_Night. The dark silhouette of Emil Grelieu's villa stands
out in the background. The gatekeeper's house is seen among
the trees, a dim light in the window. At the cast-iron fence
frightened women are huddled together, watching the fire in the
distance. An alarming redness has covered the sky; only in the
zenith is the sky dark. The reflection of the fire falls upon
objects and people, casting strange shadows against the mirrors
of the mute and dark villa. The voices sound muffled and timid;
there are frequent pauses and prolonged sighs. Three women_.
HENRIETTA
My God, my God! How terrible it is! It is burning and burning,
and there is no end to the fire!
SECOND WOMAN
Yesterday it was burning further away, and tonight the fire is
nearer. It is growing nearer. O Lord!
HENRIETTA
It is burning and burning, there is no end to the fire! Today
the sun was covered in a mist.
SECOND WOMAN
It is forever burning, and the sun is growing ever darker! Now
it is lighter at night than in the daytime!
SILVINA
I am afraid!
HENRIETTA
Be silent, Silvina, be silent!
_Silence._
SECOND WOMAN
I can't hear a sound. What is binning there? If I close my eyes
it seems to me that nothing is going on there. It is so quiet!
Even the dogs are not barking!
HENRIETTA
I can see all that is going on there even with my eyes closed.
Look; it seems the fire is spreading!
SILVINA
Oh, I am afraid!
SECOND WOMAN
Where is it burning?
HENRIETTA
I don't know. It is burning and burning, and there is no end to
the fire! It may be that they have all perished by this time.
It may be that something terrible is going on there, and we are
looking on and know nothing.
_A fourth woman approaches them quietly._
FOURTH WOMAN
Good evening!
SILVINA
_With restraint._
Oh!
HENRIETTA
Oh, you have frightened us! Good evening, neighbor!
FOURTH WOMAN
Good evening, Madame Henrietta! Never mind my coming here--it
is terrible to stay in the house! I guessed that you were not
sleeping, but here, watching. You can see well from this spot.
Don't you know where the fire is?
SECOND WOMAN
No. And we can't hear a sound--how quiet!
HENRIETTA
It is burning and burning. Haven't you heard anything about your
husband?
FOURTH WOMAN
No, nothing. I have already stopped weeping.
HENRIETTA
And with whom are your children just now?
FOURTH WOMAN
Alone. They are asleep. Is it true that Monsieur Pierre was
killed? I've heard about it.
HENRIETTA
_Agitated._
Just imagine! I don't know! I simply cannot understand what is
going on! You see, there is no one in the house now, and we are
afraid to sleep there--
SECOND WOMAN
The three of us sleep here, in the gatekeeper's house.
HENRIETTA
I am afraid to look into that house even in the daytime--the
house is so large and so empty! And there are no men there, not
a soul--
FOURTH WOMAN
Is it true that François has gone to shoot the Prussians? I have
heard about it.
HENRIETTA
Maybe. Everybody is talking about it, but we don't know. He
disappeared quietly, like a mouse.
FOURTH WOMAN
He will be hanged--the Prussians hang such people!
HENRIETTA
Wait, wait! Today, while I was in the garden, I heard the
telephone ringing in the house; it was ringing for a long time.
I was frightened, but I went in after all--and, just think of
it! Some one said: "Monsieur Pierre was killed!"
SECOND WOMAN
And nothing more?
HENRIETTA
Nothing more; not a word! All grew quiet again. I felt so bad
and was so frightened that I could hardly run out. Now I will
not enter that house for anything!
FOURTH WOMAN
Whose voice was it?
SECOND WOMAN
Madame Henrietta says it was an unfamiliar voice.
HENRIETTA
Yes, an unfamiliar voice.
FOURTH WOMAN
Look! There seems to be a light in the windows of the
house--somebody is there!
SILVINA
Oh, I am afraid! I can't bear it!
HENRIETTA
Oh, what are you saying; what are you saying? There is no one
there!
SECOND WOMAN
That's from the redness of the sky!
FOURTH WOMAN
What if some one is ringing there again?
HENRIETTA
How is that possible? At night?
_All listen. Silence._
SECOND WOMAN
What will become of us? They are coming this way, and there is
nothing that can stop them!
FOURTH WOMAN
I wish I might die now! When you are dead, you don't hear or see
anything.
HENRIETTA
It keeps on all night like this--it is burning and burning! And
in the daytime it will again be hard to see things on account of
the smoke; and the bread will smell of burning! What is going on
there?
FOURTH WOMAN
They have killed Monsieur Pierre.
SECOND WOMAN
They have killed him? Killed him?
SILVINA
You must not speak of it! My God, whither should I go! I cannot
bear this. I cannot understand it!
_Weeps softly._
FOURTH WOMAN
They say there are twenty millions of them, and they have
already set Paris on fire. They say they have cannon which can
hit a hundred kilometers away.
HENRIETTA
My God, my God! And all that is coming upon us!
SECOND WOMAN
Merciful God, have pity on us!
FOURTH WOMAN
And they are flying and they are hurling bombs from
airships--terrible bombs, which destroy entire cities!
HENRIETTA
My God! What have they done with the sky! Before this You were
alone in the sky, and now those base Prussians are there too!
SECOND WOMAN
Before this, when my soul wanted rest and joy I looked at the
sky, but now there is no place where a poor soul can find rest
and joy!
FOURTH WOMAN
They have taken everything away from our Belgium--even the sky!
I wish I could die at once! There is no air to breathe now!
_Suddenly frightened._
Listen! Don't you think that now my husband, my husband--
HENRIETTA
No, no!
FOURTH WOMAN
Why is the sky so red? What is it that is burning there?
SECOND WOMAN
Have mercy on us, O God! The fire seems to be moving toward us!
_Silence. The redness of the flames seems to be swaying over the
earth._
_Curtain_