Plays of William E. Henley and R.L. Stevenson Part 20

I bound the millstone round my neck; [it is irrevocable now,] and you must all suffer . . . all suffer for me! . . . [for this suffering remnant of what was once a man]. O G.o.d, that I can have fallen to stand here as I do now. My friend lying to save me from the gallows; my second father weeping tears of blood for my disgrace! And all for what? By what? Because I had an open hand, because I was a selfish dog, because I loved this woman.

JEAN. O Wullie, and she lo'ed ye weel! But come near me nae mair, come near me nae mair, my man; keep wi' your ain folks . . . your ain dacent folks.

LAWSON. Mistress Watt, ye shall sit rent free as lang's there's breath in William Lawson's body.

LESLIE. You can do one thing still . . . for Mary's sake. You can save yourself; you must fly.

BRODIE. It is my purpose; the day after to-morrow. It cannot be before.

Then I will fly; and O, as G.o.d sees me, I will strive to make a new and a better life, and to be worthy of your friends.h.i.+p, and of your tears . . .

your tears. And to be worthy of you too, Jean; for I see now that the bandage has fallen from my eyes; I see myself, O how unworthy even of you.

LESLIE. Why not to-night?

BRODIE. It cannot be before. There are many considerations. I must find money.

JEAN. Leave me, and the wean. Dinna fash yoursel' for us.

LESLIE (_opening the strong-box_, _and pouring gold upon the table_).

Take this and go at once.

BRODIE. Not that . . . not the money that I came to steal!

LAWSON. Tak' it, William; I'll pay him.

BRODIE. It is in vain. I cannot leave till I have said. There is a man; I must obey him. If I slip my chain till he has done with me, the hue and cry will blaze about the country; every outport will be shut; I shall return to the gallows. He is a man that will stick at nothing.

SCENE VII

_To these_, MOORE

MOORE. Are you coming?

BRODIE. I am coming.

MOORE (_appearing in the door_). Do you want us all to get thundering well scragged?

BRODIE (_going_). There is my master.

ACT-DROP

ACT IV.

TABLEAU VII.

THE ROBBERY

_The Stage represents the outside of the Excise Office in Chessel's Court_. _At the back_, _L.C._, _an archway opening on the High Street_.

_The door of the Excise in wing_, _R._; _the opposite side of the stage is lumbered with barrels_, _packing-cases_, _etc._ _Moonlight_; _the Excise Office casts a shadow over half the stage_. _A clock strikes the hour_. _A round of the City Guard_, _with halberts_, _lanterns_, _etc._, _enters and goes out again by the arch_, _after having examined the fastenings of the great door and the lumber on the left_. _Cry without in the High Street_: '_Ten by the bell_, _and a fine clear night_.'

_Then enter cautiously by the arch_, SMITH _and_ MOORE, _with_ AINSLIE _loaded with tools_.

SCENE I

SMITH, MOORE, AINSLIE

SMITH (_entering first_). Come on. Coast clear.

MOORE (_after they have come to the front_.) Ain't he turned up yet?

SMITH (_to_ AINSLIE). Now Maggot! The fis.h.i.+ng's a going to begin.

AINSLIE. Dinna cangle, Geordie. My back's fair broke.

MOORE. O muck! Hand out them pieces.

SMITH. All right, Humptious! (_To_ AINSLIE.) You're a nice old sort for a rag-and-bone man: can't hold a bag open! (_Taking out tools_.) Here they was. Here are the bunchums, one _and_ two; and jolly old keys was they. Here's the picklocks, crow-bars, and here's Lord George's pet bull's eye, his old and valued friend, the Cracksman's treasure!

MOORE. Just like you. Forgot the rotten centrebit.

SMITH. That's all you know. Here she is, bless her! Portrait of George as a gay hironmonger.

MOORE. O rot! Hand it over, and keep yourself out of that there thundering moonlight.

SMITH (_lighting lantern_). All right, old mumble-peg. Don't you get carried away by the fire of old Rome. That's your motto. Here are the tools; a perfect picter of the sublime and beautiful; and all I hope is, that our friend and pitcher, the Deakin, will make a better job of it than he did last night. If he don't, I shall retire from the business-that's all; and it'll be George and his little wife and a black footman till death do us part.

MOORE. O muck! You're all jaw like a sheep's jimmy. That's my opinion of you. When did you see him last?

SMITH. This morning; and he looked as if he was rehearsing for his own epitaph. I never see such a change in a man. I gave him the office for to-night; and was he grateful? Did he weep upon my faithful bosom? No; he smiled upon me like a portrait of the dear departed. I see his 'art was far away; and it broke my own to look at him.

MOORE. Muck! Wot I ses is, if a cove's got that much of the n.o.b about him, wot's the good of his working single-handed? That's wot's the matter with him.

SMITH. Well, old Father Christmas, he ain't single-handed to-night, is he?

MOORE. No, he ain't; he's got a man with him to-night.

SMITH. Pardon me, Romeo; two men, I think?

MOORE. A man wot means business. If I'd a bin with him last night, it ain't psalm-singin' would have got us off. Psalm-singin'? Muck! Let 'em try it on with me.

AINSLIE. Losh me, I heard a noise. (_Alarm; they crouch into the shadow and listen_.)