SCENE: _The same as in the previous act_, FRANK TAYLOR’S _shack at
Prentice, but there are signs about it of a woman’s presence. There
is a cloth on the table, and a cushion on the rocking-chair, there
are muslin curtains on the window tied back with ribband, and there
are geraniums growing in maple-syrup tins. There is a rough
bookshelf against the wall, on which is_ NORAH’S _small stock of
books. Coloured supplements from the Christmas numbers of
illustrated papers are pinned neatly on the walls. The
packing-cases which had been used as stools have been replaced by
rough chairs which_ TAYLOR _has made with his own hands during the
winter. When the door of the shack is opened the blue sky is seen
and the prairie._ NORAH _is arranging mustard flowers in a pudding
basin on the table. She wears a serge skirt and a neat shirt-waist:
she has a healthier look than before, her face is tanned and she
has a higher colour. She hears a sound and looks up._ TAYLOR
_enters_.
NORAH.
I didn’t know you were about.
TAYLOR.
I ain’t got much to do to-day. I’ve been out with Sid Sharp and a man
come over from Prentice.
NORAH.
Oh!
TAYLOR.
[_Noticing the flowers._] Say, what have you got there?
NORAH.
Aren’t they pretty? I picked them just now. They’re so cheerful.
TAYLOR.
[_Drily._] Very.
NORAH.
A few flowers make the shack look so much more bright and cosy.
TAYLOR.
[_Looking round him._] You’ve made it a real home, Norah. Mrs. Sharp
never stops wondering how you done it. Sid was saying only the other day
it was because you was a lady. It does make a difference, I guess.
NORAH.
[_With a little smile._] I’m glad you haven’t found me quite a hopeless
failure.
TAYLOR.
I guess I’ve never been so comfortable in all my life. It’s what I
always said--when English girls do take to the life they make a better
job of it than anybody.
NORAH.
What’s the man come out from Prentice for?
TAYLOR.
[_After a moment’s pause._] I guess you ain’t been terribly happy here,
my girl.
NORAH.
What on earth makes you say that?
TAYLOR.
You’ve got a good memory, I guess, and you ain’t ever forgiven me for
that first night.
NORAH.
[_Looking down._] I made up my mind very soon that I must accept the
consequences of what I’d done. I tried to fall in with your ways.
TAYLOR.
You was clever enough to see that I meant to be master in my own house,
and I had the strength to do it.
NORAH.
[_With a faint smile._] I’ve cooked for you and mended your clothes, and
I’ve kept the shack clean. I’ve been obedient and obliging.
TAYLOR.
[_With a little chuckle._] I guess you hated me sometimes.
NORAH.
No one likes being humiliated as you humiliated me.
TAYLOR.
Ed’s coming out here presently, my girl.
NORAH.
Ed who?
TAYLOR.
Your brother.
NORAH.
[_Astounded._] Eddie? When?
TAYLOR.
Why, right now, I guess. He was in Prentice this morning.
NORAH.
How d’you know?
TAYLOR.
He phoned over to Sharp’s to say he was riding out.
NORAH.
Oh, how ripping! Why didn’t you tell me before?
TAYLOR.
I didn’t know.
NORAH.
Is that why you asked me if I was happy? I couldn’t make out what was
the matter with you.
TAYLOR.
Well, I guess I thought if you still wanted to quit, Ed’s coming would
be kind of useful.
NORAH.
Why d’you think I want to?
TAYLOR.
You ain’t been very talkative these months, but I guess it wasn’t hard
to see you’d have given pretty near anything in the world to quit.
NORAH.
I’m not going back to Eddie’s farm, if that’s what you mean.
TAYLOR.
If he comes before I get back, tell him I won’t be long. I guess you
won’t be sorry to do a bit of yarning with him by yourself.
NORAH.
You’re not under the impression I’m going to say beastly things about
you to him?
TAYLOR.
No, I guess not. That ain’t your sort. P’raps we don’t know the best of
one another yet, but I reckon we know the worst by now.
NORAH.
[_Looking at him sharply._] Frank, is anything the matter?
TAYLOR.
Why, no. Why?
NORAH.
You’ve seemed different the last few days.
TAYLOR.
I guess that’s only your fancy. I’d better be getting along. Sid and the
other fellow are waiting for me.
[_He goes out._ NORAH _looks at him with a puzzled air, then she
gives a touch to the flowers, and gets her work. She sits down at
the table and begins to mend a thick woollen sock. Suddenly there
is a loud knock at the door. She starts up and runs to open it._
EDWARD MARSH _is seen standing outside. She gives a cry of delight
and flings her arms round his neck. He comes in._]
NORAH.
Eddie! Oh, my dear, I’m so glad to see you.
MARSH.
Hulloa there!
NORAH.
But how did you come? I never heard a rig.
MARSH.
Look.
[_She goes to the door and looks out._]
NORAH.
Why, it’s Reggie Hornby. [_Calling._] Reggie.
HORNBY.
[_Outside._] Hulloa!
NORAH.
He can put the horse in the lean-to.
MARSH.
Yes. [_Calling._] Reg, give the old lady a feed and put her in the
lean-to.
HORNBY.
Right-o.
NORAH.
Didn’t you see Frank? He’s only just this moment gone out.
MARSH.
No.
NORAH.
He’ll be in presently. Now, come in. Oh, my dear, it is splendid to see
you.
MARSH.
You’re looking fine, Norah.
NORAH.
Have you had dinner?
MARSH.
Sure. We got something to eat before we left Prentice.
NORAH.
Well, I’ll make you a cup of tea.
MARSH.
No, I won’t have anything, thanks.
NORAH.
You’re not a real Canadian yet if you refuse a cup of tea when it’s
offered you. Well, sit down and make yourself comfortable.
MARSH.
How are you getting on, Norah?
NORAH.
Oh, never mind about me. Tell me about yourself. How’s Gertie? And what
brought you to this part of the world? And what’s Reggie Hornby doing?
And is thingamygig still with you? You know, the hired man. What was his
name? Trotter, wasn’t it? Oh, my dear, don’t sit there like a stuffed
pig, but speak to me, or I shall shake you.
MARSH.
My dear, I can’t answer fifteen questions all at once.
NORAH.
Oh, Eddie, I’m so glad to see you. You are a duck to come and see me.
MARSH.
Let me get a word in edgeways.
NORAH.
I won’t say another syllable. But for goodness’ sake, hurry up. I want
to know all sorts of things.
MARSH.
Well, the first thing is that I’m expecting to be a happy father in
three or four months.
NORAH.
Oh, Eddie, I’m so glad. How happy Gertie must be!
MARSH.
She doesn’t know what to make of it. But I guess she’s pleased right
enough. She sends you her love and says she hopes you’ll follow her
example soon.
NORAH.
I? But you’ve not told me what you’re doing in this part of the world,
anyway.
MARSH.
[_Smiling._] Anyway?
NORAH.
[_With a laugh._] I’ve practically spoken to no one but Frank for
months. I get into his ways of speaking.
MARSH.
Well, when I got Frank’s letter about the clearing machine....
NORAH.
[_Interrupting him._] Has Frank written to you?
MARSH.
Why, yes. Didn’t you know? He said there was a clearing machine going
cheap at Prentice. I’ve always thought I could make money down our way
if I had one. They say you can clear from three to four acres a day
with it. Frank said it was worth my while coming to have a look at it,
and he guessed you’d be glad to see me.
NORAH.
How funny of him not to say anything to me about it.
MARSH.
I expect he wanted to surprise you. Now, how d’you like being a married
woman?
NORAH.
Oh, all right. Why has Reggie Hornby come with you?
MARSH.
D’you know, I’ve not seen you since you were married.
NORAH.
You haven’t, have you?
MARSH.
I’ve been a bit anxious about you. That’s why, when Frank wrote about
the clearing machine, I didn’t stop to think about it, but just came.
NORAH.
It was very nice of you. But why has Reggie Hornby come?
MARSH.
Oh, he’s going back to England.
NORAH.
Is he?
MARSH.
Yes, he got them to send him his passage at last. His ship doesn’t sail
till next week, and he said he might just as well stop off here and say
good-bye to you.
NORAH.
How has he been getting on?
MARSH.
What do you expect? He looks upon work as something that only damned
fools do. Where’s Frank?
NORAH.
Oh, he’s out with Sid Sharp. That’s our neighbour. He has the farm you
passed on your way here.
MARSH.
Getting on all right with him, Norah?
NORAH.
Of course. What’s that boy doing all this time? He _is_ slow, isn’t he?
MARSH.
It’s a great change for you, this, after the sort of life you’ve been
used to.
NORAH.
[_To change the topic._] I was rather hoping you’d have some letters for
me. I haven’t had any for a long time.
MARSH.
There now, I’ve got a head like a sieve. Two came by the last mail and I
didn’t send them on because I was coming myself.
NORAH.
You haven’t forgotten them?
MARSH.
No, here they are.
NORAH.
[_Reading the addresses._] They don’t look very exciting. One’s from
Agnes Pringle. She was a lady’s companion that I used to know in
Tunbridge Wells. And the other’s from Mr. Wynne.
MARSH.
Who’s he?
NORAH.
Oh, he was Miss Wickham’s solicitor. He wrote to me once before to say
he hoped I was getting on all right. [_Putting the letters on the
table._] I don’t think I want to hear from people in England any more.
MARSH.
My dear, why d’you say that?
NORAH.
It’s no good thinking of the past, is it?
MARSH.
Aren’t you going to read your letters?
NORAH.
Not now. I’ll read them when I’m alone.
MARSH.
Don’t mind me.
NORAH.
It’s so silly of me, but letters from England always make me cry.
MARSH.
[_Looking at her sharply._] Norah, aren’t you happy here?
NORAH.
Yes, why shouldn’t I be?
MARSH.
Why haven’t you written to me once since you were married?
NORAH.
I hadn’t got much to say. [_With a smile._] And after all, I’d been
practically turned out of your house.
MARSH.
[_Puzzled._] I don’t know what to make of you.
NORAH.
[_Nervous and almost exasperated._] Oh, don’t cross-examine me, there’s
a dear.
MARSH.
Frank Taylor’s kind to you and all that sort of thing, isn’t he?
NORAH.
Quite.
MARSH.
When I asked you to come and stay on the farm I thought it wouldn’t be
long before you married, but I didn’t expect you’d marry one of the
hired men.
NORAH.
Oh, my dear, don’t worry about me.
MARSH.
It’s all very fine to say that. You’ve got no one in the world belonging
to you but me, and when--when our mother died, she said: “You’ll take
care of Norah, won’t you, Eddie?”
NORAH.
[_With a sob in her voice._] Oh, don’t, don’t.
MARSH.
Norah.
NORAH.
[_With an effort at self-possession._] We’ve never quarrelled since the
first day I came here. Here’s Reggie.
[_She turns to him with relief._ HORNBY _is dressed in a blue serge
suit and again looks like a well-groomed English gentleman_.]
NORAH.
[_Gaily._] I was wondering what on earth you were doing with yourself.
HORNBY.
[_Shaking hands with her._] I say, this is a very swell shack you’ve
got.
NORAH.
I’ve tried to make it look pretty and homelike.
[MARSH _catches sight of the bowl of mustard flowers_.]
MARSH.
Hulloa, what’s this?
NORAH.
Aren’t they pretty? I’ve only just picked them. Mustard flowers.
MARSH.
We call it weed. Have you got much of it?
NORAH.
Oh yes, lots. Why?
MARSH.
Oh, nothing.
NORAH.
[_To_ HORNBY.] I hear you’re going home.
HORNBY.
Yes, I’m fed up with God’s own country. Nature never intended me to be
an agricultural labourer.
NORAH.
What are you going to do now?
HORNBY.
[_With immense conviction._] Loaf!
NORAH.
[_Amused._] Won’t you get bored?
HORNBY.
I’m never bored. It amuses me to look at other people do things. I
should hate my fellow creatures to be idle.
NORAH.
[_With a faint smile._] I should have thought one could do more with
life than lounge about clubs and play cards with people who don’t play
as well as oneself.
HORNBY.
I quite agree with you. I’ve been thinking things over very seriously
this winter. And I’m going to look out for a middle-aged widow with
money who’ll adopt me.
NORAH.
I remember that you have decided views about the White Man’s Burden.
HORNBY.
All I want is to get through life comfortably. I don’t mean to do a
stroke more work than I’m obliged to, and I’m going to have the very
best time I can get.
NORAH.
[_Smiling._] I’m sure you will.
HORNBY.
The moment I get back to London I’m going to stand myself a slap-up
dinner at the Ritz, then I shall go and see a musical comedy at the
Gaiety, and after that I’ll have a slap-up supper at Romano’s. England,
with all thy faults, I love thee well.
NORAH.
I suppose it’s being alone with the prairie all these months, things
which used to seem rather funny and clever--well, I see them quite
differently now.
HORNBY.
[_Coolly._] I’m afraid you don’t altogether approve of me.
NORAH.
[_Not disagreeably._] You haven’t got pluck.
HORNBY.
I don’t know about that. I expect I have as much as anyone else, only I
don’t make a fuss about it.
NORAH.
Oh, pluck to stand up and let yourself be shot at--I daresay. But pluck
to do the same monotonous thing day after day, plain, honest, hard
work--you haven’t got that. You’re a failure, and the worst of it is,
you’re not ashamed of it. It fills you with self-satisfaction.
HORNBY.
Rule Britannia, and what price the Union Jack?
NORAH.
[_With a laugh._] You’re incorrigible.
HORNBY.
I am.... I suppose there’s nothing you want me to take home. I shall be
going down to Tunbridge Wells to see mother. Got any messages?
NORAH.
I don’t know that I have. Eddie has just brought me a couple of letters.
I’ll have a look at them. [_She opens Miss Pringle’s letter, reads two
or three lines, and gives a cry._] Oh!
MARSH.
What’s the matter?
NORAH.
What does she mean? [_Reading._] “I’ve just heard from Mr. Wynne about
your good luck, and I have another piece of good news for you.” [_She
puts the letter down and quickly opens the solicitor’s. She takes out
of the envelope a letter and a cheque. She glances at it._] A
cheque--for five hundred pounds.... Oh, Eddie, listen. [_Reading._]
“Dear Miss Marsh,--I have had several interviews with Mr. Wickham in
relation to the late Miss Wickham’s estate, and I ventured to represent
to him that you had been very badly treated. Now that everything is
settled he wishes to send you the enclosed cheque as some recognition of
your devoted service to his late aunt....” Five hundred pounds!
MARSH.
That’s a very respectable sum.
HORNBY.
I could do with that myself.
NORAH.
I’ve never had so much money in all my life.
MARSH.
But what’s the other piece of good news that Miss Stick-in-the-mud talks
about?
NORAH.
Oh, I forgot. [_She takes Miss Pringle’s letter up again and begins to
read it._] “...Piece of good news for you. I write at once so that you
may make your plans accordingly. I told you in my last letter of my
sister-in-law’s sudden death, and now my brother is very anxious that I
should live with him. So I am leaving Mrs. Hubbard, and she wishes me to
say that if you care to have my place as her companion she will be very
pleased to have you. I have been with her for thirteen years, and she
has always treated me like an equal. She is very considerate, and there
is practically nothing to do but to exercise the dogs. The salary is
thirty-five pounds a year.”
MARSH.
Both letters are addressed to Miss Marsh. Don’t they know you’re
married?
NORAH.
No. I never told them.
HORNBY.
What a lark! You could go back to Tunbridge Wells, and none of the old
frumps would ever know you’d been married.
[NORAH _gives a sudden start when he says this and stares at him
with wide-open eyes. There is a moment’s pause._]
MARSH.
Just clear out for a minute, Reg. I want to speak to Norah.
HORNBY.
Right-o.
[_He goes out._]
MARSH.
Norah, d’you want to clear out?
NORAH.
What on earth makes you think that?
MARSH.
You gave him such a look when he mentioned it.
NORAH.
I’m bewildered. Did Frank know anything about this?
MARSH.
My dear, how could he?
NORAH.
It’s so extraordinary. He was talking about my going away just now.
MARSH.
[_Quickly._] Why?
NORAH.
Oh!
[_She realises that she has betrayed the secret inadvertently._]
MARSH.
Norah, for goodness’ sake tell me if there’s anything the matter. After
all, it’s now or never. You’re keeping back something from me. Aren’t
you getting on well together?
NORAH.
[_In a low voice._] Not very.
MARSH.
Why didn’t you let me know?
NORAH.
I was ashamed.
MARSH.
But you say he’s kind to you.
NORAH.
I’ve got nothing to reproach him with.
MARSH.
I felt that something was wrong. I knew you couldn’t be happy with him.
A girl like you and a hired man. The whole thing was horrible. Thank God
I’m here and you’ve got this chance.
NORAH.
What d’you mean?
MARSH.
You’re not fit for this life. You’ve got a chance to go back to England.
For God’s sake take it. In six months all you’ve gone through here will
seem nothing but a hideous dream. [_He is suddenly struck by the
expression of her face._] Norah, what’s the matter?
NORAH.
[_Tragically._] I don’t know.
[HORNBY _comes in again_.]
HORNBY.
I say, here’s someone coming to see you.
NORAH.
Me? [_She goes to the door and looks out._] Oh, it’s Mrs. Sharp.
Whatever brings her here on foot? She never walks a step if she can help
it. She’s the wife of my neighbour.... Good-afternoon, Mrs. Sharp.
[MRS. SHARP _enters. She is a middle-aged woman, red in the face,
stout and rather short of breath. She wears an old sun-bonnet, a
faded shirt-waist, none too clean, and a rather battered skirt._]
NORAH.
Come right in.
MRS. SHARP.
Good-afternoon to you, Mrs. Taylor. I’m all in a perspiration. I’ve not
walked so far in months.
NORAH.
This is my brother.
MRS. SHARP.
Your brother? Is that who it is?
NORAH.
[_Smiling._] It seems to surprise you.
MRS. SHARP.
I was so anxious, I couldn’t stay indoors. I went out to see if I could
catch sight of Sid, and I walked on and then I saw the rig what’s
outside, and it give me such a turn, I thought it was the inspector. I
just had to come. I was that nervous.
NORAH.
Is anything the matter?
MRS. SHARP.
You’re not going to tell me you don’t know about it? Why, Sid and Frank
haven’t been talking about anything else since Frank found it.
NORAH.
Found what?
MRS. SHARP.
The weed.
MARSH.
[_With a slight gesture towards the pudding bowl of flowers._] You have
got it, then?
MRS. SHARP.
It’s worse at Taylor’s. But we’ve got it too.
NORAH.
What does it mean?
MRS. SHARP.
We can’t make out who reported us. It isn’t as if we had any enemies.
MARSH.
Oh, there’s always someone to report you. No one’s going to take the
risk of letting it get on his own land.
MRS. SHARP.
[_Looking at the mustard blossom._] And she has them in the house as if
they were flowers.
NORAH.
Tell me what she means, Eddie.
MARSH.
My dear, these pretty little flowers which you’ve picked to make your
shack look bright and homelike--they may mean ruin.
NORAH.
Eddie!
MARSH.
You must have heard us talk about the weed. We farmers have three
enemies to fight--frost, hail, and weed.
MRS. SHARP.
We was hailed out last year. Lost our crop. We never got a dollar for
it. And if we lose it this year too--why, we may just as well quit.
MARSH.
When it gets into your crop you’ve got to report it, and if you don’t
one of the neighbours will. And then they send an inspector along, and
if he condemns it, why you just have to destroy the crop, and all your
year’s work is lost. You’re lucky if you’ve got a bit of money in the
bank and can go on till the next crop comes along.
MRS. SHARP.
We’ve only got a quarter section and five children. It’s not much money
you can save then.
MARSH.
Are they out with the inspector now?
MRS. SHARP.
Yes. He came out from Prentice this morning.
MARSH.
This is a bad job for Frank.
MRS. SHARP.
Oh, he hasn’t got the mouths to feed that we have. He can hire out
again. But what’s to become of us?
NORAH.
I wonder why he never told me.
MRS. SHARP.
I guess he’s in the habit of keeping his troubles to himself and you’ve
not taught him different yet.
[NORAH _gives her a quick look, but seeing the woman is all on edge
with nervousness does not answer_.]
MARSH.
You must hope for the best, Mrs. Sharp.
MRS. SHARP.
Sid says we’ve only got it in one place, but perhaps he’s only saying it
so I shouldn’t worry. You know what them inspectors are. They don’t lose
nothing by it. It don’t matter to them if you starve all the winter.
[_She gives a sob and heavy tears roll down her cheeks._]
NORAH.
Oh don’t--don’t cry, Mrs. Sharp. After all, it may be all right.
MARSH.
They won’t condemn the crop unless it’s very bad. Too many people have
got their eyes on it. The machine agent, the loan company.
MRS. SHARP.
What with the hail that comes and hails you out and the frost that kills
your crop just when you’re beginning to count on it, and the weed--I
can’t bear it any more. If we lose this crop I won’t go on. I’ll make
Sid sell out and we’ll go home. We’ll take a little shop somewhere.
That’s what I wanted to do from the beginning, but Sid--he had his heart
set on farming.
NORAH.
You couldn’t go back now. You’d never be happy in a little shop. And if
you’d stayed in England you’d have been always at the beck and call of
somebody else. And you own the land. You couldn’t do that in England.
When you come out of your door and look at the growing wheat, aren’t you
proud to think it’s yours?
MRS. SHARP.
You don’t know what I’ve had to put up with. When the children came,
only once I had a doctor. The other times Sid was the only help I had. I
might have been an animal. I wish I’d never come to this country.
NORAH.
How can you say that! Your children are strong and healthy. Why, they’ll
be able to help you in the work soon. You’ve given them a chance that
they’d never have got at home.
MRS. SHARP.
Oh, it’s all very well for them. They’ll have it easy. I know that. But
we’ve had to pay for it, Sid and me.
NORAH.
You see, you were the first. It’s bitter work opening up a new country
and perhaps it’s others who reap the harvest. But I wonder if those who
start don’t get a reward that the later comers never dream of.
MARSH.
She’s right there, Mrs. Sharp. I shall never forget what I felt when I
saw my first crop spring up and thought that never since the world began
had wheat grown on that little bit of ground.... I wouldn’t go back to
England now for anything in the world. I couldn’t breathe.
MRS. SHARP.
You’re a man. You have the best of it and all the credit.
NORAH.
People don’t know. You mustn’t blame them. It’s only those who’ve lived
out on the prairie who know that the hardships of opening up a new
country fall on the women. But the men who are their husbands, they
know.
MARSH.
I guess they do, Mrs. Sharp.
[NORAH, _on her knees beside her, strokes_ MRS. SHARP’S _hands_.
MRS. SHARP _gives her a grateful smile_.]
MRS. SHARP.
Thank you for speaking kindly to me, my dear. I’m that nervous, I hardly
know what I’m saying.
NORAH.
Sid and Frank will be here in a minute, surely.
MRS. SHARP.
And you’re right, my dear, I couldn’t go back any more. If we lose our
crop, well, we must wait till next year. We shan’t starve. One’s got to
take the rough with the smooth, and take it all in all, it’s a good
country.
[FRANK TAYLOR _comes in_.]
NORAH.
Frank.
MRS. SHARP.
[_Starting to her feet._] Where’s Sid?
TAYLOR.
Why he’s up at your place. Hulloa, Ed. I saw you coming along in the
rig. Morning, Reg. I wasn’t expecting to see you.
HORNBY.
Pleasant surprise for you.
MRS. SHARP.
What’s happened? Tell me what’s happened.
NORAH.
Mrs. Sharp came here because she was so anxious.
TAYLOR.
[_Cheerfully._] Oh, you’re all right.
MRS. SHARP.
[_With a gasp._] We are?
TAYLOR.
Sure. Only a few acres has got to go. That won’t hurt you.
MRS. SHARP.
Thank God for that. And it’s going to be the best crop we ever had. It’s
the finest country in the world.
TAYLOR.
You’d better be getting back. Sid’s taken the inspector up to give him
some dinner.
MRS. SHARP.
He hasn’t? That’s just like Sid. It’s a mercy there’s plenty. I’ll be
getting along right now.
NORAH.
Don’t walk. There’s Eddie’s rig. Reggie will drive you over.
MRS. SHARP.
Oh, thank you kindly. I’m not used to walking so much and I’m tired out.
Good-afternoon, Mrs. Taylor.
NORAH.
Good-bye. Reggie, you don’t mind driving Mrs. Sharp back? It’s only just
over a mile.
HORNBY.
Not a bit.
MARSH.
I’ll come and help you put the mare in.
[MRS. SHARP _and_ HORNBY _go out_.]
MARSH.
I guess it’s a relief to you now you know, Frank.
TAYLOR.
Terrible.... I’d like to have a talk with you presently, Ed.
MARSH.
Right you are. [_He goes._]
NORAH.
I’m so thankful it’s all right. Poor thing, she was in such a state.
TAYLOR.
They’ve got five children to feed. I guess it makes a powerful lot of
difference to them.
NORAH.
I wish you’d told me before. I felt that something was worrying you and
I didn’t know what.
TAYLOR.
If I saved the crop there didn’t seem any use fussing, and if I didn’t
you’d know quite soon enough.
NORAH.
How could you bear to let me put the flowers here?
TAYLOR.
I guess I didn’t mind if it made you happy. You didn’t know they was
only a weed. You thought them darned pretty.
NORAH.
[_With a little smile._] It was very kind of you, Frank.
TAYLOR.
I guess it’s queer that a darned little flower like that should be able
to do so much damage.
NORAH.
Why didn’t you tell me you’d written to Eddie?
TAYLOR.
I guess I forgot.
NORAH.
Frank, Eddie brought me some letters from home to-day. I’ve had the
offer of a job in England.
[FRANK _is just going to make an exclamation, but immediately
controls himself and answers quite quietly_.]
TAYLOR.
Gee! I guess you’ll take that.
NORAH.
It’s funny that you should have been talking just now of my going away.
TAYLOR.
Very.
NORAH.
[_A little surprised at his manner._] Have you any objection?
TAYLOR.
I guess it wouldn’t make a powerful lot of difference to you if I had.
NORAH.
What makes you think that?
TAYLOR.
I guess you only stayed here because you had to.
[_She goes over to the little window and looks out at the
prairie._]
NORAH.
Is life always like that? The things you’ve wanted so dreadfully seem
only to bring you pain when they come. [_He gives her a quick look, but
does not answer, and she notices nothing._] Month after month I used to
sit looking at the prairie and sometimes I wanted to scream at the top
of my voice just to break the silence. I thought I should never escape.
The shack was like a prison. I was hemmed in by the snow and the cold
and the stillness.
TAYLOR.
Are you going to quit right now with Ed?
NORAH.
[_With a smile._] You seem in a great hurry to be rid of me.
TAYLOR.
I guess we ain’t made a great success of married life, my girl.... It’s
rum when you come to figure it out. I thought I could make you do
everything I wanted. It looked as if I held a straight flush. And you
beat me.
NORAH.
I?
TAYLOR.
Why, yes. Didn’t you know that?
NORAH.
I don’t know what you mean.
TAYLOR.
I guess I didn’t know how strong a woman could be. You was always givin’
way, you done everything I told you--and all the time you was keepin’
something from me that I couldn’t get at. Whenever I thought to put my
hand on you, I guess I found I’d only caught hold of a shadow.
NORAH.
I don’t know what more you wanted.
TAYLOR.
I guess I wanted love.
NORAH.
You?
[_She looks at him with consternation. His words give her a queer
little twist of the heart-strings._]
TAYLOR.
I know you now less than when you’d only been a week up at Ed’s. I’ve
lost the trail and I’m just floundering around in the bush.
NORAH.
[_In a low voice._] I never knew you wanted love.
TAYLOR.
I guess I didn’t either.
NORAH.
I suppose parting’s always rather painful.
TAYLOR.
If you go back to the Old Country, I guess--I guess you’ll never come
back.
NORAH.
[_Rather shyly._] Perhaps you’ll come over to England one of these days.
If you have a couple of good years you could easily shut the place up
and run over for the winter.
TAYLOR.
I guess that would be a dangerous experiment. You’ll be a lady in
England, and I guess I’d be just the hired man.
NORAH.
You’d be my husband.
TAYLOR.
I guess I wouldn’t risk it.
NORAH.
You’ll write to me now and then and tell me how you’re getting on, won’t
you?
TAYLOR.
Will you want to know?
NORAH.
[_Smiling._] Why, yes.
TAYLOR.
I’ll write and tell you if I’m making good. If I ain’t, I guess I shan’t
feel much like writing.
NORAH.
But you’ll make good, Frank. I know you well enough for that.
TAYLOR.
Do you?
NORAH.
I have learnt to respect you during these months we’ve lived together.
All sorts of qualities which I used to value seem very unimportant to me
now. You’ve taught me a great deal.
TAYLOR.
You’ll think of me sometimes, my girl, won’t you?
NORAH.
[_Smiling._] I don’t suppose I shall be able to prevent it.
TAYLOR.
I was an ignorant, uneducated man. I didn’t know how to treat you
properly. I wanted to make you happy and I didn’t seem to know just how
to do it.
NORAH.
You’ve never been unkind to me, Frank. You’ve been very patient with me.
TAYLOR.
I guess you’ll be happier away from me. I’ll be able to think that
you’re warm and comfortable at home and you’ve got plenty to eat.
NORAH.
D’you think that’s all I want?
[_He gives her a rapid glance, and then setting his teeth looks
away._]
TAYLOR.
I couldn’t expect you to stay on here, not when you got a chance of
going back to the Old Country. This life is all new to you. And you know
that one.
NORAH.
Oh, yes, I know it--I should think I did. [_As she pictures to herself
the daily round which awaits her, she is filled with a sort of mirthless
scorn, and this presently, as she speaks, is mixed with hatred and
dismay._] At eight o’clock every morning a maid will bring me tea and
hot water. And I shall get up, and I shall have breakfast, and I shall
interview the cook. I shall order luncheon and dinner. And I shall brush
the coats of Mrs. Hubbard’s poms and take them for a walk on the
common. All the paths on the common are asphalted so that elderly
gentlemen and lady’s companions shouldn’t get their feet wet.
TAYLOR.
Gee!
NORAH.
And then I shall come in and lunch, and after luncheon I shall go for a
drive, one day in this direction and one day in that. And then I shall
have tea, and then I shall go out again on the nice neat asphalt paths
to give the dogs another walk. And then I shall change my dress and come
down to dinner. And after dinner I shall play bezique with my employer,
and I must take care not to beat her because she doesn’t like being
beaten. And at ten o’clock I shall go to bed.... [_She pauses a
moment._] At eight o’clock next morning a maid will bring in my tea and
hot water, and the day will begin again. Every day will be just like
every other. And there are hundreds of women in England, strong and
capable, with blood in their veins, who would be eager to get the place
that’s offered to me. Almost a lady and thirty-five pounds a year.
[TAYLOR _has been gazing at her steadily. What she means begins to
dawn on him, but he restrains himself. He will not look at her
now._]
TAYLOR.
I guess it’s a bit different from the life you’ve had here.
NORAH.
[_Turning to him._] And you will be clearing the scrub, cutting down
trees, ploughing the land, sowing and reaping. You will be fighting
every day, frost, hail, and weed; you will be fighting, but I know
you’ll be conquering in the end. Where was wilderness will be cultivated
land. And who knows what starving child may eat the bread that has been
made from the wheat that you grew. My life will be ineffectual and
useless, but you will have done something worth while.
TAYLOR.
Why, what’s the matter with you, Norah, Norah?
[_He does not say the words to her, but rather to himself as though
they were forced from him in agony of spirit._]
NORAH.
When I was talking to Mrs. Sharp just now I don’t know what I said, I
was just trying to comfort her because she was crying, and it seemed to
be someone else who was speaking, and I listened to myself. I thought I
hated the prairie through the long winter months, and yet somehow it has
caught hold of me. It was dreary and monotonous, and yet I can’t get it
out of my heart. There’s a beauty and a romance in it which fill my soul
with longing.
TAYLOR.
[_Quietly._] I guess we all hate the prairie sometimes, but when you’ve
once lived in it, it ain’t easy to live anywhere else.
NORAH.
I know the life now. It’s not adventurous and exciting. For men and
women it’s the same hard work from morning till night, and I know it’s
the women who bear the greater burden. The men go into the towns, they
have shooting now and then, and the different seasons bring them
different work. But for the women it’s always the same, cooking,
mending, washing, sweeping. And yet it’s all got a meaning. We, too,
have our part in opening up the country. We are its mothers and the
future is in us. We are building up the greatness of the nation. It
needs our courage and strength and hope, and because it needs them, they
come to us. Oh, Frank, I can’t go back to that petty, narrow life. What
have you done to me?
TAYLOR.
[_Hoarsely._] I guess if I asked you to stay now, you’d stay.
NORAH.
[_In a low voice._] You said you wanted my love. Don’t you know?... Love
has been growing in me slowly, month by month, and I wouldn’t see it. I
told myself I hated you. I was ashamed. It’s only to-day, when I had the
means of leaving you for ever, that I knew I couldn’t live without you.
I’m not ashamed any more. I love you.
TAYLOR.
I guess I loved you from the beginning, Norah.
NORAH.
Why d’you say it as if...? What’s the matter, Frank?
TAYLOR.
I guess you’ll have to take that job in England. I can’t ask you to stay
on.
NORAH.
Why?
TAYLOR.
The inspector’s condemned the crop. I’m bust.
NORAH.
Oh, why didn’t you tell me?
TAYLOR.
I guess I couldn’t. I made up my mind when I married you that I’d make
good. I couldn’t expect you to see that it was just bad luck. Anyone can
get the weed in his crop. But I guess a man oughtn’t to have bad luck.
The odds are that it’s his own fault if he has.
NORAH.
Now I understand about Eddie.
TAYLOR.
I wrote to him when I knew I’d been reported.
NORAH.
What are you going to do?
TAYLOR.
It’s all right for me. I can hire out. It’s you I was thinking of. I
felt pretty sure you wouldn’t go back to Ed’s. I didn’t fancy you taking
a position as lady help. I didn’t know what was to become of you, my
girl. And when you told me of the job in England, I thought I’d let you
go.
NORAH.
Without telling me you were in trouble?
TAYLOR.
Why, if I wasn’t smashed up, d’you think I’d let you go? By God, I
wouldn’t. I’d have kep’ you--by God, I’d have kep’ you.
NORAH.
Are you going to give the land up?
TAYLOR.
No, I guess I can’t do that. I’ve put too much work in it. And I’ve got
my back up now. I shall hire out for the summer and next winter I can
get work lumbering. The land’s my own now, and I’ll come back in time
for the ploughing next year.
NORAH.
Look.
TAYLOR.
What’s that?
[_She hands him the cheque which she has received from Mr. Wynne._]
NORAH.
The nephew of the lady I was with has made me a present of it.
Twenty-five hundred dollars. You can lake the quarter section next to
this one and get all the machinery you want and some cows. It’s yours to
do what you like with. Now will you keep me?
TAYLOR.
Oh, my girl, how shall I ever be able to thank you!
NORAH.
Good heavens, I don’t want thanks. There’s nothing in the world so
wonderful as to be able to give to someone you love.... Give me a kiss
and try.
TAYLOR.
I guess it’s the first time you’ve asked me to do that.
NORAH.
Oh, I’m so happy.
THE END
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER
End of Project Gutenberg's The Land of Promise, by W. Somerset Maugham