HALLOWE’EN PLAYS.
There was advantage in being on “the committee,” that of being excused
from classes the afternoon before Hallowe’en to do the decorating.
Pansy said that she wished Hallowe’en came every week and that she
might be on the committee, and she only wished that she had had more
recitations to miss than she had!
Shirley said little, but worked hard; for she knew of at least one
critical eye, who would scan the rooms, not inclined to praise.
Drapings in orange, red, black and white, in varied combinations,
pumpkin shades for the bulbs, black backgrounds for gay posters, and
even flowers of the appropriate colors made the Hallowe’en setting.
Shirley tried not to have it too “scrappy,” but the girls told her
that it had to be more or less so. Every one had some favorite poster
that must not be left out. But Miss Gibson came in at the last, with
directions that vindicated Shirley’s ideas and saved the day.
When the girls began to come into the rooms in their costumes and
masks, the fun began. They changed their voices, and it was almost
impossible to tell who any one was, though there were some mild shouts
of “Oh, I know who _you_ are!” But it was easy to be deceived. Shirley
wore a ghost costume until after the freshman stunt, for her witch’s
costume had to be used by the leader. Pansy’s first idea had been for
Shirley to lead the drill of the freshmen; but Shirley told her that
it would never do to have a senior in the freshman stunt. Shirley
suggested a funny variety of drill modeled after a “gym” drill, which
would be mysterious, creepy and catty, in movement and rhythm. She also
composed a song for the Cat Brigade, which was accepted by the freshmen
committee and sung with great gusto. The only difficulty was to keep
its ghostly melody from becoming known till the time to sing it.
The pumpkin shades mellowed the light in the great room. In one corner
stood a queer booth for which the committee had been obliged to have
a janitor’s assistance. A placard warned “Danger,--Witches’ Caldron,”
and one of the senior witches stood there to keep out the curious till
after the senior stunt.
There would have been fun enough in the mere costuming and social fun
of the occasion. Shirley, from behind her sheet and white mask, ready
to help with the stunts if necessary, enjoyed the scene. She wondered
which costume concealed Sidney, but did not see any one that looked
like her so far as she could tell.
Madge Whitney declared that she would _never_ dress to make herself
look _hideous_. As Autumn, she wore a wreath of artificial leaves, in
the gay colors of fall, and carried a cornucopia from which trailed
grapes and their vines, over red and yellow apples. Her dress was gay
with the autumn colors. One of the sophomores came as Autumn, too, but
carried a “sheaf” of wheat and a basket of corn and fruit.
There were ghosts galore, for every one who had neither time nor energy
to do anything else fell back on a sheet, with some slight addition.
Clown costumes, too, were popular, in all varieties. Bluebeard, Spanish
pirates, characters from history and from fiction, high and low,
challenged recognition.
If Madge went as Autumn, Caroline had decided to go as Winter. She wore
kingly robes, white, with a frosted crown, a white beard, sparkling
with frost, purchased for the purpose, and a white wig to cover any
trace of her own locks. Some glass pendants and the artificial snow or
frost made a very realistic appearance.
Some lords and ladies in suits which were used at the senior plays were
elegant in their carriage and speech. It was a motley company and the
little bells of the clowns tinkled as they walked.
The teachers did not join the masked company, but sat or stood around
the room to watch the fun.
Madge stood by Shirley when Miss Gibson clapped her hands for order and
announced that the company would be entertained by the seniors, who
were presenting the witches scene, Act four, Scene one, of Macbeth.
Neither of the girls had seen this practiced, as Miss Gibson had
consented to train them for a good presentation of it.
“Sidney wouldn’t be in it at all,” said Madge.
“Yes, I know,” said Shirley. “It was just as well, for it gave Olive a
chance to be Macbeth. They give it only as far as the vanishing of the
witches, Miss Gibson says, and they make the apparitions just ordinary
‘ghosts.’ Stella is one of them.”
The curtains of the odd booth were thrown back and found to be painted
into some likeness of a cavern, suggested, at least. Even the opening
thunder was given by the roll of a drum back in the “cavern.” There was
the cauldron and something to imitate the appearance of fire under
it. The girls enjoyed the pretense of being witches with their uncanny
parts and the
“Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
All the girls spoke their lines distinctly, though Miss Gibson had
deleted some, to shorten the scene and to leave out those that were
too unpleasant for such an occasion. Olive as Macbeth made quite an
impression. She withdrew with the witches, but witches, apparitions
and Macbeth were obliged to come out again in front of the cavern to
receive further applause.
“The rest will be anti-climax,” mourned Pansy, the kitty-cat, who had
joined Madge and Shirley.
“The freshman fun will be the relaxation of the evening,” said Shirley,
“and how can you speak thus to the author of your beautiful verses!”
Pansy laughed. “That is so. I had forgotten our beautiful poetry.”
“To tell the truth, in comparison with this, our lines may fall a
little flat; but just looking at you kittens, you black cats, I should
say, will be enough. I thought that I saw two costumes like your
witch’s, Pansy, a while ago.”
“I did, too,--I wonder whose the other is.”
The sophomore entertainment was even more gruesome than the witches of
Macbeth. When a curtain was drawn aside at the end of the room, there,
against the white background of another curtain, which represented a
wall, hung the white faces of Bluebeard’s wives. A ghostly sophomore
read the story, briefly told, in its most exciting parts, while the
wife who entered the forbidden chamber, Bluebeard, and Sister Ann
played their parts in pantomime, with the addition of ghostly groans
from the wives who had, supposedly, been disposed of long since. This
was a little too realistic and made more than one of the audience jump
a little at first. But it was soon over.
There was relief from spookdom when the juniors came in to give very
prettily a “Dance of the Pumpkins.” “Pumpkin” costumes and one funny
rolling movement gave the “motif.”
But how they laughed when the freshmen came in as black cats, managed
by a rather frisky looking witch with her tall black hat, her black
robe and the broomstick on which she expected to make her exit. On the
front of the robe was the large cat’s head with its big yellow eyes,
and a whole cat was depicted on the back between the witch’s shoulders.
First the witch led the march, while the piano crashed and two girls
who had violins tried a little hideous jazz at certain points.
Next, the witch stopped and from the side gave orders for a standing
drill with rubber mice. A few squeals from the audience at the first
appearance of the mice, swung forth by their tails, was so natural and
suggestive that the whole audience laughed and one girl called out,
“nice kitties!”
The comical appearance made by the backs of the girls, as they wheeled
and faced away from the audience, brought more laughter. Shirley had
despaired of painting enough cats for all the freshmen in the drill,
but the bright idea occurred to her after it was decided to put cats on
their costumes, to stencil the cats. Accordingly, on the square white
patch of muslin, similar to the one upon her own costume, which the
witch wore, in stenciled patches of black, the clawing limbs and wildly
waving tail of the witch’s cat appeared.
As a result of careful measurements, this made a line of cat pictures
funny to behold, with the black whiskers and yellow eyes added by
Shirley’s brush afterward. The cat’s head in front was striking, too,
but not so funny as the whole cat between the shoulders behind. It was
scarcely necessary to do anything “smart,” Madge declared to Shirley.
Just to look at them was enough, Madge said; and Shirley, grinning
herself at some of the evolutions, nodded assent. “Maybe that’s so,”
she whispered, as the freshmen girls made their eyes big, held out the
mice with one “claw” and scratched at them with the other. They laid
them on the floor and played with them, or took them away from each
other and “howled” in chorus, all to the music. This changed now to the
lively melody of which Shirley was the composer.
Facing the audience and lined up in one row, the freshmen pinned the
rubber mice on their costumes by the tails as badges and stood for a
moment to get their breath while one of the teachers, who had made an
accompaniment to Shirley’s melody, played a brief prelude.
“Mother Goose stuff,” said a low voice near Shirley. Shirley did not
turn to see what the speaker looked like, in some gay costume, she
supposed, for the voice was Sidney’s. Madge heard it, too, and nudged
Shirley, whose ghost costume, of course, could not indicate to Sidney
that the chairman of the committee was close by. “She’s jealous,”
whispered Madge, but the sarcastic little phrase spoiled what followed
for Shirley. “It _is_ silly,” she thought, “but, someway, they couldn’t
think up anything better, and we had to have _something_.” Quietly she
stood to see how the girls would sing the foolish song.
But the rest of the audience were in the spirit of fun and “Mother
Goose stuff” was quite acceptable to them. Youthful freshmen voices
started in after a loud crash from the accompanist and a wail from the
violins.
Oh we are the witch’s cats;
We creep and we snoop and we prowl;
We watch the brimming, boiling pot,--
At strange approach we howl.
Hist! St! Meow! Meow!
At strange approach we howl.
Don’t try to catch,
For we can scratch,
Don’t lift our latch,
Or strike a match!
Hist! St! Meow! Meow!
At strange approach we howl!
Oh we are the Cat Brigade;
On Hallowe’en night we may ride,
And trail her broomstick in the air
Or guard her at her side.
Hist! St! Meow! Meow!
We guard our witch’s ride!
Beware the knell
In darkness fell
When witches spell
The fates they tell!
Hist! St! Meow! Meow!
Beware the Cat Brigade!
With further evolutions, at the direction of the witch, and repeating
the last lines softly, the Cat Brigade marched out followed by
applause and laughter. The freshmen had put over their little play
quite effectively and Shirley drew a long breath of relief. The last
“stunt” was over. The rest was in the hands of a sub-committee, who
had the management of the refreshments. The fun of fortune telling and
the other customary Hallowe’en features could go on without further
supervision. Shirley hurried out to get into her own costume, for the
freshman witch had another one which she wanted to wear. Like Madge,
she preferred to be beautiful rather than funny.
Again Shirley saw the costume which was so like hers, except for the
cats, painted by some other artistic hand. The cat upon the back was
directly on the black robe and was such a funny, big yellow cat that
Shirley drew nearer to see it. But the girl who wore it was getting out
into the hall as quickly as possible through the crowd of girls, not
noticing at all the “ghost” which followed her.
Shirley heard a shepherdess who accompanied the “Yellow Cat” witch
arguing with her in a low voice. “Why should you care, Sid?”
“Caroline knew that they were going to do that stunt! She suggested
this to me on purpose! Perhaps I’ll come back, if I can find all of
that Turkish costume; but I’m afraid that it isn’t with that stuff that
I left here last year, and besides, I’ll have to go all through that
big box! I’m sure that I took the red sash home!”
“That’s all right, Sid! I have----”
Shirley heard no more, for she, too was trying to get past a group of
girls who blocked the way and wanted to hear no more. How odd it was.
How had Sidney happened to make such a costume? Perhaps it was easier,
for the robe may have been the Double Three domino of last year. But
Caroline’s suggesting it! Shirley could not understand.
The cat costume did not return. No Turkish costume mingled with the
rest, for Shirley, returning in the cat costume, noticed particularly.
It troubled her, though she thought that she was silly indeed, to take
so much interest in a girl who cared nothing for her. The freshmen
kitty-cats, all alike, were enjoying themselves immensely and performed
amusing antics occasionally around their witch, Shirley now. She had no
fear of being discovered, for naturally enough every one supposed her
to be a freshman.
As a prize was offered for the most striking and original costume,
the judges came to Shirley to notify her that her costume was being
favorably considered on account of the cleverly painted cats. This was
before the masks were removed. “Where is that costume like yours, with
the big yellow cat on the back?” one of the girls asked Shirley. “Did
you do them together?”
“No,” said Shirley, changing her voice as well as she could. “I did not
know anything about it till I saw it here tonight.”
“We’d like to see it before we decide; yet, girls, the black cat is
more appropriate to witches, and I think that this costume will take
the first prize anyway.”
The judges hurried off. If it had not been for that last remark, it
might have been Shirley’s duty to say that she knew who the girl was
who wore the yellow cat costume, though even then it would have been
a question whether to tell or not. Shirley had a feeling that Sidney
would prefer to lose a prize rather than admit having a costume like
Shirley’s. How had it happened? she asked herself again.