To Songs: HOSTAGE
* WARNING * MYSTERIOUS
BEING
SCENE 43 - Night in deep woods
(In the meantime, the gang of marauders has successfully gained the
summit of the rocks, and scattering then in every direction, they bury themselves
in the depth of the wood.)
(Finding there is no pursuit, which would have been impractical for horses,
the leader ventures to call his band together with a whistle, and in a short
time succeeds in collecting his disgruntled party, at a point where they
had little to apprehend from an enemy. While a fire is being lit to protect
them from the air, growing severely cold -)
2nd SKINNER: Well, this is an end to our business in West-Chester.
The Virginia horse will soon make this county too hot to hold us.
HEAD SKINNER: I'll have his blood if I die for it the next instant.
2nd SKINNER: Oh, you are very valiant here in the wood. (with
a savage laugh) Why did you, who boast so much of your aim, miss your
man at thirty yards?
HEAD SKINNER: 'Twas the horseman that disturbed me, or I would have
ended this Capt. LAWTON on the spot; besides the cold has set me shivering,
and I had no longer a steady hand.
2nd SKINNER: Say it was fear, and you will tell no lie. (sneering)
For my part I think I shall never be cold again; my back burns as if
a thousand gridirons were laid on it.
HEAD SKINNER: And you would tamely submit to such usage, and kiss
the rod that beat you?
2nd SKINNER: As for kissing the rod, it would be no easy matter. Mine
was broken into so small pieces, on my own shoulders, that it would be difficult
to find one big enough to kiss; but I would rather lose half my skin than
lose the whole of it. And such will be our fates if we tempt this mad Virginian
again. God willing, I would at any time give enough of my hide to make a
pair of jack-boots, to get out of his hands with the remainder. If you had
known when you were well off, you would have stuck to Major DUNWOODIE, who
don't know half so much of our evil-doings.
HEAD SKINNER: Silence, you talking fool! Your pratting is sufficient
to drive a man mad. Is it not enough to be robbed and beaten, but we must
be tormented with your folly? Help to get out the provisions, if any is
left, and try and stop your mouth with food.
(The whole party, amidst sundry groans and contortions, due to the state
of their backs, make arrangements for a scanty meal. A large fire of dry
wood burns in the cleft of a rock, and they begin to recover from their
confusion of the flight by satisfying their hunger. With some garments thrown
aside for an opportunity to dress their wounds, the gang begins to plot
revenge.)
(An hour is spent proposing various expedients, but these depended
on personal prowess for success, and involved great danger, which they of
course reject. There was no possibility of approaching the troops by surprise,
their vigilance being ever on the watch; and the hope of meeting Capt. LAWTON
away from his men was equally forlorn, for the trooper was constantly engaged
in his duty, and his movements were so rapid, that any opportunity of meeting
him at all, must depend greatly on accident.)
(The cunning of the trooper was notorious; and rough and broken as was
West-Chester county, the fearless partisan was known to take desperate leaps,
and stone walls were but slight impediments to the charges of the Southern
horse. The gang finally settles on a plan which should both revenge themselves,
and at the same time offer some additional stimulus to their exertions.
The whole business is accurately discussed, the time fixed, and manner adopted;
in short, nothing was wanting for this deed of villainy, when a loud voice
arouses them)
VOICE: This way, Capt. JACK: here are the rascals, ating by a fire
- this way, and murder the tieves where they sit - quick, lave yer horses
and shoot yer pistols.
(This terrific summons disturbs all the philosophy of the gang. Springing
to their feet, they rush deeper into the wood, dispersing towards the four
quarters of the heavens. Sounds and different voices penetrate the darkness,
calling on each other, but these marauders are trained to speed on foot
and soon lost in the distance.)
(Shortly thereafter, BETTY FLANAGAN emerges from the darkness and
very coolly takes possession of what the Skinners left behind them, namely
food and articles of clothing. The washerwoman deliberately seats herself,
and makes a meal with great apparent satisfaction. For an hour she sits
with her head upon her hand, in deep musing, then she gathers together what
suits her fancy and retires into the wood, leaving the fire to throw its
glimmering light on the adjacent rocks until its last brand dies away.)
SCENE 44 - Dawn outside officers' crude housing
(DUNWOODIE, leaving fellow troopers still sleeping on their rude beds,
emerges from their housing quarters into the first glimpse of dawn, to wander
into the open air in search of relief. Soft rays of the moon pass away in
the more distinct light of the morning. The wind had fallen, and rising
mists promise another autumn day in this unstable climate, which may succeed
a tempest with rapid transitions of magic.)
(The hour had not yet arrived when he intended to move from his present
position, and wanting to allow his warriors all the rest that circumstances
would permit, he strolls toward the scene of the Skinners' punishment, musing
on the embarrassment of his situation, uncertain how he should reconcile
his sense of duty and his love.)
(Although DUNWOODIE himself placed the most implicit reliance on Capt.
LAWTON's purity of intention, he was by no means assured that a board of
officers would be equally credulous; and, independently of all private regard,
he feels certain that the execution of Henry would destroy all hopes of
a union with his sister.)
(He had dispatched an officer the preceding evening to Col. SINGLETON,
who was in command of the advance posts, reporting the capture of the British
captain, and, after giving his own opinion of HENRY's innocence, requested
orders as to the manner in which he was to dispose of his prisoner.)
(These orders might be expected any hour, and his uneasiness increased
in proportion as the moment approached when his friend might be removed
from his protection. In this disturbed state of mind, the Major wandered
through the orchard, and is stopped in his walk by arriving at the base
of those rocks which had protected the Skinners in their flight, before
he is conscious whither his steps had carried him.)
(He is about to turn and retrace his path to his quarters, when he is
startled by a voice above him -)
BIRCH (the voice): Stand or die!
(DUNWOODIE turns in amazement, and beholds the figure of a man placed
at a little distance above him on a shelving rock, with a musket leveled
at himself.)
(The light is not yet sufficiently powerful to reach the recesses
of that gloomy spot, and a second look is necessary before he discovers,
to his astonishment, that the peddler stands before him.)
(Comprehending in an instant the danger of his situation, and disdaining
to implore mercy, or to retreat, had the latter been possible, the Major
cries -)
DUNWOODIE: If I am to be murdered, fire! I will never become your
prisoner.
HARVEY & DUNWOODIE sing: HOSTAGE
"(HARVEY:) No, Major DUNWOODIE, it's not my intention
... to capture or to slay ... (DUNWOODIE:) Then what would you have ...
mysterious being ... I'm lost for words to say?.. (HARVEY:) Your good opinion
... with leniency ... I wish good men ... would judge me... (DUNWOODIE:)
You must be indifferent ... to judgment of men ... for you seem beyond reach
... of sentence again."
HARVEY sings HOSTAGE part:
God spares the lives ... of his servants ... but only in
his time ... A few hours ago I was hostage ... now tables turned ... you're
mine... There are men ... around ... who would treat you ... less kindly
... but Major ... DUNWOODIE ... you're free... If they had this musket ...
and one steady hand ... what service would that sword be?"
"Take the advice ... of one ... who has never harmed
you ... and never will ... Do not trust yourself ... in the skirts of the
wood ... unless in company ... and mounted as you should."
HARVEY continues with WARNING:
"But you are young and happy ... with those you hold
most dear ... so double up your watchfulness ... for danger's threat is
near ... There is danger within ... and danger without ... so strengthen
patrols ... when you're riding about ... and be silent!... REMEMBER! ...
GUARD THEM ... YOU LOVE BEST!
DUNWOODIE: Have you comrades who assisted you to escape, and who are
less generous than yourself?
BIRCH: No - no, I am alone truly - none know me but my God and Him.
DUNWOODIE: And who?
BIRCH: No one.
(He discharges the musket in the air, throws it at the feet of his astonished
auditor. When surprise and smoke clear enough to allow DUNWOODIE to look
again on the rock where the peddler had stood, the spot is vacant.)
DUNWOODIE sings MYSTERIOUS BEING:
"Who is this mysterious being ... affecting so many lives
... I sense those around me, too, wonder ... what is truth ... and what
are lies ... He moves with grace ... like a slithering snake ... yet his
thoughts ... in his talk ... are as gentle ... as a dove to its mate."
"He appears ... and disappears ... in the rocks and
the shadows ... for some he holds fears ... but his intent no one knows
... Is he a traitor ... or a silent hero?... In my mind he is set ... as
a man known to no one ... yet one ... whom none ... will ever forget."
(The youth is roused from the stupor, created by this strange scene,
by the trampling of horses and sound of bugles. A patrol was drawn to the
spot by the report of the musket, and the alarm had been given to the corps.
Without offering any explanation to his men, the Major returns to his quarters.)
SCENE 45 - Morning outside FLANAGAN's Inn
(DUNWOODIE finds the whole squadron under arms, in battle array, impatiently
awaiting his appearance. The officer, whose duty it was to superintend such
matters, had directed a party to lower the sign of FLANAGAN's Inn, and the
post was already arranged with a noose for the execution of the spy. The
Major chose to conceal his interview with the peddler and indicates that
the musket was discharged by himself, and was probably one of those dropped
by the Skinners in their flight after the lashings.)
(His officers suggest the propriety of executing their prisoner before
they march. Unable to believe all he had seen was not a dream, DUNWOODIE,
followed by his officers and preceded by Sgt. HOLLISTER, walks to the place
supposedly containing the peddler.)
DUNWOODIE: Well, sir, (to the guard near the door) I trust
you have your prisoner in safety.
GUARD: He is yet asleep, and makes such a noise, I could hardly hear
the bugle sound the alarm.
DUNWOODIE: Open the door and bring him forth.
(The order is obeyed, but to the utter amazement of the honest veteran
who entered the prison, only the washerwoman is found. )
SCENE 46 - Morning - Next moment inside BETTY's room
(Sgt. HOLLISTER, in utter amazement, sees only BETTY occupying her
simple bed, clad as when last seen, except without the little black bonnet
which she wore as a day and night cap.)
(Part of her wardrobe lays scattered in disorder on the floor, and the
peddler's coat where his body should have been. Noise of accompanying soldiers'
entrance and exclamations, wakens the woman.)
BETTY: Is it the breakfast that's wanting? (rubbing her eyes)
Faith yee look as if yee would ate myself - but patience a little, darlings,
and ye'll see sich a fry as never was.
Sgt. HOLLISTER: Fry! We'll have you roasted, Jezebel! - you helped
that damn'd peddler to escape.
BETTY: Jezebel back agin in yeer teeth, and damn'd piddler too, Mister
Sergeant! What have I to do with piddlers, or escapes? I might have been
a piddler's lady, and worn my silks, if I'd had Sawny M'Twill, instead of
tagging at the heels of a parcel of dragooning rapscallions, who don't know
how to trate a lone body with dacency.
HOLLISTER: Look, the fellow has left my Bible. Instead of spending
his time in reading it to prepare for the end, like a good Christian, he
has been busy in laboring to escape.
BETTY: And who would stay and be hanged like a dog? 'Tisn't every
one that's born to meet with sich an ind, like yourself, Mr. HOLLISTER.
DUNWOODIE: Silence! This must be inquired into closely, gentlemen;
there is no outlet but the door, and there he could not pass, unless the
sentinel connived at his escape, or was asleep on his post - call up the
guard.
(Curiosity has already drawn guards of the night to the place, and they
one and all, with the exception of him before mentioned, deny that any person
had come out. The guard in question acknowledges that BETTY had gone by
him, but pleads his orders in justification.)
BETTY (shouts): You lie - you tief - you lie! Would yee slanderize
a lone woman, by saying she walks a camp at midnight? Here have I been slaaping
the long night, swaatly as the sucking babe.
Sgt. HOLLISTER: Here, sir, is something written in my Bible that was
not in it before; for having no family to record, I would never suffer any
scribbling in the sacred book.
LT. TOM MASON (reads aloud):
====These certify, that if suffered to get free, it is by God's help
alone, to whose divine aid I humbly riccomind myself. I'm forced to take
the woman's clothes, but in her pocket is ricompinse. - Witness my hand
- HARVEY BIRCH. ====
BETTY: What! Has the tief robbed a lone woman of her all? - hang him
- catch him and hang him, Major; if there's law or justice in the land.
LT MASON: Examine your pocket.
(She does so and pulls forth a coin.)
BETTY: Ah, faith! but he is a jewel of a piddler! Long life and a
brisk trade to him, say I; he is wilcome to the duds - and if he is ever
hanged, many a bigger rogue will go free.
(Reasonably satisfied with the explanation by the note and obviously
assumed circumstances of the escape, DUNWOODIE turns to leave the apartment
and notices Capt. LAWTON standing with folded arms, contemplating the scene
in profound silence. His manner, so different from his usual impetuosity
and zeal, strikes his commander as singular.)
(Their eyes meet, and they leave the room together in conversation
inaudible to others. DUNWOODIE soon returns and dismisses the guard to their
place of rendezvous. HOLLISTER stays along with BETTY, who is in high good
humor, having found none of her vestments disturbed but such as the guinea
more than paid for.)
(BETTY had long looked upon the veteran with the eyes of affection; and
she had determined within herself to remove certain delicate objections
which had long embarrassed her peculiar situation, as respected the corps,
by making the Sergeant the successor of her late husband.)
(For some time past the trooper had seemed to flatter this preference,
so BETTY, conceiving her violence may have mortified her suitor, was determined
to make him all amends in her power.)
(She pours out a glass of her morning beverage, handing it to her companion
as a peace offering.)
BETTY: A few warm words between frinds are a trifle, yee must be knowing,
Sargeant; in was MICHAEL FLANAGAN that I ever calumnated the most when I
was loving him the best.
HOLLISTER: MICHAEL was a good soldier and a brave man. Our troop was
covering the flank of his regiment when he fell, and I rode over his body
myself during the day; poor fellow! He lay on his back, and looked as composed
as if he had died a natural death after a year's consumption.
BETTY: Oh, MICHAEL was a great consumer, and be sartain, two such
as us make dreadful inroads in the stock, Sargeant. But yee'r a sober discrate
man, Mr. HOLLISTER, and would be a helpmate indeed.
HOLLISTER: Why, Mrs. FLANAGAN, I've tarried to speak on a subject
that lies heavy at my heart, and I will now open my mind, if you've leisure
to listen.
BETTY: Is it listen? I'd listen to you Sargeant, if the officers never
ate another mouthful: but take a second drop, dear, 'twill encourage you
to spake freely.
HOLLISTER: I am already bold enough in so good a cause. BETTY, do
you think it was really the Peddler-Spy that I placed in this room, the
last night?
BETTY: And who should it be else, darling?
HOLLISTER: Ay, even Beelzebub, disguised as the peddler, and them
fellows we thought to be Skinners were his imps.
BETTY: Well sure, Sargeant, dear, yee'r but little out this time,
anyway; for if the divil's imps go at large in the county West-Chester,
sure it is the Skinners themselves.
HOLLISTER: Mrs. FLANAGAN, I mean in their incarnate spirits; the evil
one knew that there was no one we would arrest sooner than the peddler BIRCH
, and he took on his appearance to gain admission to your room.
BETTY: And what would the divil be wanting of me? And isn't there
divils enough in the corps already, without one's coming from the bottomless
pit to frighten a lone body?
HOLLISTER: 'Twas in mercy to you, BETTY, that he was permitted to
come. You see he vanished through the door in your form, which is a symbol
of your fate, unless you mend your life. Oh, I noticed how he trembled when
I gave him the good book. Would any Christian, think you, my dear BETTY,
write in a Bible in this way; unless it might be the matter of births and
deaths, and such lawful chronicles?
BETTY: And would the divil have paid for the clothes, think yee? ay,
and overpaid.
HOLLISTER: Doubtless the money is base. he tempted me with his glittering
coin, but the Lord gave me the strength to resist.
BETTY: The goold looks well; but I'll change it, anyway, with Capt.
JACK, today. He is niver a bit afraid of any divil of them all.
HOLLISTER: BETTY, BETTY, do not speak so disreverently of the evil
spirit; he is ever at hand, and will owe you a grudge, for your language.
BETTY: Pooh, If he has any bowels at all, he won't mind a filip or
two from a poor lone woman; I'm sure no other Christian would.
HOLLISTER: But the dark one has no bowels, except to devour the children
of men. (looking around him somewhat in horror) It's best to make
friends everywhere, for there is no telling what may happen till it comes;
but, BETTY, no man could have got out of this place, and passed all the
sentinels without being known. Take awful warning from the visit, therefore
-
(The dialogue is interrupted by a peremptory summons to the sutler to
prepare the morning's repast, and they were obliged to separate, with the
woman secretly hoping that the interest of the Sergeant was more earthly
than he imagined, and the man bent on saving a soul from the fangs of the
dark spirit prowling through their camp.) | 