_Scene: The same._
_The curtain rises on the_ BURGOMASTER, _the_ SECRETARY, ISABELLE _and_
FLORIS.
THE BURGOMASTER
As you were not present at the meeting, Mr. Secretary, I will tell you
what was decided. The question of the war-levy and of the fine
inflicted on the town for the death of Lieutenant von Schaunberg is
settled. The Major demanded five hundred thousand francs for the levy
and two millions for the fine....
FLORIS
Two hundred thousand times what he was worth!
THE BURGOMASTER
There’s no doubt about that.... I persuaded the Major, not without
difficulty, to agree to a lump sum of a million, which must be paid
before midday to-morrow. I have in my safe fifty thousand francs in
cash, which I place at the disposal of the town. De Cuyper’s Bank will
pay us two hundred and fifty thousand francs, Sheriff van den Bulke
fifty thousand and Councillor de Rudder seventy-five thousand francs.
That makes nearly half a million certain. Sheriff Vermandel will try to
get the rest of the money from the town-councillors and the leading
inhabitants. You will assist him in his efforts. Everything therefore
is more or less settled; and I can go without too much anxiety. The
conditions are hard, but, taken all round, they are better than I
hoped; and Stilemonde will not suffer unduly from the occupation. In
any case, its fate is almost enviable, compared with that of many other
towns. It owes this favour largely to Otto’s presence. He really did
all he could without dangerously compromising himself. I want to
recognize this in your presence and to do him justice.... I have said
good-bye to the sheriffs, the councillors and all my friends at the
Town-hall. I was very much touched; I had no idea that they cared so
much for me. Sheriff Vermandel was really quite distressing: I’ve never
seen a man look so sad. He clung to me, wanted to die in my place. I
had the greatest difficulty in making him understand that it was not
his turn and that his sacrifice would be impossible and useless. Father
de Coninck, the Rector of St. John the Baptist’s, arrived at the end of
the meeting and asked the Major why he had not taken him for a hostage
as well as myself. He said that it was an honour to which he was
entitled. Splendid of him, the way he demanded his share. The Major
replied that he would lose nothing by waiting. Say what you will, there
are good men left in the world. (_Looking at the clock._) Half-past
five. We have an hour and a half before us. But you have no time to
lose, my dear Pierre; go and see to your affairs. I will wait here with
my children until Otto returns. By the way, what has become of our
wounded soldier, your friend Gilson? We have been forgetting him.
THE SECRETARY
Firmin put him in the chauffeur’s room. I looked in there a moment ago.
He was sleeping soundly, like a child, and he knows nothing.
THE BURGOMASTER
So much the better. Be sure and keep an eye on him when I am gone, for
he might commit some imprudence.
THE SECRETARY
Make your mind easy; I’ll see to it. _Au revoir_, Mr. Burgomaster.
THE BURGOMASTER
(_Shaking hands with him._) _Au revoir._ Yes, perhaps we shall see each
other again. (_Exit the_ SECRETARY.) Otto has gone to make a last
appeal to the Major. I have no great hope of his succeeding. I shall be
leaving you soon, my dears, and I want to give you my last injunctions.
(ISABELLE _and_ FLORIS _fling themselves into their father’s
arms._)
ISABELLE
Father!
FLORIS
Dad!
THE BURGOMASTER
(_Caressing them tenderly._) Don’t cry, dears; the time has not yet
come. But we must provide for everything. My will is with Van Overloop,
the solicitor. I have added certain safeguards against Otto, who, after
all, is not a member of the family. You will find in the safe, over and
above the fifty thousand francs put aside for the payment of the fine,
ten thousand francs in ready money, which will enable you to live till
better times come. Here, Isabelle, is the key. Don’t mention those ten
thousand francs, either of you, to Otto. Isabelle’s position will be
very difficult after the war. Flemish people have long memories and the
national hatred will be so great that Otto will not be able to show his
face here again.
FLORIS
I should hope not!
THE BURGOMASTER
Hold your tongue, Floris; show some pity for your sister; and, whatever
happens, always remember that she is your sister.... But here comes
Otto; he will tell us the latest.
(_Enter_ OTTO.)
ISABELLE
(_Running towards him._) Well? Did you succeed? Have you done it? Did
you make him understand?
OTTO
Not a thing! I begged, entreated, dragged myself at his feet, did and
said what not another German officer would have done. Not a thing, not
a thing! He ended by commanding my silence in such a tone that it was
impossible to insist.
ISABELLE
You must try again! You give in too soon: that’s not the way to obtain
what one wants! If you had let me go with you, as I implored you, he
would have ended by yielding, I know he would! After all, he may be a
German, but he’s a man, for all that! Come along. I want to go with
you. If you won’t come, I’ll go alone!
OTTO
It’s no use, he won’t see us.
ISABELLE
Did you say all there was to say? You have influence in Germany; your
family is rich and powerful; you’ve told me so again and again. You
must frighten him, make him feel uneasy, threaten him, anything!
OTTO
Threaten him! You don’t realize; you don’t know what things are. I saw
that his patience was exhausted.... But I haven’t told you everything.
There’s something else, something worse.
ISABELLE
Something worse? Worse than what? What can be worse than death?
OTTO
Yes, he has discovered something worse; and perhaps it is not his
fault. He is, as we all are, the slave of discipline and of the
military regulations. He does not like me as much, perhaps, as he liked
von Schaunberg, for I don’t belong to his class. But I do not believe
that he wishes me any ill. He was always a little distant to me,
perhaps, but on the whole, up to now, he has been very just. He is not
a bad sort of man; he is one of our most humane officers; but what he
wants to make me do is terrible.
ISABELLE
But what is it, what? There is nothing more for us to fear. Nothing
worse can happen than what has happened already. He is not going to
revive torture, I suppose? Does he want more victims? There are no
lives more precious than our father’s. Does he want you and me? I would
rather have that. We will all die together. Of what good will life be,
after this?
OTTO
He does not ask for other victims, but his orders are.... No, I can’t
say it, I daren’t say it, to you!
ISABELLE
But what is it that he wants? Do speak, speak, tell us! Why all this
mystery? What can you say, worse than already is? If I lose my father,
I shall have nothing left to lose.
THE BURGOMASTER
She is right; it is cruel of you to keep her on tenterhooks like this.
You see how upset she is. Say what you have to say; tell us. You cannot
add much to what we know already.
OTTO
You are right. Very well, he orders, he demands that I myself shall
command the firing-party.
ISABELLE
The firing-party, the men who are to shoot my father?
OTTO
Yes.
FLORIS
The scoundrel, the villain!
ISABELLE
You, Otto, you? It’s not true! He can’t have dared! It’s impossible!
And you didn’t rebel, you didn’t lash him across the face, you didn’t
cut him down with your sword, your eyes said nothing of what was
passing in your soul? I refuse to believe it! There has been nothing
like this in any war in history! Why, it’s not possible! It’s only a
test! He wanted to find out how far he could go; but he knows quite
well that no man, no man in the world, not even a German, could agree
to that!... Well, what did you answer? I hope that by this time he
knows what to expect and that, though you have had the misfortune to be
born in Germany, you are still different from the rest of them!
OTTO
The worst of it is that he is obliged to do what he is doing. I am the
only officer he has with him. It’s the regulation: he can’t act
differently.
ISABELLE
He can’t act differently!... And you dare tell me that, just as though
you approved!... But you, you, what did you say, what did you do and
what do you intend to do?
OTTO
I told him it was impossible.
ISABELLE
That’s something, at last! It’s the first word which was worthy of you,
which was worthy of the man I married!... And what did he reply? He
didn’t insist, of course?
OTTO
He told me that he would give me till seven o’clock to think it over.
If at seven o’clock precisely I am not at the head of my men in the
little yard behind the stables, he will have me arrested, place me
against the wall beside your father and will himself command the party
which will execute both sentences.
ISABELLE
Good! I shall go and stand between the two of you. He will order three
volleys and it will be finished. After all, life has become impossible.
FLORIS
I shall go too.
ISABELLE
And “the man is not a bad sort,” you say! “He’s one of your most humane
officers!”
OTTO
It’s war!
ISABELLE
And who started the war?
OTTO
As far as you Belgians were concerned, you did! And many of us were
sore at heart when we found that we had to march against you. But you
wanted it! Ah, that beloved king of yours did a fine stroke of work, on
the day when he blocked the way to a peaceful army of men, who merely
asked to pass through the country as friends.
THE BURGOMASTER
Silence! Our king’s wishes were the wishes of every one of us; and if
to-morrow we had to do once more what we have done to-day, you would
find us in the same place, among our ruins, our martyrs and our dead,
ready to begin all over again.
FLORIS
Tell your horrible Kaiser to put that in his pipe and smoke it!
OTTO
(_Suddenly drawing himself up, in a threatening attitude._) Mind what
you’re saying!
THE BURGOMASTER
Come, come, stop this fooling and let us talk sense. We must not lose
our self-control. The Major is a monster, a brute, anything you please;
but, placed as he is, he’s right. He’s obeying the regulations; and,
again in his position, he can’t act differently.... I will ask Otto
once again, is it quite certain that he will not reconsider his
decision? People often change their minds at the last moment; and even
the most obstinate man will let himself think.
OTTO
As I know him—and I have known him for more than ten years—he will
have everything carried out exactly as he has decided.
THE BURGOMASTER
Can’t he have the firing-party commanded by a sergeant?
OTTO
He won’t do it. In anything relating to the army orders, he is
inflexible. Besides, on second thoughts, I am not sure that I did not
go too far just now when I said that he had nothing against me. I have
sometimes observed a certain ill-will, almost a certain animosity,
where I was concerned. I don’t quite know to what to ascribe it. It may
be that the plebeian prosperity of my family offends his patrician
poverty. It may be that, as I took my wife from this country, he
suspects me of being too fond of its inhabitants. Or, more likely
still, he may have other reasons into which I do not care to enter. The
fact remains that he would not be sorry to find me at fault or at least
to put me to the test and to make that test a striking example, which
will teach our soldiers once more what German discipline can do.
THE BURGOMASTER
And if I asked him to grant me the favour of giving the word to fire?
OTTO
I thought of that. He refused peremptorily, refused as a matter of
course, said that it was an honour which could not be shown to a rebel
and a traitor.
FLORIS
A traitor?
THE BURGOMASTER
Yes, Floris, they call traitors all those who do not betray their
country for Germany’s benefit.
OTTO
He added that it was also against all the regulations, so it became
useless for me to insist.
THE BURGOMASTER
Very good. What do you intend to do?
OTTO
Whatever Isabelle decides.
THE BURGOMASTER
And what will you have him do, Isabelle?
ISABELLE
Refuse to obey.
FLORIS
Why, of course!
THE BURGOMASTER
And, if you refuse to obey, Otto, do you think that your refusal will
alter my fate at all?
OTTO
I am convinced—I am sorry to say it—that nothing could alter it in
any way whatever.
THE BURGOMASTER
On the other hand, if he refuses to obey, do you, Isabelle, fully
realize the consequences? He will at once be arrested and shot by my
side. That is so, Otto, is it not?
OTTO
There is not the least doubt of it.
THE BURGOMASTER
Is that what you wish, Isabelle? He will die at the same time that I do.
ISABELLE
And at the same time that I do.
THE BURGOMASTER
It is not sure that they will permit you to die with us.
ISABELLE
It would certainly be the first time that they had spared a woman. You
need have no fear on that score. In any case, this is my affair; and we
need say no more about that.
THE BURGOMASTER
Do you accept, Otto?
OTTO
I accept, in so far as I am concerned, that is to say, I shall refuse
to obey; but I do not agree to letting my death involve Isabelle’s.
THE BURGOMASTER
Therefore, by ordering you to disobey, Isabelle is sending you to face
the firing-party. She has no right to do that, unless she is absolutely
determined not to survive you. If a woman deliberately and of her own
free will—for that is what you are doing, Isabelle—sends a man to his
death and does not go with him, after explicitly promising to share his
fate, then she is guilty of one of the most odious and cowardly acts of
treachery which she could possibly commit. Reflect, both of you. It is
a question of taking, in my presence, a solemn and irrevocable pledge.
ISABELLE
I have thought it all out. The pledge is taken.
THE BURGOMASTER
Then Otto will die in an hour’s time and you with him? Is that exactly
what you wish?
ISABELLE
It is exactly what I wish and all that I wish.
THE BURGOMASTER
Do you accept, Otto?
OTTO
I accept, since Isabelle wishes it.
(_A pause._)
THE BURGOMASTER
Good. Each of you is worthy of the other. You have proved to me that
you love me and that you love each other better than life.... Now that
the proof is established and your sacrifice fulfilled as much as though
death had come to you, we have nothing more to fear and we can speak
freely. In all this nightmare there is only one death which is
necessary and inevitable; and that is mine. Your own deaths depend only
upon ourselves, that is to say, they must not take place.... Isabelle,
my darling, if I were lying on my death-bed at this moment, you would
not refuse to hear and carry out my last wishes. I am before you now,
standing on my feet, but as near to my end as though I were stretched
upon a bed of sickness. (_The clock strikes six._) Hark! Six o’clock!
You see how close it is. Besides, I have what dying men, whose minds
are often dulled, do not always have, the full possession of my mental
faculties. The wish which I am about to express, the request which I am
about to make of both of you, must therefore be all the more sacred. Do
you promise me, Isabelle, as you would promise a dying man, to perform
piously what I am going to ask of you?
ISABELLE
I know beforehand what you are going to ask; and I cannot promise you
to order the man I married to become the murderer of his father and
mine.
THE BURGOMASTER
Isabelle, at a moment like this we must not juggle with words which do
not express what they say and which distort the truth most dreadfully.
Otto has revealed to us the only truth that counts, by proving that he
is ready to sacrifice his life not only to save mine, if that were
possible, but even to spare you the pain of seeing him become the
instrument—to some extent the accidental, involuntary, irresponsible
instrument—of my death. It is for you and me to show ourselves worthy
of that sacrifice by not accepting it.
ISABELLE
If I did not accept it, I should not be worthy of being your daughter.
THE BURGOMASTER
Words, more words, Isabelle, which do not touch the truth. We have no
time to waste on sentences which do not say the things that have to be
said. The minutes are slipping by, there are very few left; and I
should not like to die before convincing you. Otto—you know it as well
as I do—is caught in the cogs of the machine and cannot extricate
himself. This is enough to justify him. He is no more responsible for
the harm which he will do me than the sword which he carries or the
twelve rifles which will discharge their bullets at me. We must look at
things as they are and rise above hackneyed phrases and theories which
show things to us as they are not. If his refusal could delay my
execution for a day, for an hour, I could in the last resort understand
your decision; but it will not delay it for three minutes. Whether it
be he or another who gives the word of command, the ten or twelve
bullets that enter my body will do it the same hurt.
ISABELLE
Enough, enough!
THE BURGOMASTER
No, it is not enough: you have not yet promised me.
ISABELLE
I can’t promise.
FLORIS
Isabelle!
ISABELLE
What is it?
FLORIS
(_Flinging himself into his sister’s arms._) I don’t know!
THE BURGOMASTER
I have done my duty, Isabelle, and you have approved. I have made the
sacrifice of my life; and I have made it much more easily than I dared
hope, for I did not know that I had so much courage. But I am no hero;
I am only a poor man who was quite unprepared to do what I am going to
do to-day. You must not ask too much of me. There are limits to my
strength. I am not used to suffering, I have not been in the habit of
braving misfortune. I can bear my own unhappiness, but not that of
others; and I feel that I shall not hold out to the end without
breaking down, if my death is to involve the loss of the most precious
of the lives which I thought I had ransomed. You must spare me one
intolerable sorrow that can still move me. You ought to understand
this. You ought to help me. And, instead of helping me, you are both of
you making it more difficult for me! Don’t you want your father to hold
up his head when he faces the enemy? I was not afraid of death for
myself, but I am for you. Do not weaken the strength which I shall need
very soon. I have made the sacrifice of my own life, but not of your
two lives: that would mean a twofold death to me and threefold
suffering; and the courage which I have called up will not be enough if
I see you fall by my side.
ISABELLE
(_Sobbing and throwing herself into her father’s arms._) Father!
THE BURGOMASTER
I thought that there would be tears for me, Isabelle. They prove that
you are becoming reasonable and will no longer resist me.
ISABELLE
I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I shall never be able to do it!
THE BURGOMASTER
But you must. Time presses; and you are making the last few minutes of
my life seem even more cruel than death.
ISABELLE
There are chances still. There is flight.
THE BURGOMASTER
Flight?... Whither?... How?... The house is guarded.
ISABELLE
The men who guard it are under Otto’s orders. He has only to give a
command.
THE BURGOMASTER
Otto is answerable for my safe custody. If I run away, he will take my
place against the wall.
ISABELLE
He can run away too.
THE BURGOMASTER
And both of us be caught before we have gone two hundred yards? The
tragedy would be the same; only it would be less seemly. And, if I did
succeed in escaping, too many others would pay the penalty. Of all the
chances of safety, this obviously is the only one that must on no
account be attempted. No, I am driven into a corner, I am marked down;
it is all over; and you must look upon me as dead. I have come to the
end of my days; those which were worth living are past. I am not dying
too soon; I had nothing more to wait for. Instead of a lingering,
troublesome death, a painful, miserable death on a bed, I am offered a
quick and sudden end, an honourable end, free from thought or
suffering, and one which perhaps will save half the town. I should be
mad to hesitate or to regret not dying in my bed. I too have been
afraid of death. If any one had ever told me that one evening I should
have to face it as I am doing now, I should not have dared to go on
living. Whereas now I hardly give it a thought; I have to make an
effort, to force myself, to concentrate my mind upon it in order to
realize that, after all, perhaps it is somewhat serious and not what we
had expected. Looked at from a distance, death seems like some horrible
mountain, which shuts out the horizon; but, as we draw near, it
dwindles and sinks away; and, when we are face to face with it, it is
nothing.
ISABELLE
Well, if it is nothing, let us die with you.
THE BURGOMASTER
It is nothing to me, because I was nearing my end; and, above all, it
is nothing because it is necessary. But to you two it is everything,
because it is purposeless and because your life is beginning.
ISABELLE
Our life is beginning. Ah, a beautiful life, a life that begins like
this!
THE BURGOMASTER
It will be what you make of it. But enough! I have begged, entreated
and argued. The seconds are flying and I am wasting the last of them in
quarrelling with you instead of pressing you to my heart. Yes or no,
will you do what I ask? I appeal to Otto: his silence shows that he
understands. He sees things now as you will see them later, as I see
them and as we are bound to see them. One day you will thank us both
for not listening to you to-day. But we must have done with this; and
there are certain precautions which we must take to protect you against
yourself and the strain of the final moment. I am going to lock you in
this room and I shall give the key of the door to Otto, who will let
you out when all is over.
ISABELLE
Lock me in here, while...? I won’t have it, I won’t have it!
THE BURGOMASTER
You surely will not compel Otto and me to use violence, to push you
back by force, to struggle with you? That would be too dreadful! Look
at me! Can’t you see that I am using up all my strength, my last atom
of strength, that I am dying ten deaths, rather than one, because of
you? Look! I can scarcely hold myself up! It is more than I can bear,
it is too much for me: will you not understand?
ISABELLE
(_Falls sobbing into her father’s arms._) I too cannot bear it any
more.... Do what you will!... I promise whatever you ask of me!
THE BURGOMASTER
At last my own daughter has come back to me! And now let me give you
one long, long kiss, free from any thought of pain or sorrow. You will
both of you live. I feel as I might if I had been reprieved. But
remember that you have given your promise to a dying man. And, my dear
one, I want something more. I am not asking you to forget: that does
not depend on yourself. Nor to forgive Otto: there is nothing to
forgive. I simply ask you not to shut him out from your heart. Is that
a promise also?
ISABELLE
(_Faintly._) Yes.
THE BURGOMASTER
Come and kiss her, Otto.
ISABELLE
(_Starting._) No, no!... Not now!...
THE BURGOMASTER
He is more to be pitied than either of us two. He is bearing the chief
burden of this dreadful ordeal; and I doubt if, in his place, I should
have the strength to bear that burden. We must have pity. You will
learn, slowly, to love him once more as you have loved him until this
day.... Besides, you will probably soon become a mother. The child that
is to be born must not become the last and most sorrowful victim of
this tragedy. I know that, at first, life will be very sad for you and
very difficult. Wait patiently. Listen humbly to what it says. Life is
always right. It is full of indulgence and good-will and very soon
forgets what should be forgotten. (_The clock strikes seven._) Seven
o’clock. I hear some one knocking at the door. My time is up. They have
come to fetch us, Otto. Let us embrace each other for the last time,
Isabelle. Come to my arms, Floris. You’re a man now. I entrust your
sister to you. We have been very fond of one another.... Come, Otto, we
must not keep them waiting. (_He turns to the door._)
ISABELLE
(_Clinging to his clothes._) No, no!... Not yet!... I can’t bear it!...
I want to go with you!...
THE BURGOMASTER
(_Releasing himself._) Not a word!... Not a cry!... I could not endure
more than I am doing.... Floris, look to your sister.
(_He pushes_ ISABELLE _away and goes out with_ OTTO, _locking the
door behind him. A pause._ ISABELLE _falls to the floor,
where she lies half-supported by_ FLORIS _and sobbing._)
FLORIS
(_Caressing her._) Don’t cry, dearest. We shall be revenged, we shall
be revenged!... We shall be revenged!
ISABELLE
(_Draws herself up, looks around her and suddenly rises and runs to the
door._) No, no, I can’t have it!
FLORIS
(_Catching her up._) What are you doing? What do you want to do?
ISABELLE
I want ... I want to call out, to cry, to throw myself at his feet, to
kill myself in front of him.... One never knows.... There are things
left to try.... (_She shakes the door._) They’ve locked it!... (_She
runs to the window, opens it, measures the height with her eyes and
instinctively steps back._ FLORIS, _who has followed her, throws his
arms round her waist and drags her into the room._)
FLORIS
You see, it’s too high.
ISABELLE
(_Returning to the door and shaking it violently._) I can’t open it!...
I can’t open it!... Ah, if I were only there!... One never knows until
the last moment!... I must get to him, I must get to him!... (_A volley
is fired. She steps back in horror._) It’s done, it’s done, it’s
done!... They’ve killed him!... They’ve killed what was best in the
wide world!... I shall never see him again, I shall never see him again!
(_Supported by_ FLORIS, _she staggers to a chair, where she sits
huddled, staring before her, dry-eyed._ FLORIS _puts his arms
round her and, with his cheek against hers, rocks her to and
fro, whispering, “Dearest, dearest, dearest!” A pause. The
door opens and the_ MAJOR _and_ OTTO _appear on the
threshold._)
THE MAJOR
(_Ceremoniously._) Madam, I have done your father the honour of myself
taking command of the firing-party. All I wanted was that your husband
should prove his respect for discipline to the end! I give him back to
you; you have nothing to blame him for. Everything went off very well,
in a most correct and satisfactory manner. Your father died like a
hero.... And now, Lieutenant Hilmer, go and embrace your wife....
ISABELLE
(_Suddenly drawing herself to her full height._) Go away!... Go away,
both of you!...
OTTO
What, I too, Isabelle?... But you don’t understand....
ISABELLE
I understand everything, I understand too much, it’s you who will never
understand anything!...
OTTO
(_Coming towards her._) But, Isabelle!...
ISABELLE
(_Shrinking back._) Don’t touch me!... Go away!... Don’t touch me!...
Go! It’s over ... for good!...
FLORIS
(_Stamping his foot._) She’s right! She’s right! She’s right!... Kiss
me, kiss me! Let me kiss you!... It’s we two now, you and I!...
THE MAJOR
(_To_ OTTO.) Let them be; I want you. I hear they’re attacking on the
Oostwinkel side.... You’ve done your duty, Hilmer. This is
incomprehensible. But they’re all more or less mad in this country....
CURTAIN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Note
Punctuation has been normalized.
Repeated titles in the front of the book have been deleted.
Italicized words and phrases are presented by surrounding the text with
_underscores_.
The author’s use of mixed-size capital letters to identify the
characters is presented by the use of all capital letters.