THE AMERICANS

By

Edwin Davies Schoonmaker

NEW YORK MITCHELL KENNERLEY 1913

[Pg 4]

COPYRIGHT 1913 BY MITCHELL KENNERLEY

PRESS OF J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK

[Pg 5]

To my Father and my Brother Frank

[Pg 7]

Author's Note

The drama here published is logically the third in a series of racial dramas, as follows:

Of this series The Saxons, dealing with man's struggle for religious liberty, has already been published. For reasons that need not be given, it has been thought best to postpone The Slavs, which will present man's battle for political liberty, and offer The Americans, the theme of which is the industrial conflict that is now raging. The Hindoos, a drama of spiritual unfoldment, will come in its order.

[Pg 9]

PERSONS OF THE DRAMA

A chauffeur, a butler, a doctor, a nurse, two maids, two detectives, two sentries, strikers, strike-breakers, militiamen, guests at the reception, etc.

[Pg 10]

[Pg 11]

THE MINE

Scene: On the mountains in a timber region of north-western America. In every direction, as far as the eye can see, a wilderness of stumps with piles of brush black with age and sinking from sheer rottenness into the ground. Here and there a dead pine stands up high against the horizon. In the distance, left, cleaving the range and extending on back under an horizon of cold gray clouds, is seen the line of a river of which this whole region is apparently the watershed, for everywhere the land slopes toward it. In the remote distance, beyond the river, innumerable bare buttes, and beyond these a gray stretch of plains. Down the mountains, left, six or seven miles away, the river loops in and a portion of a town is seen upon its banks. At this end of the town, upon a hill overlooking the river, a large white mansion conspicuous for the timber about it. At the farther end, a huge red saw-mill occupies the centre of a vast field of yellow lumber piles, the tall black stack of the mill clearly outlined against the gray of the land beyond.

Back, a hundred yards or so, a road, evidently constructed years ago when the logs were being taken out, comes up on the flats from the direction of the town,[Pg 12] turns sharply to the right and goes toward the ridge. Beyond this road, just at the curve, standing out among the stumps, an old stationary engine eaten up with rust and an abandoned logging-wagon, the hind part resting upon the ground, the two heavy wheels lying upon it. Farther back a small cabin falling into decay. Here and there patches of creeping vines and rank grass cover the ground, hiding in some places to a considerable depth the bases of the stumps. But to the left, where it is evident a steep slope plunges down, and also in the foreground, are open spaces with boulders and, scattered about under a thin loam of rotted needles and black cones, the outlines of a few flat stones. In the immediate foreground, left, a huge boulder, weighing possibly four or five tons, barely hangs upon the slope, ready at any moment, one would think, to slip and plunge down.

Two men, Cap Saunders and Harvey Anderson, the latter down left, the former to the right and farther back, are slowly coming forward. Each has a camping outfit, a roll of blankets, etc., upon his back, and carries in his hands a plaster cast of what would seem to be a cross-section of a log. It is about two feet in diameter and three inches thick. As they come along they try the casts on the various stumps and carefully turn them about to see if they fit, then chip the stump with a hatchet to indicate that it has been tried.

Time: The evening of a day early in November in the present time.

[Pg 13]

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

(Who has left his cast and is hurrying forward excitedly)

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(Chips the stump)

Cap Saunders.

(Starts back)

[Pg 16]

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(Sits upon a stump and looks off up the valley, then turns and watches the old man busy with his cast)

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(Picks up his cast and comes forward)

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(In an open space in the foreground he puts his things down upon the ground. He goes right to a pile of brush, pulls out a black limb, and proceeds to break it across his knee, throwing the pieces in a little heap upon the ground)

(The old man comes down to the stump which he and Anderson tried earlier in the scene. Anderson picks up his kindling and goes left and proceeds to start a fire. The night gathers quickly)

Cap Saunders.

(Trying the stump)

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(Picks up a blanket and, sticking pieces of brush in the ground, hangs it between the fire and the town)

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(Goes left and climbs up on the boulder and looks back over the waste)

[Pg 21]

Cap Saunders.

(Coming forward)

Harvey Anderson.

(The old man busies himself about the fire, preparing the evening meal. Anderson sits down on the boulder and looks off up the valley. Where the town was seen, lights begin to appear)

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

(Goes to the boulder and stands beside Anderson, and they both look off up the valley)

Harvey Anderson.

(They are silent)

Cap Saunders.

(Returning to the fire)

Harvey Anderson.

(He has risen and stands looking back through the darkness)

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

(Goes to the boulder)

Harvey Anderson.

(Bill Patten comes through the darkness, rear right. He looks about, then spies the men)

Bill Patten.

(Goes near the men and gets their line of vision)

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

(Gets down from the boulder)

[Pg 25]

Bill Patten.

Harvey Anderson.

Bill Patten.

Harvey Anderson.

Bill Patten.

(Calls back)

(To Anderson)

(Silas Maury and his son Willie, a boy of twelve or thirteen, enter rear)

Bill Patten.

(They sit down. The workmen seize food and eat ravenously)

[Pg 26]

Harvey Anderson.

(Patten nods)

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Harvey Anderson.

(To Cap Saunders)

Silas Maury.

(He and Anderson walk a little way left and look back toward the mansion)

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.[Pg 28]

(He and Anderson return to the fire)

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

(A pause)

Willie Maury.

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

(Bitterly)

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

Cap Saunders.

Bill Patten.

Cap Saunders.

Silas Maury.

Cap Saunders.

(Throws his hat into the air. Harry Egerton comes through the darkness rear right)

Cap Saunders.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

(He walks back, left. Harry Egerton joins him, going across rear)

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(He walks back a little way, then stops and looks off up the valley. Harvey Anderson comes forward and begins to break some brush to replenish the fire)

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Cap Saunders.

Silas Maury.

Willie Maury.

Cap Saunders.

Silas Maury.

Willie Maury.

Silas Maury.

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(Coming forward, notices the casts upon the ground)

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(With interest)

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(The men glare at him)

Cap Saunders.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(Patten and Maury rise and walk aside and whisper together)

(Willie Maury rises and joins his father and Patten)

(The men return to the fire)

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Harry Egerton.

Silas Maury.

(Plucks him by the sleeve and points off up the valley)

Harry Egerton.

(The men prepare to leave. Cap Saunders rises and begins to pack up the things)

Harry Egerton.

Silas Maury.

Harry Egerton.

Silas Maury.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Willie Maury.

Silas Maury.

Willie Maury.

Bill Patten.

Cap Saunders.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Silas Maury.

Harry Egerton.

Bill Patten.

Harry Egerton.

Cap Saunders.

(The boy picks up the coffee pot)

Harry Egerton.

Silas Maury.

(Patten, Maury, Cap Saunders and the boy go off through the darkness, right rear)

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(Calling after the men)

Voice of Silas Maury.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(Looking after the men)

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

Harvey Anderson.

Harry Egerton.

(Harvey Anderson takes up his pack and cast and goes off through the darkness after the other men. For a long time Harry Egerton stands looking after him. The fire has burned low)

Harry Egerton.

(Walks left and looks off up the valley)

(He breaks out crying and, staggering about, falls first upon his knees, then face forward upon the ground. Instantly it becomes pitch dark)

THE DREAM VISION

(During the following, a shaft of light, falling upon Harry Egerton, shows him lying near the boulder. As he cries out, he partially rises, his form and face convulsed with anguish)

[Pg 46]

First Voice.

(From up the mountain, full of pleasure)

Second Voice.

(From the valley, full of sorrow)

Third Voice.

(From far back, full of peace)

The Three Voices.

(In chorus)

Voice.

(From above)

First Voice.

Second and Third Voices.

Voice.

(From above)

Second Voice.

First and Third Voices.

Voice.

(From above)

Third Voice.

First Voice.

(Gayly)

Second Voice.

Voice.

(From above)

Harry Egerton.

Voice.

(From above)

Harry Egerton.

Voice.

(As of a drunkard singing)

Voices.

Harry Egerton.

(Presently, about twenty feet up in the rear and on either side, faint lights begin to appear and faint sounds of music are heard. Gradually the lights brighten a little and the sounds of music become more and more audible until one becomes conscious that on the left an orchestra is playing and to the right a piano. One also becomes conscious of a vast and beautiful hall over the floor of which, as the music plays, the forms of dancers are gliding. Occasionally from here and there flashes a sparkle as of diamonds, and low rippling laughter is heard. In the foreground for a space of twelve or fifteen feet, cut off from the main hall by the faintest outlines of an immense arch, small groups of elderly people stand about watching the dancers,[Pg 49] or saunter right and left into the adjoining apartments. In these apartments also people are seen moving about, and there is a hum of voices as of men and women in conversation. At no time does it become very light, and all that passes seems to pass in a dim shadow world.

It is sufficiently light, however, to enable one to discern the grotesque richness of the hall which, as one sees at a glance, is an elaborate representation of a pine forest, the boles of the trees standing out in beautiful irregularity along the walls, the boughs above in the semi-darkness seeming to disappear in some sort of cathedral roof. There, all about, singly and in clusters, innumerable small globes as though the cones were illuminated. Between the trees, also in relief and life-sized, figures of men at work getting out timber. Forward right, teams dragging logs, and, on the opposite wall, a distant view of a river with rafts floating down. Standing on stumps, huge figures support the arched doorways, of which there is one in the rear wall right, and one centre in each of the side walls. Left rear, the grand staircase with the glow of some hidden lamp shining upon the landing. Here the carved scene upon the wall is that of an inclined trestle-work, with logs going up apparently into some mill above.[Pg 50] Below, crouched upon the newel-post and the

lower rail, the carved figure of a large mountain lion with a frosted light in its open mouth. Forward from the arched doorway, left, there is no wall from about four feet up, and through this open space, faintly illumined by small hidden lamps, a greenness as of palms and flowers.

The music ceases and the couples break up. Later, the piano begins again, and just inside the main hall Gladys Egerton, in low décolleté and holding her skirts above her ankles, appears dancing ravishingly to the music of the piano)

First Lady.

Second Lady.

(Holding her skirts high the girl executes a graceful high kick and there is a clapping of hands)

Men's Voices.

Third Lady.

(Laughter)

Fourth Lady.

Gladys Egerton.

(Continues dancing)

Mrs. Egerton.

A Man's Voice.

Gladys Egerton.

A Man.

(Appearing forward right)

(Some of the ladies start right, others begin to move about)

Fifth Lady.

Sixth Lady.

Third Lady.

(Calling aloud)

(Laughter)

[Pg 52]

Fourth Lady.

Sixth Lady.

(Glances in the direction of Mrs. Egerton, then whispers)

Fourth Lady.

(Laughter. They go out right)

Seventh Lady.

Eighth Lady.

Ninth Lady.

Seventh Lady.

Eighth Lady.

Seventh Lady.

Eighth Lady.

Seventh Lady.

Ninth Lady.

Gladys Egerton.

(Who has been skipping to the music, whirls in from the main hall)

Ninth Lady.

Gladys Egerton.

(Continues dancing)

Eighth Lady.

Gladys Egerton.

(The women go out right)

Gladys Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

(Dances)

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

(Dances)

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

(Mysteriously)

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

(Dances)

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

Gladys Egerton.

(Whirling back into the main hall)

(She disappears into the conservatory, left. Alone, Mrs. Egerton stands a pathetic figure. She walks back into the deserted hall and stops and listens as though to the upper part of the walls. She then turns slowly and comes forward again. George Egerton enters quickly from the conservatory)

George Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

George Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

George Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

George Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

George Egerton.

Mrs. Egerton.

(Calling aloud)

(She comes forward)

George Egerton.

(He turns back and re-enters the conservatory. Mrs. Egerton passes into the room forward right. The lights in the hall become dimmer)

Voices.

(From the walls)

(There is a silence, then a sigh as of innumerable voices, then a silence and another sigh and still another)

[Pg 58]

Harry Egerton.

(From the conservatory comes a sound of laughter, and a beautiful girl runs in. A moment later the bloom of a large white chrysanthemum is thrown in after her. A young man enters. Other couples come in. George Egerton, evidently master of ceremonies, moves about here and there. A tuning of instruments is heard. People come from the side rooms. When all is in readiness, while the dancers, who have taken their positions, stand waiting for the music to begin, the sighing is again heard)

George Egerton.

(Exasperated by the delay)

(Excusing himself to his partner, he goes toward the conservatory, where the orchestra is stationed. As the sigh is repeated the couples gather together. At the third sigh they scatter, some of them running out through the middle door right, others hurrying forward, one or two of the girls laughing hysterically)

George Egerton.

(The people disappear into the apartment right. Charles, the butler, and two maids, badly frightened, come in rear)

George Egerton.

Charles.

(The four come forward, the butler and maids briskly, George Egerton more slowly and with a sort of defiance. They, too, pass out right)

Voices.

(From the walls)

(The sighs are repeated)

Harry Egerton.

(The mountain lion upon the newel-post spits the light from his mouth and it breaks upon the floor. The monster then gets down)

Lion.

A Voice.

Lion.

A Voice.

Lion.

A Voice.

Harry Egerton.

(As though a roll were being called)

Lion.

A Voice.

Second Voice.

Lion.

Voices.

(Above)

Third Voice.

Voices.

(Below)

A Voice.

Voices.

(From round the walls)

Voices.

(From far below)

Voices.

Lion.

Voices.

(From far away)

Voices.

(From up the stairs)

Voices.

(Far up)

Lion.

(There has been a pounding of hammers and a creaking as of timbers being loosened. Sighs and groans fill the hall. The lights burn unsteadily, flashing or going out or glowing with a tint of blue)

Voices.

Other Voices.

(Carven figures, still rigid, come from the walls. From everywhere they come, in the most fantastic[Pg 63] postures, some hopping with one leg lifted, some gliding with raised axes, others bent and in pairs carrying cross-cut saws, still others with peavies in their hands. Up through the floor all round come dark figures with torches in their caps. Stealthily and with muffled voices they gather about the Lion. Suddenly the pounding ceases and all is still)

A Voice.

Second Voice.

Several Voices.

Lion.

All.

A Voice.

(Donald Egerton, with Governor Braddock and Bishop Hardbrooke at his heels, comes hurriedly through the centre door right)

[Pg 64]

Donald Egerton.

(Peering about, sees the Figures)

Lion.

Figures.

Donald Egerton.

Lion.

Figures.

Lion.

Figures.

Lion.

Governor Braddock.

Donald Egerton.

Governor Braddock.

Lion.

Figures.

Donald Egerton.

Governor Braddock.

Lion.

Figures.

Lion.

(Egerton says something to the Governor)

Governor Braddock.

Bishop Hardbrooke.

(Steps toward the Figures)

Figures.

(They advance toward him)

Bishop Hardbrooke.[Pg 67]

Figures.

Governor Braddock.

Figures.

Governor Braddock.

Figures.

Governor Braddock.

(Calls)

People.

(Who have been peering in forward right)

(Egerton and the Bishop follow the Governor out centre right, and the people disappear)

Figures.

(Aloud)

Lion.

Figures.

(With tremendous surprise)

(There are shouts and a thunder of tools falling upon the floor)

Shouts.

Other Shouts.

Harry Egerton.

Shouts.

Harry Egerton.

Shouts.

(They rush through the house, right)

Voice of Donald Egerton.

Voice of Mrs. Egerton.

Voice of Donald Egerton.

Men's Voices.

A Deep Voice.

(A pause)

Cries.

The Deep Voice.

(Shots are heard and noises as of a riot)

Harry Egerton.

(The noises die away. In the darkness the walls are heard sighing)

Harry Egerton.

(A pause)

Voice.

(Forward right, in the darkness)

Second Voice.

First Voice.

Second Voice.

First Voice.

(Sounds of quarrelling here and there)

[Pg 71]

Third Voice.

(Centre right)

Voices.

(From the walls)

Fourth Voice.

(Forms of men loaded with the spoil of the mansion are seen hurrying out left)

Voices.

(Entering right)

Fifth Voice.

(Left)

Sixth Voice.

Sam.

(Entering right)

Voices.

Sam.

Cries.

Other Cries.

Sam.

Cries.

(Of those who have nothing)

Other Cries.

(Of those with their arms full)

(Sounds of scuffling and fighting)

Cries.

(The sounds die away left)

[Pg 73]

Cries.

(Far left)

(The walls are heard sighing)

Voice.

(From above)

Harry Egerton.

Voice of Mrs. Egerton.

(Full of anguish)

(There is a thundering and crashing in the darkness)

Harry Egerton.

(Quickly staggering to his knees, then to his feet)

(Instantly the darkness disappears. Morning is breaking over the mountains)

[Pg 74]

Harry Egerton.

(Looks about. Clasps his head in his hands)

(Sees the ashes of the fire. Recalls the incidents of the early night)

(Notices that the boulder is gone. Looks down the slope, left)

(Gets down on his knees where the boulder lay)

[Pg 75]

THE MILL