"_MEM. Can one dance in coal-mine? Look up COAL
in 'Ency. Brit.' Also CELLAR FLAP_;"
and later on, at the end of a passage which evidently described the
dresses of the principal female characters introduced, we have the
words:--
"_BRITANNIA. ? jumper, bobbed hair.
ANARCHY. ? red tights_."
Nothing in this Act survives in a legible form, but in Act II. we are
slightly more fortunate:--
"SCENE.--_Downing Street_ (it begins). _Enter mixed Chorus of
private secretaries, female shorthand writers and
representatives of the Press, followed by Sir ROBERT HORNE, Mr.
ROBERT WILLIAMS and Mr. SMILLIE._"
What happens after this I can only roughly surmise, but most probably
Mr. SMILLIE proves false to Britannia and flirts for some time with
Anarchy, egged on by Mr. WILLIAMS and urged by Sir ROBERT HORNE to
return to his earlier flame. At any rate, after a little, the
handwriting grows clearer, and I read:--
"_Mr. SMILLIE (striking the pavement with his pick)_.
We mean to strike.
_Chorus._ He means to strike, he means to strike,
Rash man! Did ever you hear the like
Of what he has just asserted?
Living is dear enough now, on my soul,
What will it be when we can't get coal?
_PRIME MINISTER (entering suddenly)._
This strike must be averted."
There seems to have been some doubt as to how the PRIME MINISTER'S
entrance should be effected, for at this point we get the marginal note:
"_? From door of No. 10. ? On wings. ? Trap door. ? Riding St. Bernard
Dog._"