C., and MR. WARNER, L., present. Also other guests conversing
in groups. EUNICE dressed in white, with a few simple flowers
in her hair. BLANCHE dressed richly._
B. (_beckoning to MR. W., who comes to her, and speaking in a low but
audible tone_). Mr. Warner, I wish to introduce you to a cousin of mine,
a rustic damsel, who has never been to the city before. She is fresh
from the country, and I doubt not you will be greatly amused by her
conversation. There she is near the piano.
MR. WARNER (_surprised_). What, that young lady so tastefully dressed! It
cannot be! You are surely joking, Miss Atherton.
B. (_smiling_). You will discover by her conversation that I have spoken
truly. But here we are.—Mr. Warner desires the honor of an introduction,
Cousin Eunice. Miss Haynes—Mr. Warner.
(_BLANCHE retires to another part of the stage, L. EUNICE bows without
any show of embarrassment._)
MR. W. Have you been long in the city, Miss Haynes?
E. But a few days.
MR. W. And how do you enjoy it?
E. You will perhaps laugh at my lack of taste, when I say that, in my
judgment, it does not compare favorably with the country. City life is
too artificial to satisfy me.
MR. W. And yet city life has many advantages which you probably do not
get in the country,—lectures, concerts, and the opera, for example.
E. I confess these are advantages which I should be glad to enjoy, and
should fully appreciate. In these latter days, however, most of the
lectures are reported in the papers.
MR. W. Yes, but in reading them one does not get the full enjoyment that
is had in hearing them delivered.
E. That is true. It is also a great deprivation not to be able to hear
the great singers of the day.
MR. W. Then you are fond of music?
E. I am very fond of it.
MR. W. Do you play?
E. A little, sometimes, for my own amusement.
MR. W. Then let me beg a favor of you. There is a pause in the
conversation and music is called for. Allow me to lead you to the piano.
E. I will play if you wish it, but I fear you will be disappointed.
(_MR. W. conducts her to the piano, R. C., to BLANCHE’S great
astonishment. Guests look on and listen with interest. E. plays a short
prelude, and sings in a clear, sweet voice, which excites general
admiration, the following song:_)
“I do not love the crowded street
With all its varied show,
Through which a sea of human forms
Keeps heaving to and fro.
My spirit yearns for fairer scenes,
For bird, and flower, and tree;
I cannot bid farewell to these,—
A country life for me!
“The bird has sought his last year’s nest
Within the fairy dell;
The squirrel in the greenwood hides,
His haunts I know full well;
Along the meadows flower-bestrewn,
I hear the humming-bee;
I cannot live apart from these,—
A country life for me!
“’Twas there I roved in years gone by
With careless step and fleet,
And scarcely deigned to pluck the flowers
That blossomed at my feet.
O golden time of childhood’s prime,
When life was blithe and free,
Thy memory lingers in my heart,—
A country life for me!
“I love to climb the steep hillside,
And catch the sun’s first glow,
When, rising from his watery couch,
He gilds the waves below.
My spirit yearns for fairer scenes,
For bird, and flower, and tree;
I cannot live apart from these,—
A country life for me!”
(_Curtain falls._)