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Read Ebook: Comrades: A Drama in Three Acts by Baker George M George Melville
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Transcriber's Notes
Additional notes are located at the end of the file.
COMRADES.
GEORGE M. BAKER.
This play is protected by law, and can only be performed by special arrangement with the author.
PRINTED, NOT PUBLISHED.
COSTUMES.
CHARACTERS.
ROYAL MANNING. MATT WINSOR, a tramp. MARCUS GRAVES. SIMON STONE, a Jack at all Trades. MAY MANNING, "Roy's Wife." BESSIE BRADLEY. NANCY NIPPER.
COMRADES.
A DRAMA IN THREE ACTS.
ROYAL. There, May, we'll hang this relic of my warrior days above the mantel, to remind us, that now I have become a husband, the sword is beaten into a ploughshare.
MAY. Very appropriate, now you have become a husbandman.
ROY. Good, very good! Wedlock has sharpened your wits. Yes, I am the happy husband of the best little wife ever erring man was blessed with. Oh, blissful state of matrimony! why did I not become your naturalized citizen before? . There, old friend, rest in peace! no more shall we in fellowship dash upon the enemy; no more, hand in hand, encounter the perils of the battlefield, the glory of triumph, the shame of defeat. Oh, rest in peace, old dog of war, until you grow rusty with honorable age!
MAY. How very pathetic! You have pronounced the eulogy. Bess, a dirge would be appropriate just now.
BESS. Yes. How would "Old Dog Tray" suit the occasion?
ROY. Very bad. A biting sarcasm . Rather ornamental. Hey, May?
MAY. It has a wicked look. It makes me shudder.
ROY. Indeed! then down it comes.
ROY. Fits! Well, what then?
MAY. My poor vases would fall beneath the sword.
ROY. Never fear; like its master, 'tis securely tied to your apron-string. How time flies! 'Tis ten years since my old friend and I closed our campaign.
ROY. Of courtship, yes, and massed our forces for the battle of life. Yes, yes. Then I captured the heart, which, for two years, I had so valiantly attacked.
MAY. Valiantly, indeed. 'Twas with fear and trembling, you, the veteran warrior, approached the citadel.
ROY. Which was longing to surrender.
MAY. No; I'll not confess that.
ROY. But you do not regret it, May? You are happy here?
BESS. Ahem!
ROY . Hallo! Little Pitcher's ears are wide open. . What's the matter, Bess?
BESS . Can't you speak a little louder, you two? It's so provoking to only hear the ripple of a conversation which you know will be sure to end in a smacking breeze.
ROY. I was not within saluting distance. I wish I had been.
BESS. Then I should have had a full report of your conversation. Ha! ha! ha! you two have been married three months, and have not yet finished your courting. Remarkable vitality! I thought love-making ended at the altar.
ROY. Remarkable ignorance, Bess. But you are young and green. Did you, indeed?
BESS. Yes; and that the flame of love was extinguished when the husband, poor man! was obliged to rise, on a cold, frosty morning, to build the fire.
ROY. That only adds fuel to the flame.
BESS. That the fountain of affection ceased to flow, when he had to go a mile to draw a pail of water.
ROY. Liquid nonsense. You are alluding, of course, now, chatterbox, to our first effort at housekeeping; but all that is over; everything is nicely arranged, and we can now bask in the warmth of domestic fires.
ROY . Hang the chimney! You'd put a damper on anything. May, what shall we do with this girl?
MAY. Let her scoff. It will be our turn soon; her fate is approaching.
BESS . Did you hear his step?
ROY. Ha! ha! ha!
BESS. It's Marcus, and you have told me.
MAY. Stop! stop! Bess! I hear nothing.
MAY. He's a very agreeable fellow, seems honest, and is fast winning the affections of Bess.
ROY. Yes, I know all that you know; but what we don't know is what bothers me. When, in pursuit of happiness, I made my way to the humble but comfortable residence of the late Mrs. Bradley, you being the attraction, I found this young man paying court to Bess in the parlor, while I emulated his example by making love to you in the sitting-room.
MAY. They were well called suite er rooms, ha! ha! ha!
ROY. Allow me to correct your pronunciation for suite er, rooms, they must have been, with two pair of lovers. Well, Mrs. Bradley died. You must have a home; there was nothing to hinder, and we were married, came here, and brought Bess with us, a welcome addition to our household.
MAY. Dear girl! She is the light of our house.
ROY. Well, I cannot exactly agree with you, having a star of the first magnitude before my eyes. As a matter of course, Mr. Marcus Graves follows. I don't object to that, but I do object to his secretiveness. Who is he? He seems to have no relatives, no friends: at least he never speaks of them.
MAY. You know his business?
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