looks at it apologetically before he bends over to kiss her. The light
deliberately flashes between them. Both of them stand back dazzled._
MRS. FELIX (_blinking_)
What a powerful reflection! (_Smiling and holding out her hand to
Schwartzenhopfel, she bends toward him again_)
[_The light again flashes between them._
MRS. FELIX (_as they stagger back again_)
What is it, John? I see no mirrors or lenses—
DOLL BLONDIN (_who has been watching the light in an awed way ever
since she turned_) It doesn’t come from mirrors or lenses. (_In an awed
tone_) There’s something queer about that light—almost as if it were
human—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Non—nonsense!
MRS. FELIX (_noting his look_)
John Magnus! You—frightened?
DOLL BLONDIN (_pointing to the light_)
Look at it now, as though it was listening!
FANNY (_with a little cry_)
Mother! mother! Forgive me—
MRS. FELIX (_patting her hair_)
Forgive you—why, my dear?
FANNY (_shivering_)
I don’t know—but I’m afraid.—There’s something wrong in this house—
[_The light twitches as if trying to sneak out of the room._
FANNY (_with a little scream_)
Look at it—now!
[_The light stands still. The three women huddle together with that
feminine instinct that prefers to die with its worst enemy rather than
alone._
DOLL BLONDIN
Whenever he made a move to even touch you, it flew at him—
FANNY (_shrieking_)
It moved again!
[_Mrs. Felix clutches Schwartzenhopfel. Fanny gives another short
scream. At that moment the folding-doors fly open and Agnus reënters
quickly, disclosing The Devil inside._
THE DEVIL (_with his eye to microscope, examining slide_)
As well as I could do myself! Bravo! Bravissima!
AGNUS (_agitated_)
Can I do anything? (_Sees the tableau of the three frightened women,
clinging to Schwartzenhopfel; his eyes follow theirs, and he sees that
they are watching the light; then he falls back, holding his head_)
DOLL BLONDIN (_seeing Agnus’s look_)
See! He’s frightened, too.
THE DEVIL (_puts up the microscope and comes out_)
What’s wrong?
FANNY (_running to him_)
Addington, Addington!
DEVIL (_wearily_)
Not gone yet?
FANNY (_pointing to the light, which twitches sullenly_)
Addington, I’m frightened. What is it?
THE DEVIL (_shaken, but retaining his mastery_)
Oh—that? (_He tries to move over to the table and shake Fanny off_)
FANNY
Oh, Addington, don’t leave me! I’m frightened, I tell you, frightened!
THE DEVIL
I thought you wanted to know what that was?
MRS. FELIX }
}
What is it? }
}
DOLL BLONDIN }
}
Yes, what? } (_simultaneously_)
}
FANNY }
}
We do— }
THE DEVIL (_to Fanny in an irritated tone_)
Well, how can I explain while you hang on to me?—
FANNY
Just let me hold one hand—just your little finger—that’ll make me brave—
[_The Devil crosses to the table, scowling. Fanny tags after him,
holding on to one of his fingers. The Devil looks sternly at the light.
Then he turns to the women and touches the switch-key of the lighted
electric cigar-lighter._
THE DEVIL
When I turn this off, it will disappear! (_He waits for Magnus to
understand. Then, showily, he snaps off the electric-lighter, bending
down as if it required some effort_) You see?
[_The light does not budge._
DOLL BLONDIN (_since Fanny is looking admiringly at The Devil and Mrs.
Felix is hiding her head on Schwartzenhopfel’s shoulder_)
But it didn’t work!—
THE DEVIL (_looking up and seeing it, nonplussed and desperate_)
No?
DOLL BLONDIN
No. There it is. See?
THE DEVIL (_boldly_)
Nonsense. (_He fixes her with his eyes_) It’s gone: d’you hear? It’s
gone!
DOLL BLONDIN (_fascinatedly watching him_)
It’s gone?
MRS. FELIX
But _I_ see it!
THE DEVIL (_fixing her with his eyes_)
Nonsense. It’s gone, d’you hear? Gone!
MRS. FELIX (_with the same expression as Doll_)
Gone?
[_Fanny looks up._
THE DEVIL (_catching her eye before she can look at the light_) You
see, it’s gone, don’t you? Gone?
FANNY (_in the same manner as others_)
Gone?
THE DEVIL
And now, why haven’t _you_—gone?
FANNY
And leave her in the house? (_Nodding toward Doll_)
THE DEVIL
Is it your house?
FANNY (_boldly_)
Yes, it is!
THE DEVIL (_taken aback_)
What?
FANNY
Our house! (_Sweetly_) And, Addington, dear: it could be mine if I
sued you for breach of promise! You know I’d win—your letters are so
dear! And the engagement announcement that was in all the papers—and
our pictures together in that Sunday Supplement—I can’t imagine where
they get those pictures, can you? Framed heart-shape with the dearest
little Cupids shooting arrows at us—you know, how you loved it—
THE DEVIL (_revolted_)
I loved it!
FANNY (_continuing_)
And your money’s in trust, dear. You can’t touch the principal. So
you’d have to sell this house to pay my damages. And you know I
wouldn’t let you sell it, not to strangers—I’d just come and live in
it, going about every day and kissing things I knew your dear hands had
touched, and sitting in your favorite places, waiting for the day you’d
come back and we’d sit there together!
[_The Devil grits his teeth._
FANNY (_almost cloyingly sweet_)
Oh, you could come here every day and work in your laboratory. I’d let
you—you’d be quite welcome—
DOLL BLONDIN (_her sense of humor triumphing_)
You’re some sticker, sister—I gotta hand it to you. Talk about glue!
THE DEVIL (_desperately_)
You wouldn’t do that—your womanly instinct—your sense of shame—your
position in society—
DOLL BLONDIN
No use grasping at straws like that, Doctor. You’re gone!
MRS. FELIX (_in wonderment_)
I never imagined she had it in her. (_Mildly_) There’s no doubt she
loves you, Addington. No girl would endure the insults you’ve heaped on
her today—(_hastily_) not that she didn’t deserve them—
FANNY (_naïvely_)
I did—I was a selfish beast—
MRS. FELIX
She wouldn’t have admitted she was a beast just now—unless she loved
you—madly—
THE DEVIL (_bitterly_)
She knows I’ve got a check for two million in my pocket—
FANNY
Oh, I know I deserve that, too. But I wish you didn’t have the old
check just to prove to you—
THE DEVIL
You do?
FANNY (_hastily_)
No. I don’t mean that. Forgive me for being selfish. The check means
triumph for your work—
THE DEVIL (_grinning maliciously_)
Means houses in New York, and motors, and private railroad cars, and
boxes at the opera, too, doesn’t it?
FANNY (_earnestly_)
Addington, I’d be content to live on the top of a mountain if I had
you, dear.
THE DEVIL
That’s all right as a popular song, darling! (_He grits his teeth
again_)
AGNUS (_in agony_)
She means it, can’t you see? She’s changed. The fear of losing the man
she loves has made her forget all the little things—realizing that the
only big thing is—love!—
FANNY
Oh, Mr. Schwartzenhopfel, you have loved! _You_ understand. Make _him_
understand—
THE DEVIL (_to Agnus_)
You sentimental idiot! You think she means it, do you?
AGNUS (_boldly_)
I know it!
DOLL BLONDIN (_herself touched_)
Honest, Doctor, I believe she does.
[_Fanny looks gratefully at them._
THE DEVIL (_desperately_)
You see this? (_He thrusts the check under her nose_) What is it?
FANNY
The two-million-dollar check.
THE DEVIL
All right. (_He puts it in her hand_) Tear it up!
FANNY (_paling_)
But—Addington—your work—
THE DEVIL (_with a sneer to Agnus_)
You see? (_To Doll_) See?
FANNY (_joyously_)
I see, too! It’s wrong, but it makes me the happiest girl in the world.
THE DEVIL (_exasperated_)
What does?
FANNY
It’s wicked for me to feel that way—I know I shouldn’t.—Forgive me.
THE DEVIL (_shouting_)
What damned mare’s-nest have you foisted on me this time? What’s the
latest crazy eroticism you’re going to pretend to see in me?
FANNY
Don’t swear, dear. You’re above it. But as for the check: I understand
and I love you the more for it.
THE DEVIL (_shouting louder_)
Love me the more? By Saturn! this is too much—this passes all endurance—
FANNY
You’re angry because I’ve discovered your secret. Because you know now
that I know that no matter how much you try to make your work come
first, you can’t.
THE DEVIL (_swearing wildly_)
Oh, Jupiter! Oh, the Pleiades! Oh, the Milky Way, the Crab, and the
Gemini!—Where under the light of the sun or in the bowels of the
earth—in what corner of a lunatic asylum did you find that colossal,
preposterous and utterly insane hallucination of a disordered brain?
FANNY
In your heart, dear—in your heart. This morning I made you give up work
that was dearer to you than life. You promised. Your better nature made
you break that promise. Then I came again, tempting you; threatening
to leave you forever. Your heart betrayed you again. And—when I was
gone—you loathed yourself for your weakness.
THE DEVIL (_reduced to the frigid politeness of a man who realizes he
will be stricken with apoplexy if he allows his feelings to get the
better of him again_) I—I see—and now I should like to know—what was
the President of China thinking while in his bath this morning?—
FANNY (_placidly, seeing, in his loss of control her own dominance of
the situation_) Don’t sneer, darling. You loathed yourself for giving
in to me a second time. “Even though my heart is broken, I will cast
her out of it,” you said sternly.
THE DEVIL
Just like the kind of novels you read, wasn’t it?
FANNY
You had been so modest, dear, that I didn’t realize you were a great
man. That was your fault. “She doesn’t love me,” you said, “or she’d
want me to go on winning Nobel prizes and _being_ a great man. All
_she_ loves is the money I can make.” (_Triumphantly_) Am I right?
Isn’t that what you thought?
THE DEVIL (_wildly_)
You’re never right! And I never think.
AGNUS
You are right—you are!
THE DEVIL (_looking morosely at him_)
I’ll settle with you later—
[_Agnus, terrified, remains silent._
FANNY
Don’t be ashamed to concede a woman’s wit, dear. It’s all your
teaching. Today you taught me to use my brain. “All she loves is the
money I can make,” you said—
THE DEVIL
You said I said that once—
FANNY (_unheeding_)
And you _still_ believe it? Don’t you?
THE DEVIL
Yes.
FANNY
I know you do. That’s why you gave me the check. Sooner than marry
me—thinking that I was playing a part until I could get control of the
two million dollars—sooner than be married for your money you said:
“Tear it up.” And that shows you love me more than your work, more
than your future fame, more than the gratitude of the world—more than
humanity—more than everything. And it makes me love you more than ever.
(_She takes his hand_)
THE DEVIL (_almost in a shrill scream_)
Love me more than ever?
FANNY (_hurt_)
You don’t believe in me, yet?
THE DEVIL (_as before_)
No! No! No!
FANNY
Then—I’m sorry for you. Sorry for your work, your fame, your future.
But if I can’t make you believe in me any other way, why—then—here
goes. (_She twists up the check, strikes a match and lights it;
following an old childish game, she says_) He loves me, he loves me
not; loves me, loves me not. (_The flame scorches her fingers, but she
holds it long enough to say_) He loves me! (_Then she throws the last
blazing bit into ash-receiver and throws her arms around The Devil_)
MRS. FELIX (_judicially_)
I think now—Addington—you can be sure!
THE DEVIL (_wrenching himself free_)
Damn it!—Doesn’t she know that if Magnus will write one check, he’ll
write another!
FANNY (_her lip drawn_)
Oh, I forgot that! I forgot that! (_Sobbing on her mother’s breast_)
Oh, mammy, what can I do to prove it to him? This is my punishment—this
is my punishment!
DOLL BLONDIN (_to The Devil, herself in tears_)
She’s on the square with that stuff, old boy. Don’t be a devil!
THE DEVIL (_suddenly realizing_)
A devil: that’s what I am—a devil. No human being would act as I’m
doing, would he?
DOLL BLONDIN (_judicially_)
Oh, you’ll come out of it, now you see the girl’s all right, won’t you?
THE DEVIL
But suppose I didn’t?
DOLL BLONDIN (_indignantly_)
Then you _would_ be a devil! Not fit to associate with human beings.
FANNY (_crying to her mother_)
Can’t you think of something I can do to prove I’m not the same girl
who came here this morning?
MRS. FELIX (_crying_)
It’s my fault. If I’d been a good mother, instead of a good bridge
player—
AGNUS (_agonizedly_)
Oh! for God’s sake! Can’t something be done? I’ll kill myself—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_who has also been moved, says now sharply_) Here,
here! (_In a hoarse whisper_) Don’t you go taking such liberties with
what don’t belong to you.
THE DEVIL (_who has been musing on what Doll has said_)
Not fit to associate with human beings. No, I guess not. (_Looking at
Schwartzenhopfel_) I should have remained the Dutchman with no human
ties. Sentiment and romance just make me ill.
DOLL BLONDIN (_indignantly_)
Shame on you! (_She goes over to comfort the other two women_)
THE DEVIL (_still musing_)
I suppose that’s how The Devil got his bad name. Trying to cure Faust
of Marguerite in order to use him for the world’s advancement. Same
ingratitude, same mix-up; everybody calling me names. (_Sharply to
Schwartzenhopfel, who has listened_) Very incorrectly reported, even
at that—very unjustly—that Faust affair. Those stupid Germans—when
they’re not drinking themselves into sentimental poetry, the ravings
of a disordered brain, they’re guzzling themselves into gloomy
philosophy—the pessimism of a disordered liver—and the fellow who
wrote up the Faust-Marguerite case had both maladies (_viciously_)
in their most virulent form! And that’s what most humans get their
idea of me from—when, actually, the case was just about like this
one—(_meditatively_) I wonder what I did to straighten things out that
time? (_Meditates_)
[_All the others watch him in awe._
FANNY (_lifting a tear-stained face, whispers_)
What is he saying, mammy? Is it about me?
THE DEVIL (_giving the Faust matter up_)
No use, I forget—
AGNUS (_piteously_)
You _will_ do something, won’t you?
THE DEVIL (_sadly_)
I suppose I ’ll have to. Humanity has to suffer as usual. Sentiment,
always sentiment, maudlin sentiment: that’s what keeps abuses
unrectified, men ignorant, women slaves, the world’s intellect
developing no faster than a snail crawls. Sentiment—maudlin
sentiment—and I’ve lived so long among men that the cancer’s in me, too—
AGNUS
You have got a heart then—they did wrong you. I’ll devote years to
setting you right in the eyes of the world.
THE DEVIL
What?
AGNUS (_stammering_)
A book!
THE DEVIL (_harshly_)
Set _me_ right in men’s eyes? Have _my_ conduct applauded by stupid
human beings? When the world applauds anybody whole-heartedly, without
a dissenting voice, be sure he’s a fool or a knave! Your whole being
has been in arms against me ever since I came to bring you wisdom. Now
that you think there’s a chance I’ll let you be a fool again, you talk
of setting me right! Let me be or I’ll repent it. (_To Fanny_) What
would you do if I made you realize that I don’t and can’t love you?
FANNY
I know you do.
THE DEVIL
But you can’t make me marry you?
FANNY
You wouldn’t want the scandal of a suit discrediting you with the world?
THE DEVIL
You’d do that, loving me?
FANNY (_gently_)
To bring you to your senses. You would be unhappy without me.
THE DEVIL
And unhappy with you.
FANNY
Not after the change that has come over me today.
THE DEVIL (_throwing up both hands_)
Useless—useless! I give in—I’m vanquished.
FANNY
Love conquers all, dear—
THE DEVIL
Oh, those damned novels! (_Fending her off_) Wait! Go in there! The
three of you. (_He points to the hall door_) Tell the chauffeur to get
ready to go back to New York, Fanny.
FANNY
One kiss, dear!
[_The Devil sighs heavily as he permits it._
FANNY (_in rapture_)
My dear one! My dearest!
[_The Devil points to door. Fanny goes with Mrs. Felix._
THE DEVIL (_to Doll_)
You, too!
[_Doll Blondin shrugs her shoulders and goes after the other two women._
THE DEVIL (_throwing himself down in utter weariness_)
I give in. I must find another body—go through another sentimental
riot before I can begin my work here again. Bernard Shaws don’t grow
in every village or every London. (_He rises and crosses toward the
window_) Oh, Mars! Mars! I’m homesick again. (_He stretches out his
hands_) Only a day away from you, and homesick already: homesick, how
homesick I am—
AGNUS (_trembling eagerly_)
I know, we’re not advanced enough for you yet. Why don’t you go back
and wait until we are?
THE DEVIL (_turning on him with a terrible look_)
Man! If I only could: if I only could! But this is my punishment, and
here—(_waves all about him_) is my hell. You—all of you—my friends,
my familiars, my imps, the red fellows that frightened your own
youthful dreams. Here is the fiery pit—here! But you are the Devils,
and I am the tortured soul. You are the flames—I am the burning body.
Yes, you:—for here is where Devils rule—this Earth is Hell! (_At the
window, his hands outstretched_) Here I am debased, my sullen angers
stirred, my soul held back from the Sun by inhuman humans who spend
their lives stanching a pretty woman’s tears, while a hundred thousand
fellow-creatures die for the want of a pound of summer ice, a basket
of winter fuel! You: who worship a Man of Peace, and make bloody war
in His Name; who worship a Prince of Purity, and wed the women of
your lust in His Name; who worship a Poor Man’s Christ, and in the
same breath those who steal the Poor Man’s Bread—in His Name. (_Looks
up to the sky_) You said I had ruled long enough, Crucified One! So
you came to do through men’s Love what I had done through men’s Hate,
Lust and Greed. So you died for men, and thereafter men called hate
Anger Against The Heathen; lust—the Woman Leading Them to Holier
Things; greed—World Conquest in your Name. (_Drops on his knees_) I
see you ever, Son of the Sun, sad and weary in that bright star of
your exile; hoping against hope that a stray seed sown two thousand
years ago may yet bring men to wisdom through Love. While I still go
on among them to bring them to Wisdom through Understanding, teaching
them that Ignorance and Hate bring no gain—the only reasoning they
can understand. And so sustained by you in your lonely star, while
you shine on hoping men will look up, ever up—I work bitterly among
them here below—until I have won Wisdom for them and Freedom for us;
freedom that we may go on to our Father, the Sun, we two Exiles; Star
of the Morning, and Red Light of Mars! (_While speaking thus, he seems
irradiated with a light hardly seen, only felt—a dim suffusing glow; he
stands for a second statuelike; then, as the glow fades, he says gently
to Agnus_) Are you ready?
[_Agnus hows his head._
THE DEVIL (_to Schwartzenhopfel_)
And you, too?
[_Schwartzenhopfel bows his head._
THE DEVIL
Then one word before I lose the power to speak. When I hover above you
again—a Red Light again—I will wait to see _you_, Magnus, and you too,
Agnus, each do a single thing. And when I have seen each of you do that
one thing, I will know you have begun to carry out my teachings—and the
Red Light will fade away in search of a new body and a new fortune. (_A
ring at the garden door interrupts him_) I will tell you—in there. (_He
points to the laboratory_)
[_Agnus, Schwartzenhopfel and the light go out hurriedly, The Devil
following. He is last seen by the audience, suffused in the glow
again, as he stands between the two folding-doors, bringing them close
together until they shut the laboratory and all within it from sight.
The ringing at the door grows louder and is followed by a series of
staccato knocks with a knocker. Mrs. Felix opens the hall door and
shows her face._
MRS. FELIX (_speaking to Fanny outside_)
There’s no one here. I suppose I should answer the door?
FANNY (_outside_)
By all means, mother.
[_Mrs. Felix goes to the garden door. Fanny trails in after her. Mrs.
Felix opens garden door for Professor Vanillity._
VANILLITY (_who comes in excitedly_)
I must see Addington, Mrs. Felix! At once! At once—
MRS. FELIX (_pointing to the laboratory_)
He’s in there.
VANILLITY
I must interrupt him once at least—at least once. (_He knocks at the
laboratory door—no response—knocks again—no response_)
VANILLITY (_desperately_)
I can’t help it: I must _see_ him.
[_He flings open the laboratory door, revealing the room with its
blinds drawn and Agnus, Schwartzenhopfel and Magnus seated in a sort of
stupor, side by side. Above them hovers a Red Light._
VANILLITY
Addington, my boy! Addington! (_He shakes him_)
[_Agnus opens his eyes slowly and sees Vanillity._
VANILLITY
Addington—just a moment alone—
AGNUS (_joyously_)
Addington.—You called me Addington.—Then it’s so—it’s so. (_He brushes
past Vanillity, runs into the room, disregarding women, and throws back
curtain from mirror_) It’s so! It’s so! (_Sees Fanny_) Fanny!
FANNY (_comes toward him eagerly_)
The actress is gone, dear. She said she wouldn’t stand in the way of
our happiness once I convinced her how much you loved me. I helped her
re-pack her trunks. (_Puts her hands out to Agnus_)
VANILLITY (_taking him aside before he can take Fanny’s hands_) One
minute, my boy, one minute. (_Leads him up-stage so that their backs
become turned to the others_)
MAGNUS (_in the meanwhile has opened his eyes and sees Agnus at mirror;
as Agnus moves up stage, he runs to mirror and sees himself_) It’s
so—it’s so—
VANILLITY (_in a low tone to Agnus, not seeing Magnus at mirror_) My
boy, I’ve been eating out my heart all day for permitting you to accept
that offer. But Judge Critty can break me like matchwood, just as Mr.
Magnus can break him. So I seemed to consent. But I do not. Don’t take
the offer.
[_Schwartzenhopfel, who has also opened his eyes and come down to the
mirror, now touches Magnus’s arm and nods approval of Vanillity._
VANILLITY
It’s damnable—
MAGNUS (_who has turned to listen, motioning Mrs. Felix and Fanny to
silence_) Damnable?—
VANILLITY (_turning around, white and trembling_)
Mr. Magnus! (_Recovering himself, with dignity_) I will tender my
resignation tomorrow, sir.
MAGNUS
Why?
VANILLITY (_bitterly_)
Don’t trifle with a broken man, sir. My university is in your debt. The
Judge is your mouthpiece. What you tell him to ask, my university will
not dare to refuse!
MAGNUS
I will tell the Judge nothing!
VANILLITY (_gasping_)
I—I—what, sir?
MAGNUS
But I _will_ tell the president of your university that he is old
enough to be a President Emeritus—with a pension—and I will name his
successor—(_pauses_) Professor Thomas Vanillity—
VANILLITY (_trembling_)
I can’t believe it, sir. You’re amusing yourself with me.
[_Magnus shakes his head._
VANILLITY (_desperately_)
Then—why?
MAGNUS
For proving you are not of Judge Critty’s stripe; for risking your
position at your age; for braving the anger of the rich and powerful,
to save your friend. We need such men as you to work with us—(_smiling
and holding out his arm toward Mrs. Felix_) the future Mrs. Magnus and
I—
[_Mrs. Felix comes forward._
MAGNUS
Loo!
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_nods toward the Red Light_)
Your promise!
MAGNUS (_remembers and motions Mrs. Felix back_) One minute! (_Then
sits down at the desk and takes out his check-book_)
AGNUS (_warmly_)
Mr. Magnus, the Professor feels too strongly to speak. (_He pats
Vanillity on back; then turns to Fanny_) Fanny!
[_Schwartzenhopfel nudges him._
AGNUS (_turning from Fanny_)
Eh?
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_lifts his eyes_)
Your promise!
AGNUS (_follows Schwartzenhopfel’s glance and sees the Red Light_) Oh,
yes—thanks. (_Raises his hand to hold Fanny back_)
MAGNUS (_twirling check over shoulder to dry it_)
The torn-up check, Agnus. (_Rises_) Loo! (_Puts his arm about Mrs.
Felix_)
[_The Red Light wags._
AGNUS (_deliberately seating himself with his eyes on the Red Light_)
Get the check, Fanny. (_He takes a cigarette from his case_)
FANNY
Yes, dear. (_She goes for it_)
[_Agnus places the cigarette in his mouth. Fanny returns with the
check._
AGNUS
A light, please—
FANNY
Yes, dear. (_She reaches for the cigar-lighter, turns it on and lifts
it forward to him_)
[_Agnus ignites the cigarette, looking at the Red Light. The Red Light
wags, pleaded. It is growing dark outside—an early winter’s evening. A
star appears._
AGNUS (_patting Fanny’s hand_)
That’s a good girl! I’m sure—now you’ve had your lesson, we’ll be very
happy together. (_He puffs at the cigarette_)
[_The Red Light flies out of the window and disappears._
CURTAIN
End of Project Gutenberg's The Red Light of Mars, by George Bronson-Howard