
daybreak, fire the fuse, or kill the prisoners, and join your regiment
at once. (_Guard leaves with Corporal, R. Brightly lingers to see all is
secure, then leaves R._)
HEZEKIAH. (_To Barney._) Bet ye tew dollars this old machine is about
gin out. They’re killin’ their own.
BARNEY. (_To Hez._) Is he a Gineral? (_D’A. hangs head._)
HEZEKIAH. (_To D’A._) Say! Yer couldn’t tell a feller who’s gittin’
licked outside, could ye? (_D’A. gives them no attention._)
BARNEY. (_To D’A._) You don’t be talkin’?
HEZEKIAH. (_To D’A._) Talk is cheap, and I thought I’d give ye a chance
on what ye had the most on.
BARNEY. Shoot thim at daylight, sez he. (_Makes a bad face as if about
to cry._)
HEZEKIAH. Don’t be blubberin’, Barney.
BARNEY. Don’t you see the daylight is comin’ through thim cracks there?
HEZEKIAH. Let her come. It ain’t goin’ to last long. (_A board lifts up
at L. and Zina crawls up through._)
D’A. Zina!
HEZEKIAH. Now let me die!
BARNEY. ’Pon my word! (_Zina motions quiet._)
ZINA. The guard! Master D’Arneaux, how are you here?
D’A. A victim of the falsehood of your master.
ZINA. How?
D’A. Convicted of treason by false testimony, and sentenced to die at
sunrise.
ZINA. Oh this is so cowardly and _unjust_ to you, who have been so brave
and kind. Oh what _shall_ I do?
D’A. You can do nothing, Zina.
ZINA. I will go to the General and say it is _not_ true.
D’A. You are but a poor slave girl. It would avail nothing. Zina,
through economy and speculations, I have become possessed of five
thousand dollars in gold. It is all buried beneath the roots of the old
cotton-wood that stands by the grave of our Nelly. No one but my mother
knows this. If, by the fortunes of war, I should fall, it would keep my
mother from want. If, when peace and independence come, and I should
live, to buy your freedom, when I had determined to offer you my heart,
hand, and the honor of a soldier.
ZINA. Oh you _would_ not throw yourself away on a poor slave! You _do_
not know what you say!
D’A. This has been the nurtured ambition of my heart, since, with all
your native goodness, I saw your generous devotion to my helpless old
mother.
ZINA. How _can_ you love a poor, degraded slave girl, who has _nothing_
to offer but these miserable rags, and the memory that she came of the
hated race, so despised by all the world. (_Falls on her knees, covers
face._)
D’A. As God loves goodness in the human heart—as manhood admires the
noble, unselfish woman, though her covering be undeserving rags—as the
heart plays captive to the most generous impulses of nature—as the honor
of a soldier reaches out to grasp its ideal, so do I offer my tribute of
love. Zina, all these dreams of the future die with me when the sun
rises over the eastern hills. Go out from here. Avoid the guard. Find
the money, and fly with my mother, where you can be free. Save my mother
from want, and I am content. Waste no time, or you too may be lost.
ZINA. Oh I cannot be so cowardly as to leave you now! (_Rising._)
D’A. Why did you come here, where there is nothing but danger?
ZINA. (_Pointing to Hez. and Barney._) To save _these_ who have been so
good and kind to me. When my master had turned me away to starve,
_these_ men gave me their own food and blankets when the storm was cold
and pitiless. (_Shot R. Zina goes to R. door to listen._)
D’A. (_To Hez. and Bar._) My hand, good fellows. One often sees that to
admire in an enemy. (_Shake all, Hez. grudgingly. Zina looks around the
room and discovers the carbines, places them on the box._)
BARNEY. When I was first lookin’ at ye, didn’t I be knowin’ ye was no
blackguard.
D’A. When the other world begins to lift its shadows to light us to the
other side, the animosities of this life should be forgotten.
HEZEKIAH. (_To D’A._) Give me your hand again. I allus said I’d never
shake with a rebel, but I’ll take it all back.
D’A. Zina, before I die, there is a secret in your history the
excitement of the hour had well nigh caused me to forget. It came to me
by accident. You were not born a slave!
Z. Then who am I?
D’A. A lost child of the Halcoms!
ZINA. (_Falling on her knees and covering her face._) My brave, noble
brother!
D’A. While confined, previous to my trial, I overheard conversation
between Brightly and one of his ruffian comrades, detailing your history
and a plan for your destruction. The reason—slavery is abrogated, and
you are one of the Halcoms. Seventeen years since, Brightly was the
leader of a band of Regulators, raised to protect the planters from the
abolitionists, who were running off their help. I was a member of that
company, though a mere boy. An old political grudge had existed between
Brightly and your father for many years. On a dark December night,
backed by a crowd of selected desperadoes, he murdered your father when
he was without means of defence, outraged and killed your mother,—then
fired the house.
ZINA. (_Shuddering._) My poor mother! (_Sobbing._)
D’A. Some of those men are now standing guard around this building. You
were then a helpless infant in the cradle. Old Milly, the nurse, escaped
with you to the wood. Two days after you were both kidnapped by
Brightly, taken to his plantation in Alabama, where he raised you as a
slave. At the time of the murder, your brother Frank, at the age of 12
years, was educating in the free schools of New England. During the last
15 years he has not ceased to search for the murderer of his family. He
has no knowledge that you have been saved from the burning home. Within
the last three years, Brightly has repeatedly tried to sell you to
cotton planters on the coast. Only my vigilance and the color of your
skin have prevented it. It was Brightly’s hand that sent the bullet
after your life, on the night of your brother’s escape. If you are found
here, your life is lost. Go now. Day is breaking. God bless you.
Remember my mother. (_Distant rapid firing._)
ZINA. (_Springing to her feet and listening,_) Hark! My brother is
coming!
D’A. Escape while you can. Quick, or you will be lost!
ZINA. (_Flings off turban._) I will defend you until his sword shall
save us!
D’A. You cannot, you are a weak girl! (_Zina bars the door and slings
carbine on belt._)
ZINA. So I can fight and die with you! (_Rebs. attack the door
furiously. Zina holds it._)
D’A. This building is mined and you will be blown to atoms. (_Zina holds
the door._)
ZINA. I have filled the powder with water!
D’A. You will be killed. Conceal yourself beneath the floor. (_Rebs.
knock holes in middle of door with an axe._)
HEZEKIAH. Yes, go, Zina. God bless yer brave little heart.
BARNEY. Please go, little girl, ye can’t do us no good! (_Heavy,
increasing firing R. Blows on the door rapid and continuous. She holds
it._)
D’A. You cannot defend us! (_Zina seizes carbine and, springing back,
exclaims:_)
ZINA. I am a Halcom! This rifle shall avenge my mother’s life.
(_Confederates smash the door until they knock it to pieces. Then the
door breaks down and a crowd of rebels rush through, 5 rapid shots from
Zina and they retreat to outside, 3 men fall. She drops the old and
seizes another carbine as Brightly urges them back. Five more shots
throw them into a crowding confusion at the door, when she stops firing
from unloading. Brightly and six soldiers rush to left front. Zina draws
knife to defend prisoners._)
BRIGHTLY. (_As he and soldiers dash to L._) Kill the prisoners.
(_Soldiers spring forward to bayonet them and are met by Zina._)
ZINA. Who strikes the helpless is a coward! (_Soldiers hesitate, with
bayonets at her breast._)
BRIGHTLY. You shall be food for my dogs!
ZINA. Coward! Thief! Assassin of my mother!
BRIGHTLY. So you bite the hand that fed you to life!
ZINA. My hands have earned your bread and mine!
BRIGHTLY. (_To soldiers._) Kill her! (_Halcom dashes in R. followed by
soldiers, who cover rebs._)
HALCOM. Throw down your arms! (_Rebels drop arms and Zina rushes into
her brother’s arms saying:_)
ZINA. My brother!
HALCOM. I have long suspected this. My mother’s face lives in this girl
and in my memory seventeen years since as she begged for mercy from a
man who never felt it.
BRIGHTLY. I am a prisoner of war.
HALCOM. We have met, sir, for the last time. You shall fight women and
helpless prisoners no longer.
BRIGHTLY. Then have done with your preaching and come on! (_Drops sword
and draws knife._)
HALCOM. I will not keep you waiting long! You shall fight for your life
this time like an honorable man!
BRIGHTLY. (_To reb. soldiers_) The psalm of a traitor who has stabbed
his country in the back!
HALCOM. (_To prisoners and Union soldiers._) If this man passes my hands
safely he shall go free! (_Taking advantage while Halcom is speaking to
the Union prisoners, Brightly rushes forward to stab him in the back,
treacherously. Zina catches his purpose, drops on one knee, knocks his
hand up and drives her knife to the hilt in the ruffian’s heart.
Brightly staggers back and falls. Zina springs up, aghast at the result,
then drops knife, covering her face, says:—_)
ZINA. My poor mother! (_Drops on her knees, then face, sobbing until
curtain falls._)
THE END.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. The stage directions were inconsistently formatted. Some were
italicized and some not. Also some were in parentheses and some in
square brackets. (As if the typesetter ran out of parentheses or
italics occassionally.) They were all altered to parentheses and
italics.
2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
3. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as
printed.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.