To songs: ALONE * SARAH * NOTICE ME * COURTSHIP
MAKE THE BEST OF IT
SCENE 51 - Parlor of the WHARTON home
(Capt. LAWTON appears at the door of the parlor, after having no one
respond to the knocks of himself and Dr. SITGREAVES at the front door, they
had ventured to enter the WHARTON home unreceived, as it was serving in
some part as a hospital for several of Dr. SITGREAVES's patients, whom he
had come purposely to check.)
(On opening the door, the Captain pauses in admiration at the scene within.
Col. WELLMEYER first met his eye, bending toward the figure of the blushing
SARAH, singing softly, with an earnestness of manner that prevented the
noise of LAWTON's entrance from being heard by either parties.)
Col. WELLMEYER sings ALONE:
"I would love to hold you ... when all on our own
... but we do not know each other ... well enough to be alone ... I can
only pray ... there may come a day ... we can make our wishes known."
(Certain significant signs, which were embraced at a glance by the
prying gaze of the trooper, at once made him a master of their secret; and
he is about to retire as silently as he had advanced, when his companion,
pushing himself through the passage, abruptly enters the room. Advancing
instantly to the chair of WELLMEYER, the surgeon instinctively lays hold
of the Colonel's arm, and exclaims -
SITGREAVES: Bless me! -a quick and irregular pulse -flushed cheek
and fiery eye - strong febrile symptoms, and such as must be attended to.
(He immediately sets about making certain other indications of his intentions
to proceed to business, but Col. WELLMEYER, recovering from the confusion
of the surprise, arose from his seat haughtily, and-)
WELLMEYER: Sir, it is the warmth of the room that lends me the color,
and I am already too much indebted to your skill to give you any further
trouble; Miss WHARTON knows that I am quite well, and I do assure you that
I never felt better or happier in my life.
(There was particular emphasis on the latter part of this speech, that,
however it might gratify the feelings of SARAH, brought the color to her
cheeks again; and SITGREAVES, as his eye follows the direction of those
of his patient, does not fail to observe it.)
SITGREAVES: Your arm, if you please, madam, anxiety and watching have
done their work on your delicate frame, and there are symptoms about you
that must not be neglected.
SARAH: Excuse me, sir, the heat is oppressive, and I will retire and
acquaint Miss PEYTON with your presence.
(It is necessary for SARAH to raise her eyes to return the salutation
of LAWTON, as he bows his head nearly to the level of the hand that holds
the door open. One look is sufficient; she is able to control her steps
to retire from the room with dignity, and abandons herself to a feeling
of mingled shame and pleasure.)
(Dr. SITGREAVES, after once more tendering services that are again
rejected, withdraws to the chamber of young SINGLETON, with LAWTON preceding
him.)
SCENE 52 - WHARTON drawing room the next morning
(AUNT JEANETTE is seated at her needlework when SARAH shyly enters
the room, with a smile so broad it appears permanent. Always ready to tease
her nieces, the good aunt responds as though she is addressing SARAH as
a child:)
AUNT JEANETTE sings SARAH:
"Who's peeking out from under those bangs ... it's
SA-R-AH,... SA-R-AH ... with the cute blue eyes ... and who's smiling there
from under those bangs ... it's SA-R-AH ... SA-R-AH ... with a grin this
size "(aunt motions a smile on her own face), ... and who's
dreaming sweet dreams ... U - UN - der those bangs ... it's SA-R-AH ...
SA-R-AH ... with her thoughts so wise ..and what are those thoughts .. SA-R-AH?"(SARAH
sings:) "I want to marry the colonel."
(SARAH blushes, and responding in her usual manner when in a playful
mood with her aunt-)
SARAH sings NOTICE ME:
"Auntie, I'm in love ... with such intensity ... with
the dashing colonel ... every time I see .. him ... there's a sudden passion
... I cannot control ... and I know that he ... has more than noticed me."
(Further discussion of the hopelessly in love young lady's desires causes
the aunt misgivings.)
AUNT JEANETTE sings COURTSHIP:
"My dear girl, you're so young ... you have lots of
time ... You should take this courtship slowly ... in your passioned state
of mind ... (SARAH sings:) But the war could last ... till my chance
is passed ... and he never would be mine."
SCENE 53 - Inn at FOUR CORNERS
(Several days passed without any interruption of the usual daily activities
at the WHARTON home, or the party at Four Corners, with the former supporting
their belief that HENRY's innocence will prevail, and carried a strong reliance
on DUNWOODIE's exertions in his behalf, and the latter waiting with impatience
the intelligence expected hourly of a conflict, and their orders to depart.)
(Capt. LAWTON waits for word in both these cases in vain. Letters from
the Major announce that the enemy, finding the party, which was to cooperate
with them, had been defeated, was withdrawn and had retired behind the works
of Fort Washington, where they continued, threatening constantly to strike
a blow in revenge for their disgrace.)
(The trooper is enjoined to vigilance, and the letter concluded with
a compliment to his honor, zeal, and undoubted bravery.)
LAWTON (throwing down the letter, mutters as he paces the floor
to quiet his impatience):
LAWTON sings MAKE THE BEST OF IT:
"No, Major... not with all your flattery... do I want
... this responsibility ... to watch o're ... an irresolute old man ...
who won't say ... on which side he really stands; ... plus four women ...
capable as they can be ... but do not care ... for my kind of society;..
while the fourth one .. lovely and appeals to me ... is on the wrong side
... of the age of fo-r-ty."
"Plus sev'ral black servants ... and a talkative maid
... who chatters and chatters about gold ... she is owed ... but will never
be paid ... and omens and demons like Beelzebub ... roaming around our county...
I should be ... leading men in battle ... not list'ning ... to incessant
prattle ... but because my ... wounded comrade in all this ... may need
my help ... I will make the best of it."
(He sits down, begins to whistle to show himself he doesn't care,
throwing his booted leg around and accidentally upsets the canteen that
held his whole stock of brandy. In replacing the wooden vessel, he sees
a billet lying on the bench, on which the liquor had been placed. It is
soon opened,)
LAWTON reads:
====The moon will not rise till after midnight - a fit time for deeds
of darkness.====
(There is no mistaking the hand; it is clearly the same that had given
him the timely warning against assassination, and the trooper continues
for sometime musing over these two notices, and the motives that could induce
the peddler to favor an enemy in the manner that he has lately done.)
(That he is a spy for the enemy, LAWTON knew; for the fact of his
conveying intelligence to the English commander-in-chief, of a party of
Americans that were exposed to the enemy, was proved most clearly against
him on the trial for his life.)
(The consequences of his treason had been avoided, it is true, by a lucky
order from Washington, which withdrew the regiment a short time before the
British appeared to cut it off, but still the crime was the same.)
LAWTON (to himself): Perhaps, he wishes to make a friend of
me against the event of another capture; but in all events, he spared my
life on one occasion, and saved it on another. I will endeavor to be as
generous as himself, and pray that my duty may never interfere with my feelings.
(Whether the danger, intimated in the present note, threatens the
WHARTON home or his own party, the Captain is uncertain, but he inclines
to the latter opinion, and determines to beware how he rides abroad in the
dark. His reflections on the subject are more directed toward devising means
to entrap his enemies, than to escape their mechanisms.)
( But the arrival of the surgeon, who is returning from his daily visit
to the LOCUSTS, interrupts his meditations. Dr. SITGREAVES brings an invitation
from the mistress of the mansion to Capt LAWTON, desiring that the cottage
might be honored with his presence at an early hour on that evening.)
LAWTON: Ha! Then they have received a letter, also.
Dr. SITGREAVES: I think nothing more probable; there is a chaplain
at the cottage from the royal army, who has come out to exchange the British
wounded, and who has an order from Col. SINGLETON for their delivery. But
a more mad project than to remove them now was never adopted.
LAWTON: A priest, say you! - Is he a hard drinker - a real camp-idler
- a fellow to breed a famine in a regiment? or does he seem a man who is
in earnest in his trade?
SITGREAVES: A very respectable and orderly gentleman, and not unreasonably
given to intemperance, judging from the outward symptoms, and a man who
really says grace in a very regular and appropriate manner.
LAWTON: And does he stay the night?
SITGREAVES: Certainly, he waits for his cartel; but hasten, John,
we have but little time to waste. I will just step up and bleed two or three
of the Englishmen who are to move in the morning, in order to anticipate
inflammation, and be with you immediately.
(The gala suit of Capt. LAWTON is easily adjusted to his huge frame,
and, his companion being ready, they once more depart for the LOCUSTS.)
SCENE 54 - Sunset, foyer of WHARTON home
(The sun is throwing its setting rays across the valley, as Miss PEYTON
greets Capt. LAWTON and Dr. SITGREAVES with a smiling welcome, that exceeded
the bounds of ordinary courtesy, which flowed evidently more from feelings
of the heart, than from manner.)
(FRANCES glides about, tearful and agitated, while Mr. WHARTON stands
ready to receive them, decked in a suit of velvet, that would have been
conspicuous in the gayest drawing-room.)
(Col WELLMEYER is in the uniform of an officer of the household troops
of his prince, and ISABELLA SINGLETON sits in the parlor, clad in a habit
of joy, but with a countenance that belied her appearance, while her brother
lays at her side, with cheeks flitting color and an eye of intense interest.
As it is the third day he that had left his room, Dr SITGREAVES, who begins
to stare about him in stupid wonder, forgets to reprove his patient for
imprudence.)
(Capt LAWTON moves with all the composure and gravity of a man
whose nerves are not easily discomposed by novelties. His compliments are
received as graciously as they were offered, and after exchanging a few
words with the different individuals present, he approaches the surgeon,
who has withdrawn, in a kind of confused astonishment, to rally his senses.)
Dr, SITGREAVES: JOHN, what means this festival?
LAWTON: That your wig and my black head would look the better for
a little of BETTY FLANAGAN's flour; but it is too late now, and we must
fight the battle armed as you see.
SITGREAVES: Observe, here comes the army chaplain in his full robes,
as Doctor Divinitatis; what can it mean?
LAWTON: An exchange, the wounded of Cupid are to meet and settle their
accounts with the god, in the way of plighting faith to suffer from his
archery no more.
(The surgeon lays a finger on the side of his nose, and he begins to
comprehend the case.)
LAWTON: Is it not a crying shame, that a sunshine-hero, an enemy,
should thus be suffered to steal away one of the fairest plants that grows
in our soil, a flower fit to be placed in the bosom of any man?
SITGREAVES: If he be not more accommodating as a husband than as a
patient, JOHN, I fear me that the lady will lead a troubled life.
LAWTON: Let her, she has chosen from her country's enemies, and may
she meet with a foreigner's virtues in her choice.
(Their discussion is interrupted by Miss PEYTON, who advancing, acquaints
them that they have been invited to grace the nuptials of her eldest niece
and Colonel WELLMEYER. The two gentlemen bow, and the good aunt, with an
inherent love of propriety, continues on to add, that the acquaintance is
of an old date, and the attachment by no means a sudden thing. To this LAWTON
merely bows still more ceremoniously; but the surgeon, who loves to hold
converse with the virgin, replies -)
SITGREAVES: The human mind is differently constituted in different
individuals. In some, impressions are vivid and transitory; in others, more
deep and lasting. Indeed, there are some philosophers who pretend to trace
a connection between the physical and mental powers of the animal; but,
for my part, madam, I believe that the one is much influenced by habit and
association, and the other subject altogether to the peculiar laws of matter.
(Miss PEYTON bows her silent assent to this remark, and retires with
dignity to usher the intended bridge into the presence of the company.)
(The hour has arrived when American custom has decreed that the vows
of wedlock must be exchanged; and the aunt exited, to return shortly with
SARAH, blushing with a variety of emotions, follows her aunt into the drawing-room.)
(WELLMEYER springs to his feet to receive the hand that , with an averted
face, she extends toward him, and for the first time, the English Colonel
appears fully conscious of the important part that he is to act in the approaching
ceremony.)
(Hitherto his air has been abstracted, and his manner uneasy; but
everything, excepting the certainty of his bliss, seems to vanish at the
blaze of loveliness that now burst on his sight. All rise from their seats,
and the reverend has already opened the sacred volume, when the absence
of FRANCES is noticed. Miss PEYTON withdraws in search of her younger niece.) | 