SCENE--_Dawn of the following morning--exterior of the_ BARTLETT
_home, showing the main entrance, facing left, toward the harbor.
On either side of the door, two large windows, their heavy green
shutters tightly closed. In front of the door, a small porch, the
roof supported by four white column. A flight of three steps goes
up to this porch from the ground. Two paths lead to the steps
through the straggly patches of grass, one around the corner of the
house to the rear, the other straight to the left to the edge of
the cliff where there is a small projecting iron platform, fenced
in by a rail. The top of a steel ladder can be seen. This ladder
leads up the side or the cliff from the shore below to the
platform. The edge of the cliff extends from the left corner front,
half-diagonally back to the right, rear-center._
_In the grey half-light of the dawn_, HORNE, CATES, _and_ JIMMY
KANAKA _are discovered_. HORNE _is standing on the steel platform
looking down at the shore below_. CATES _is sprawled on the ground
nearby_. JIMMY _squats on his haunches, his eyes staring out to
sea as if he were trying to pierce the distance to the warm islands
of his birth_. CATES _wears dungarees_, JIMMY _dungaree pants and a
black jersey_; HORNE, _the same as in_ ACT TWO.
CATES--[_With sluggish indifference._] Ain’t she finished with it yet?
HORNE--[_Irritably._] No, damn her! I kin see ’em all together on the
wharf at the bow o’ the schooner. That old crow o’ a woman o’ his! Why
the hell don’t she christen her and be done with it and let us make
sail?
CATES--[_After a pause._] Funny, ain’t it--his orderin’ us to come up
here and wait till it’s all done.
HORNE--[_Angrily._] That’s her doin’, too. She thinks we ain’t good
enough to be where she is. [_After a pause._] But there’s nothin’ funny
to me that he does no more. He’s still out o’ his head, d’ye know that,
Cates?
CATES--[_Stupidly._] I ain’t noticed nothin’ diff’rent ’bout him.
HORNE--[_Scornfully._] He axed me if I ever seen them two in my
sleep--that cook and the boy o’ the Triton. Said he did often.
CATES--[_Immediately protesting uneasily as if he had been accused._]
They was with us in the boat b’fore we fetched the island, that’s all
’bout ’em I remember. I was crazy, after.
HORNE--[_Looking at him with contempt._] So was we all crazy, for the
matter o’ that. I’ll not call ye a liar, Cates, but--a hell o’ a man ye
be! You wasn’t so out o’ your head that ye forgot the gold, was ye?
CATES--[_His eyes glistening._] That’s diff’rent. Any man’d remember
that, even if he was crazy.
HORNE--[_With a greedy grin._] Aye. That’s the one thing I see in my
sleep. [_Gloatingly._] We’ll dig it up soon now. In three months we’d
ought to be there--an’ then we’ll be rich, by Christ! [_There is the
faint sound of cries from the beach below._ HORNE _starts and turns to
look down again_.] They must ’a’ finished it. [CATES _and_ JIMMY _come
to the edge to look down_.]
JIMMY--[_Suddenly--with an eager childish curiosity._] That falla wife
Captain she make strong falla spell on ship, we sail fast, plenty good
wind?
HORNE--[_Contemptuously._] Aye, that’s as near as ye’ll come to it.
She’s makin’ a spell. Ye stay here, Jimmy, and tell us when the Old Man
is comin’. [JIMMY _remains looking down_. HORNE _motions_ CATES _to
follow him, front--then in a low voice, disgustedly_.] Did ye hear that
damn fool nigger?
CATES--[_Grumblingly._] Why the hell is the Old Man givin’ him a full
share? One piece o’ it’d be enough for a nigger like him.
HORNE--[_Craftily._] There’s a way to get rid o’ him--if it comes to
that. He knifed them two, ye remember.
CATES--Aye.
HORNE--The two o’ us can take oath to that in any court.
CATES--Aye.
HORNE--[_After a calculating look into his companion’s greedy
eyes--meaningly._] We’re two sane men, Cates--and the other two to share
is a lunatic and a nigger. The skipper’s showed me where there’s a copy
o’ his map o’ the island locked up in the cabin--in case anything
happens to him I’m to bring back the gold to his woman, he says. [_He
laughs harshly._] Bring it back! Catch me! The fool! I’ll be open with
ye, Cates. If I could navigate and find the island myself I wouldn’t
wait for a cracked man to take me there. No, be damned if I would! Me
and you’d chance it alone someway or other.
CATES--[_Greedily._] The two o’ us--share and share alike! [_Then
shaking his head warningly._] But he’s a hard man to git the best on.
HORNE--[_Grimly._] And I be a hard man, too. And he’s not right in his
head. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for a chance. Something may turn
up--and maybe--
JIMMY--[_Turning to them._] Captain, he come. [CATES _and_ HORNE
_separate hastily_. BARTLETT _climbs into sight up the ladder to the
platform. He is breathing heavily but his expression is one of
triumphant exultation._]
BARTLETT--[_Motions with his arms._] Down with ye and git aboard. The
schooner’s got a name now--a name that’ll bring us luck. We’ll sail on
this tide.
HORNE--Aye--aye, sir.
BARTLETT--I got to wait here till they climb up the path. I’ll be aboard
afore long. See that ye have her ready to cast off by then.
HORNE--Aye--aye, sir. [_He and_ CATES _disappear down the ladder_. JIMMY
_lingers, looking sidewise at his Captain_.]
BARTLETT--[_Noticing him--gruffly but almost kindly._] What are ye
waitin’ for?
JIMMY--[_Volubly._] That old falla wife belong you, Captain, she make
strong falla spell for wind blow plenty? She catch strong devil charm
for schooner, Captain?
BARTLETT--[_Scowling._] What’s that, ye brown devil? [_Then suddenly
laughing harshly._] Yes--a strong spell to bring us luck. [_Roughly._]
Git aboard, ye dog! Don’t let her find ye here with me. [JIMMY
_disappears hurriedly down the ladder_. BARTLETT _remains at the edge
looking down after him. There is a sound of voices from the right and
presently_ MRS. BARTLETT, SUE, DREW _and_ NAT _enter, coming around the
house from the rear_. NAT _and_ DREW _walk at either side of_ MRS.
BARTLETT, _who is in a state of complete collapse, so that they are
practically carrying her_. SUE _follows, her handkerchief to her eyes_.
NAT _keeps his eyes on the ground, his expression fixed and gloomy_.
DREW _casts a glance of angry indignation at the Captain, who, after one
indifferent look at them, has turned back to watch the operations on the
schooner below_.]
BARTLETT--[_As they reach the steps of the house--intent on the work
below--makes a megaphone of his hands and shouts in stentorian tones._]
Look lively there, Horne!
SUE--[_Protestingly._] Pa!
BARTLETT--[_Wheels about. When he meets his daughter’s eyes he controls
his angry impatience and speaks gently._] What d’ye want, Sue?
SUE--[_Pointing to her mother who is being assisted through the
door--her voice trembling._] You mustn’t shout. She’s very sick.
BARTLETT--[_Dully, as if he didn’t understand._] Sick?
SUE--[_Turning to the door._] Wait. I’ll be right back. [_She enters the
house. As soon as she is gone all of_ BARTLETT’S _excitement returns. He
paces up and down with nervous impatience._ NAT _comes out of the
house_.]
NAT--[_In a tone of anxiety._] Ma seems bad. We can’t do anything. I’m
going for the doctor. [_As his father doesn’t seem to hear him--tapping
him on the shoulder, his voice breaking._] Why did you make her do it,
Pa? It was too much for her strength. Wouldn’t anyone else or any other
name have done just as well?
BARTLETT--[_Impatiently._] No. It had to be.
NAT--When she spoke the words--and fell back in a faint--I thought she
was dead.
BARTLETT--[_Vaguely._] Weakness. She’ll be all right again after a rest.
[_He draws_ NAT’S _attention to the schooner_.] Smart lines on that
schooner, boy. She’ll sail hell bent in a breeze. I knowed what I was
about when I bought her.
NAT--[_Staring down fascinatedly._] How long will the voyage take?
BARTLETT--[_Preoccupied._] How long?
NAT--[_Insinuatingly._] To get to the island.
BARTLETT--Three months at most--with fair luck. [_Exultantly._] And I’ll
have luck now!
NAT--Then in six months you may be back--with _it_?
BARTLETT--Aye, with--[_Stopping abruptly, turns and stares into his
son’s eyes--angrily._] With what? What boy’s foolishness be ye talkin’?
NAT--[_Pleading fiercely._] I want to go, Pa! There’s no good in my
staying here any more. I can’t think of anything but--Oh, why don’t you
be fair and let me sail with you!
BARTLETT--[_Sternly, to conceal his uneasiness._] Keep clear o’ this,
boy, I’ve warned ye!
SUE--[_Appearing in doorway--indignantly._] Nat! Haven’t you gone for
the doctor yet?
NAT--[_Shame-facedly._] I forgot.
SUE--Forgot!
NAT--[_Starting off._] I’m going, Sue. [_Then over his shoulder._] You
won’t sail before I come back, Pa? [BARTLETT _does not answer_. NAT
_stands miserably hesitating_.]
SUE--Nat! For heaven’s sake! [NAT _hurries off around the corner of the
house, rear. Sue comes to her father who is watching her with a queer,
humble, hunted expression._]
BARTLETT--Well, Sue?
SUE--[_Her voice trembling._] Oh, Pa, how can you do such terrible
things. How could you drag Ma out of bed at dawn to christen your old
boat--when you knew how sick she’s been!
BARTLETT--[_Avoiding her eyes._] It’s only weakness. She’ll get well o’
it soon.
SUE--Pa! How can you say things like that--as if you didn’t care!
[_Accusingly._] The way you’ve acted ever since you’ve been home almost,
anyone would think--you _hated_ her!
BARTLETT--[_Wincing._] No!
SUE--Oh, Pa, what is it that has come between you? Can’t you tell me?
Can’t I help to set things right again?
BARTLETT--[_Mumblingly._] Nothin’--nothin’ ye kin help--nor me. Keep
clear o’ it, Sue. Danny--ye think o’ him, that’s enough for ye.
SUE--But things can’t go on like this. Don’t you see how it’s killing
Ma?
BARTLETT--She’ll forget her stubborn notions, now I be sailin’ away.
SUE--But you’re not--not going for a while now, are you?
BARTLETT--Ain’t I been sayin’ I’d sail at dawn today? They’re makin’ her
ready to cast off. I’m waitin’ for Horne to hail.
SUE--[_Looking at him for a moment with shocked amazement._] But--you
can’t mean--right now!
BARTLETT--[_Keeping his face averted._] Aye--or we’ll miss this tide.
SUE--[_Putting her hands on his shoulders and trying to look into his
face._] Pa! You can’t mean that! [_His face is set with his obsessed
determination. She lets her hands fall with a shudder._] You can’t be as
cruel as that! Why, I thought, of course, you’d put off--[_Wildly._] You
have, haven’t you, Pa? You did tell those men you couldn’t sail when you
saw how sick Ma was, didn’t you--when she fainted down on the wharf?
BARTLETT--[_Implacably._] I said I was sailin’ by this tide--and sail I
will, by thunder!
SUE--Pa! [_Then pleadingly._] When the doctor comes and you hear what he
says--
BARTLETT--[_Roughly._] I ain’t stoppin’ on his word nor any man’s. I
know what’s best to do. [_Intensely._] That schooner’s been fit to sail
these two weeks past. I been waitin’ on her stubborn will [_he gestures
toward the house_], eatin’ my heart out day and night. Then I swore I’d
sail today. I tell ye, Sue, I got a feelin’ in my bones if I don’t put
out now I never will. Aye, I feel it deep down inside me. [_In a tone of
superstitious awe._] And when she christened the schooner--jest to the
minute, mind ye!--a fair breeze sprung up and come down out o’ the land
to blow her out to sea--like a sign o’ good luck.
SUE--[_Aroused to angry indignation._] What kind of a man have you
become--to think of such things now! Oh, I can’t believe you’re the same
man who used to be my father!
BARTLETT--Sue!
SUE--To talk cold-bloodedly of sailing away on a long voyage when Ma’s
inside--dying for all you seem to know or care! Oh, I hate you when
you’re like this! You’re not the father I love! You’ve changed into
someone else--hateful and cruel--and I hate him, I hate him! [_She
breaks down, sobbing hysterically._]
BARTLETT--[_Who has listened to her with a face suddenly stricken by
fear and torturing remorse._] Sue! Ye don’t know what ye be sayin’, do
ye?
SUE--I do! You’re not the same to me any more--or to any of us. I’m
afraid of you. And when you coldly propose to go away--now--I hate you,
yes I do! And I hate those three awful men who make you act this way. I
hate the schooner! I wish she and they were at the bottom of the sea!
BARTLETT--[_Frenziedly--putting his hand over her mouth to stop her
words._] Stop, girl! Don’t ye dare--
SUE--[_Shrinking away from him--frightenedly._] Pa!
BARTLETT--[_Bewilderedly, pleading for forgiveness._] Don’t heed that,
Sue--I didn’t mean--ye git me so riled--I’d not hurt ye for all the gold
in the world. But don’t ye talk wrong o’ things ye can’t know on.
SUE--Oh, Pa, what kind of things must they be--when you’re ashamed to
tell them!
BARTLETT--I ain’t ashamed. It ain’t that. On’y they be things a girl’s
no call to meddle in. They be men’s business and I be man enough to
carry ’em out alone. Ye’ll know all they be to know--and your Ma and
Nat, too--when I come back from this vige. And the sooner I sail, the
quicker I’ll be back to ye. Oh, ye’ll be glad enough then--when ye see
with your own eyes! Ye’ll bless me then ’stead o’ turning agin me!
[_Hesitating for a second--then somberly._] On’y now--till it’s all over
and done--ye’d best keep clear o’ it.
SUE--[_Passionately._] I don’t care--I don’t want to know anything about
it. What I do know is that you can’t sail now. Oh, Pa, don’t you see
you can’t? Haven’t you any heart at all? Can’t you see how bad Ma is?
BARTLETT--It’s the sight o’ me sickens her. She’ll git better with me
away from her.
SUE--No. She needs you. She doesn’t want you to go. She called your name
just a while ago--the only word she’s spoken since she christened the
ship. Come in to her, Pa! Tell her you won’t go!
BARTLETT--[_Desperately._] I got to git away from her, I tell ye, Sue!
She’s been houndin’ me ever since I got back--houndin’ me with her
stubborn tongue till she’s druv me mad, a’most! Ye’ve been on’y givin’
thought to her, not me. They’s my side to it, too!
SUE--I’ll talk to her, Pa. She can’t realize she’s hurting you or she
wouldn’t--And then everything will be just the same as it used to be
again.
BARTLETT--[_Shaking his head._] They be too much between. The only
chance for that be my plan--to sail away and come back with--what I be
seekin’. Then she’ll give over her stubborn naggin’--if she’s human
woman. It’s for her sake as much as my own I’m goin’--for her and you
and Nat. [_With a sudden return of his old resolution._] I’ve made up my
mind, I tell ye, and in the end ye’ll know I be right. [_A hail in_
HORNE’S _voice comes thinly up from the shore below_. BARTLETT _starts,
his eyes gleaming_.] Ye hear? It’s Horne hailin’ me to come. They be
ready to cast off. I’ll git aboard. [_He starts for the ladder._]
SUE--Pa! After all I’ve said--without one word of good-bye to Ma!
[_Hysterically._] Oh, what can I do, what can I say to stop you! She
hasn’t spoken but that one call for you. She hardly seems to breathe. If
it weren’t for her eyes I’d believe she was dead--but her eyes look for
you. She’ll die if you go, Pa!
BARTLETT--No!
SUE--You might just as well kill her now in cold blood as murder her
that way!
BARTLETT--[_Shaken--raising his hands as if to put them over his ears to
shut out her words--hoarsely._] No! Ye lie! She’ll live till I git back
and all’ll be as it was again!
DREW--[_Appearing in the doorway, his face working with grief and
anger--harshly._] Captain Bartlett! [_Then lowering his voice as he sees
Sue._] Mrs. Bartlett is asking to see you, Captain, before you go.
SUE--There! Didn’t I tell you, Pa!
BARTLETT--[_Struggling with himself--dully._] She’s wantin’ to bound me
again, that be all.
SUE--[_Seeing him weakening--grasps his hand persuasively._] Pa! Come
with me. She won’t hound you. How silly you are! Come! [_Hesitatingly,
head bowed, he follows her toward the door._]
BARTLETT--[_As he comes to_ DREW _he stops and looks into the young
man’s angry, accusing face. He mutters half mockingly._] So ye, too, be
agin me, Danny?
DREW--[_Unable to restrain his indignation._] What man that’s a real man
wouldn’t be against you, sir?
SUE--[_Frightenedly._] Danny! Pa!
BARTLETT--[_In a sudden rage draws back his fist threateningly._ DREW
_stares into his eyes unflinchingly_--BARTLETT _controls himself with an
effort and lets his arm fall to his side--scornfully_.] Big words from a
boy, Danny. I’ll forget them this time--on account o’ Sue. [_He turns to
her._] I’m goin’ in to her to please ye, Sue--but if ye think any words
that she kin say’ll change my mind, ye make a mistake--for I be sailin’
out as I planned I would in spite o’ all hell! [_He walks resolutely
into the house._ SUE _follows him after exchanging a hopeless glance
with_ DANNY.]
DREW--[_To himself--with a shudder._] He’s mad, damn him! [_He paces up
and down._ HORNE _appears on the ladder from below, followed by_ CATES.]
HORNE--[_Coming forward and addressing_ DREW.] Is the skipper about?
DREW--[_Curtly._] He’s in the house. You can’t speak to him now.
HORNE--She’s ready to cast off. I hailed him from below but I ’spect he
didn’t hear. [_As_ DREW _makes no comment--impatiently_.] If he don’t
shake a leg, we’ll miss the tide. There’s a bit o’ fair breeze, too.
DREW--[_Glancing at him resentfully._] Don’t count on his sailing today.
It’s just as likely he’ll change his mind.
HORNE--[_Angrily._] Change his mind again? After us waitin’ and wastin’
time for weeks! [_To_ CATES _in a loud tone so_ DREW _can hear_.] What
did I tell ye, Cates? He’s crazy as hell.
DREW--[_Sharply._] What’s that?
HORNE--I was tellin’ Cates the skipper’s not right in his head
[_Angrily._] What man in his senses’d do the way he does?
DREW--[_Letting his resentment escape him._] That’s no lie, damn it!
HORNE--[_Surprised._] Aye, ye’ve seen it, too, have ye? [_After a
pause._] Now I axe ye, as a sailor, how’d ye like to be puttin’ out on a
vige with a cracked man for skipper? [SUE _comes out of the door, stops
with a shudder of disgust as she sees the two sailors, and stands
listening. They do not notice her presence._]
DREW--It seems to me a crazy voyage all round. What kind of trading is
it you’re to do?
HORNE--[_Suspiciously._] Ye’ll have to ask the skipper that.
DREW--[_With a scornful shrug._] I was forgetting it’s such a dead
secret. That the craziest part, eh? [_With sudden interest as if a new
idea had come to him._] But you know all about it, don’t you--what the
Captain plans to do on this voyage--and all that?
HORNE--[_Dryly._] Aye, as well as himself--but I’m tellin’ no man.
DREW--And I’m not asking. What do you suppose I care about any sneaking
trade deal in the Islands he may have up his sleeve? What I want to find
out is: Do you know enough about this business to make this one voyage
alone and attend to everything--in case the Captain can’t go?
HORNE--[_Exchanging a quick glance with Cates--trying to hide his
eagerness._] Aye, I could do as well as any man alive. I’ve been sailin’
this sea for twenty year or more and I know the Island trade inside and
out. He could trust me for it--and I’d make more money for him than he’s
likely to make with his head out o’ gear. [_Then scowling._] On’y
trouble is, who’d Captain her if he ain’t goin’?
DREW--[_Disappointedly._] Then you don’t know navigation enough for
that?
HORNE--I’ve never riz above bo’sun. [_Then after a pause in which he
appears to be calculating something--curiously._] Why d’ye ask me them
questions? [_Insinuatingly--almost in a whisper._] It can’t be done
’less we got an officer like you aboard.