THE FOOL ACT I.
Reading edition
Scene: The Church of the Nativity. New York.
The set, representing only the chancel, is as deep as possible, so that, even when its foreground is brightly illuminated, the detail back of that is lost in shadows. Pierced by three fine stained glass windows, the rear wall looms above the altar, on which the candles are not lighted. In front of that is the sanctuary, and, in front of that, the communion rail, with three steps to the stage. Just right of these steps is a very tall and beautiful Christmas tree. The tree has been expensively trimmed, and has a practical connection for an electric-lighted ornament still to be placed at its top. Down R., a door to the choir room, and, down L., a door to the parish house and the street. These doors are exactly alike. Down L., two folding wooden chairs that have been brought in for temporary use. A tall stepladder L. of the tree, facing front. Down R., two wooden boxes of ornaments, that on top open and half emptied. There is a pile of tissue-wrapped and ribboned packages under the tree, and a general litter of gifts, boxes, and crumpled paper everywhere. The Church of the Nativity is fashionable and luxurious; the effect of the set must be that of a peeping into a building spacious, magnificent, and majestic.
At Rise: Christmas Eve, 1918. The act begins in bright day-light—about half past three in the afternoon—so that the early winter twilight may have set in before its end. The sun's rays now come through a stained-glass window above the door L., so that the R. of the stage is bathed in white, the C. in blue, and the L. in a deep straw. Two women and a girl are discovered. Mrs. Henry Gilliam, bending over the box down L., is fat, forty, rich and self-satisfied. Her daughter, Daffodil, commonly called "Dilly," perched upon the ladder, is a "flapper." As regards her mind, this means that, at twenty, she is wise and witty, cynical and confident, worldly and material beyond her elders. Physically, she is pretty, and, of course, has not hesitated to help out nature wherever she has thought it advisable. Considering what has been spent on her education, she is surprisingly ignorant and discourteous, particularly to her mother, who bores her dreadfully. Leila Thornbury is a divorcee; thirty, smart, good-looking, with something feverish in her face, in her eyes, in her movements. Deliberately attractive to men, she is disliked, in proportion, by women. All three are very expensively dressed. Mrs. Thornbury has laid aside a fur coat on the cost of which twenty families might have lived a year. She is at the end of the stage, concerned with a number of dolls and other toys.
Mrs. Gilliam
[Turning with some ornament, on a level with her eyes she observes a generous view of Dilly's nether limbs]: Dilly, for pity's sake, pull down your skirt! [As Dilly pays no attention, she continues to Mrs. Thornbury] I don't know what skirts are coming to!
Dilly
They're not coming to the ground, mother. You can be sure of that!
Mrs. Gilliam
What I can't understand is why our young women want to go around looking like chorus girls!
Mrs. Thornbury
Perhaps they've noticed the kind of men that marry chorus girls.
Dilly
Salesmanship, mother, begins with a willingness to show goods.
Mrs. Gilliam
Dilly! Pull down your skirt!
Dilly
I can't! That's all there is; there isn't any more!
Mrs. Thornbury
[Holding up two dolls]: What are we going to do with these?
Mrs. Gilliam
[Despairingly surveying the profusion]: Goodness knows!
Mrs. Thornbury
I've two engagements before dinner, and I've got to go home and undress for the opera.
Dilly
I gave up a dance for this.
Mrs. Gilliam
A dance at this hour?
Dilly
People dance at any hour, mother.
Mrs. Gilliam
What do they do it for?
Dilly
For something to do. [To Mrs. Thornbury] We're young and we've got to have life and gaiety; haven't we, Mrs. Thornbury?
Mrs. Thornbury
We've got to have something. I don't know what it is, but I know we have to keep going to get it.
Mrs. Gilliam
But you all waste your time so dreadfully. I'm busy, too, but my life is given to the service of others.
Dilly
What could be sweeter?
Mrs. Gilliam
Dilly! Nobody knows better than you that I've never had a selfish thought! Mr. Gilliam——
Dilly
Of the Gilliam Groceries, Inc.
Mrs. Gilliam
Mr. Gilliam says I'm far too good!
Mrs. Thornbury
We agree with him, Mrs. Gilliam.
Mrs. Gilliam
Only yesterday I gave five hundred pounds of coffee and sugar to the Salvation Army!
Dilly
And today father jumped the price of sugar to thirty-two cents!
Mrs. Thornbury
Now—Dilly!
Mrs. Gilliam
[With rising emotion]: One gets precious little reward.... I can tell you! I sent helpful thoughts from the Bible to all Mr. Gilliam's employes! Now they're on strike, and the man that got "Be content with your wages" is leading the strikers!... Where's the Star of Bethlehem? [To conceal her agitation, she has turned to the box.]
Dilly
It doesn't work, mother.
Mrs. Thornbury
Are those your husband's men—on the front steps?
Mrs. Gilliam
Oh, no! Those are people from the sweat shops! They're starving, I hear, and Mr. Gilliam says it serves 'em right! [Bringing forth a small case] What's the matter with the Star of Bethlehem?
Dilly
Oh, the usual! Whoever heard of the lights working on a Christmas Tree?
Mrs. Gilliam
[Holding up the star]: But this must work. Mrs. Tice had it made to order—of Parisian diamonds. It cost a hundred dollars.
Dilly
[Reaching for the gewgaw]: All right! It's better than nothing! [She takes it, and starts to ascend] Hold the ladder, mother! It wiggles! [Mrs. Gilliam obeys.]
Mrs. Thornbury
[She has ribboned both dolls, and sets that just finished beside its companion on the chair]: There! [Rises] I'm half dead, and there can't be any more presents! [Starts up for her coat] I'd give my left hand for a cigarette!
Mrs. Gilliam
Not here!
Mrs. Thornbury
I don't know why not. We've had almost everything else.
Dilly
Mother's so Mid-Victorian! And ministers are finding they've got to do something to make church-going attractive. What do we get out of it now? I've heard of preachers who go in for dances and movies, and they draw crowds, too. Naturally! Who wouldn't go to church to get a squint at Douglas Fairbanks? [She has hung the star] I'm through!
Mrs. Gilliam
Then come down.
Dilly
Believe me, I'm glad to get off this thing! [She descends unsteadily] When I think I broke an engagement with the best fox-trotter in New York to do a shimmy with a ladder——
[Mr. Barnaby, package-laden, enters L. He is the sexton, and of the age, manner and appearance peculiar to sextons] Oh, Mr. Barnaby!
Mrs. Thornbury
[Turns and is appalled at his burden]: What have you got?
Mr. Barnaby
Some more presents.
Mrs. Gilliam
Good Lord!
Mr. Barnaby
[Deposits his bundles on the steps L.C.]: Mrs. Tice brought them. She and Mr. Jerry Goodkind. [Mrs. Gilliam nudges Dilly] They're just coming in.
Mrs. Gilliam
[Sotto voce]: Dilly, powder your nose! [Dilly takes her bag from the communion rail, and obeys] Mr. Barnaby, our star won't light. Will you see if you can fix it? [Mr. Barnaby's mind is on Mrs. Tice. She is much too rich to open a door. He is edging L.]
Mrs. Thornbury
And Mr. Barnaby—— [Voices off L.]
Mr. Barnaby
One moment!
[He opens the door L. Enter Mrs. Tice followed by Jerry Goodkind. Mrs. Tice has just entered middle-age, and refuses to shut the door behind her. Her wealth, which has given her an air of great authority, has made it possible for her to look a smartly-dressed young matron. The truth is that she is clinging to youth in an ever-lessening hope of "keeping" her husband. Beneath the "air of authority" is something cowed, and worried, and unhappy. Just so, beneath the smiling, careless surface of Jerry lies iron. He can be very ugly when he wishes, and he is always sufficiently determined to get what he wants, though he gets it generally by showing the urbane surface. Jerry would describe himself as a "kidder." He is 35; sleek, well-groomed, and perfectly satisfied with himself. His most engaging point is a perpetual smile.]
Mrs. Tice
Hello, everybody! ["Everybody" returns the greeting] Who are those people on the church steps? A lot of dirty foreigners blocking the sidewalk!
Mr. Barnaby
It's the grating, Mrs. Tice. The furnace room's underneath, and they're trying to keep warm.
Mrs. Tice
Well, let 'em try somewhere else! [Recollection of unpleasant contact causes her to brush her coat] I don't mean to be unkind, but there must be missions or something!
[Mr. Barnaby removes the coat, and then climbs to attend to the star]
Mrs. Thornbury
We didn't hope to see you here, Mr. Goodkind.
Mrs. Tice
I met him in front of Tiffany's!
Jerry
The most dangerous corner in New York!
Mrs. Tice
And lured him here by mentioning that Clare Jewett was helping us.
Dilly
Somebody page Mr. Gilchrist!
Mrs. Gilliam
Dilly! What a way of saying that Clare is engaged to the assistant rector!... Dilly's looking well today, isn't she, Mr. Goodkind? So young, and——
Jerry
And fresh.
Dilly
Oh, boy!
Mrs. Tice
Do come and see what I've got for the girls of the Bible Class!
Mrs. Thornbury
Testaments?
Mrs. Tice
That's just it; I haven't! Bibles are so bromidic! I want to give them something they can really use! And it's so hard to think of presents for those girls; they've got everything! [Opening a small parcel she has withheld from Mr. Barnaby] Guess how I've solved the problem!
Mrs. Thornbury
I can't!
Mrs. Gilliam
I haven't an idea!
Dilly
I'm dying to know!
Mrs. Tice
[Impressively. Displaying the gift]: Sterling silver vanity cases!
Dilly
[Taking it]: How ducky!
Mrs. Thornbury
Charming!
Mrs. Gilliam
An inspiration!
Dilly
[Showing it to Jerry]: All complete—lip-stick, powder and some nice, red rouge.
Jerry
[Cynically]: To put on before you pray?
Dilly
Precisely. To put on—before we—prey!
Mrs. Thornbury
[Gathering up her coat]: Well, good people, this is where I leave you!
Mrs. Gilliam
[With the air of one bereft]: Oh, Mrs. Thornbury!
Mrs. Thornbury
I've done my "one kind deed" today, and I've an engagement for dinner.
Jerry
Permit me. [Helping her.] Some coat!
Mrs. Thornbury
Yes ... thanks.... See you all tomorrow at the Christmas Service! Good-bye, everybody! And Mr. Goodkind! Miss Jewett's wrapping things in the choir room! [Everybody laughs. She exits L.]
Mr. Barnaby
I'll just try those lights. [Exits L.]
Mrs. Gilliam
She has an engagement for dinner, but you notice she didn't say with whom! I don't think they ought to allow divorced women in the church!
Mrs. Tice
[Virtuously]: The church won't marry them!
Mrs. Gilliam
That's the trouble!
Dilly
[Indicating]: The church will let 'em give stained glass windows!
Mrs. Gilliam
Where does she get all her money?
Mrs. Tice
Billy settled for thirty-six thousand a year!
Jerry
[With growing amusement]: Think of getting thirty-six thousand a year out of munitions!... Gee, what a lot of lives that coat must have cost!
[Everybody laughs, and, on the laugh, enter Dr. Wadham. He is not the stage clergyman. On the contrary, he is a very pleasant and plausible person—plausible because he believes implicitly in himself. He has passed sixty, and has a really kind heart. But he has had no experience with life, and he has never been uncomfortable.]
Dilly
[Hearing the door closed, looks around. Surprised]: Here's Dr. Wadham!
Mrs. Gilliam
Why, Doctor!
Mrs. Tice
We didn't know you were back.
Jerry
I didn't know you'd been away, Doctor.
Dr. Wadham
[Shakes hands]: Ten days; attending a Conference on the Proper Use of Eucharistic Candles. It's a subject on which I feel rather strongly. [Turns R.] It's pleasant to see you, Mrs. Tice. And Miss Daffodil.
Mrs. Gilliam
Isn't Dilly looking wonderful?
Dr. Wadham
Quite wonderful! [Glancing at the tree] And what a beautiful tree! The star lights up, I suppose.
Dilly
Well, we have hopes!
Dr. Wadham
Don't let me interrupt. I've only dropped in to keep an appointment with the wardens.
Mrs. Gilliam
We're all through, except for putting these gifts under the tree. [She busies herself with that task] Miss Jewett will be in with hers any minute. [Jerry, who has been contemplating an excursion to the choir room, returns from the door, and helps Mrs. Gilliam] The star is real imitation diamonds. A gift from Mrs. Tice.
Mrs. Tice
[Joining Dr. Wadham L.C.]: Speaking of gifts, Doctor——
Dr. Wadham
Yes, dear lady.
Mrs. Tice
My husband wanted me to have a little talk with you about his check.
[She pauses for encouragement, finding what she has been told to say a trifle difficult] You know, he promised five thousand dollars to beautify the parlor of the Parish House.
Dr. Wadham
[Foreseeing trouble]: Oh, yes.
Mrs. Tice
And since then—well, frankly, Doctor, John was very much upset about last Sunday's sermon. Mr. Gilchrist preached from the text about the rich man entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Dr. Wadham
Always a trifle dangerous.
Mrs. Tice
Yes, and last Sunday it seemed as if he were directing all his remarks at John. We're in the first pew, you know, and John says he doesn't like to complain, but there's getting to be altogether too much of this—Bolshevism. John says the preachers are more than half to blame for the present social unrest. I heard the sermon, and I agree with John that some of it was positively insulting!
Dr. Wadham
Mr. Gilchrist is young.
Jerry
Mr. Gilchrist is a nut!
Mrs. Tice
Do you know what he said, Doctor? He said all this—"decking the church"—was making an accomplice of God. He said we couldn't take credit to ourselves for returning a small portion of our ill-gotten gains!
Mrs. Gilliam
Small portion! When I've just given away five hundred pounds of coffee!
Mrs. Tice
He said charity wasn't giving away what you didn't want!
Mrs. Gilliam
It was good coffee, too! Our second best coffee!
Mrs. Tice
Of course, what John objected to was the reference to rents—to charging clerks and bookkeepers more than they could pay for "wretched little flats." John says he doesn't come here to be told how to run his business!
Mrs. Gilliam
Quite right! And I don't pay seven thousand dollars a year to hear my husband's coffee roasted!
[They all laugh—the more because of the previous tension. Mrs. Gilliam, surprised at first, sees the point, and joins in the laughter.]
Well, you understand what I mean!
Dr. Wadham
We understand, Mrs. Gilliam.
Mrs. Gilliam
Personally, I'm very fond of Mr. Gilchrist. His father had stock in our stores. But I don't think he's a good influence. This used to be a really exclusive church. Now, whenever Mr. Gilchrist preaches, there's such a crush of undesirable people in the galleries you can hardly get to your pew. We don't have that trouble with Dr. Wadham!
[Clare Jewett enters R., her arms full of parcels. Clare is 28. Smartly dressed, though in a fashion that suggests thought rather than expenditure, and pretty, in spite of a certain hardness. The next sentence arrests her, and she stands in the doorway; not eavesdropping, but not interrupting.]
Mrs. Tice
Mr. Gilchrist was such a promising young man!
Mrs. Gilliam
So rich, and happy!
Dilly
[Tantalising Jerry]: And in love!
Dr. Wadham
He's still rich, and in love, and, I think, he's still happy.
Jerry
I've told you; he's a nut!
Mrs. Gilliam
I wonder if that's it. Don't laugh! He wasn't like this before he went overseas as chaplain. Is it possible he was gassed—or something?
Clare
Here's another armful of presents.
Dr. Wadham
Oh, how do you do, Miss Jewett?
Clare
I'm very well, thank you.
Jerry
[Starting to her]: Hello, Clare! This is a——
Mrs. Gilliam
[Intercepting him C.]: Surprise! Ha! And you've been waiting for her half an hour!
Clare
[To Mrs. Gilliam]: I'm afraid we'll have to get Mr. Barnaby. There are so many packages.
Dr. Wadham
Can't I help?
Clare
Will you, Doctor? And Mr. Hinkle's in there praying for someone to consult about the Christmas music.
Dr. Wadham
I told Mr. Hinkle the choir'd better begin by singing, "Peace, Perfect Peace, With the Loved Ones Far Away."
[Dilly laughs and turns up L., chanting "My Wife's Gone to the Country." Scandalized, Mrs. Gilliam hushes her.]
Mrs. Tice
And, Doctor! About the Parish House ... shall I tell my husband you'll speak to Mr. Gilchrist?
Dr. Wadham
Yes, I think you may even tell him that's why we're here today. [He exits R.]
Mrs. Gilliam
Dilly, do hurry!
Mrs. Tice
Can't I drive you home?
Mrs. Gilliam
Thank you so much! Good-bye, Miss Jewett. Good-bye, Mr. Goodkind. We must arrange for you to come up to dinner as soon as the holidays are over. [He bows] Dilly, say "good-bye" to Mr. Goodkind!
Dilly
Goodbye-ee!
[Mr. Barnaby re-enters L. The door closing attracts Mrs. Gilliam]
Mrs. Gilliam
Oh, Mr. Barnaby, how about the lights?
Mr. Barnaby
I think the trouble's outside.
Mrs. Gilliam
You'll be sure to fix it? [Mr. Barnaby nods.]
Mrs. Tice
And will you put us in the car? [Mr. Barnaby nods again, and goes L.] I rather dread that mob at the door. [She follows, groping in her bag for a bill to give Mr. Barnaby] Good-bye, Mr. Goodkind ... and Miss Jewett, and, if I don't see you tomorrow, a Merry, Merry Christmas!
[There is a chorus of repetitions of this wish, amid which exeunt Mrs. Tice, Mrs. Gilliam, Dilly and Mr. Barnaby.]
Clare
It's funny to find you in church.
Jerry
Why? My father's the senior warden.
Clare
[Laughs and takes up a parcel]: Whatever else you inherit, Jerry, it's not likely to be religion!
Jerry
Religion doesn't trouble the old man much—except Sundays. I came here to see you.
Clare
Why?
Jerry
You've been avoiding me.
Clare
Nonsense! Come help me with these parcels.
Jerry
I want to talk to you.
Clare
That's just it, Jerry. You always want to talk to me, and always to say something I don't want to hear.
Jerry
Why not?
Clare
[Simply, but not very surely]: I'm in love with someone else!
Jerry
You're what?
Clare
[Looking defiantly into the mocking face quite close to hers and, this time, with conviction]: I'm in love with someone else!
Jerry
You're in love with Clare Jewett!
Clare
You're very rude. I'm engaged to Mr. Gilchrist, and he loves me, and believes in me, and your sense of decency and fair play ...
Jerry
Inherited from my father?
Clare
... should keep you from proposing to a woman who's going to marry ...
Jerry
You're not going to marry Mr. Gilchrist. [He lounges against the ladder.] What's the use bluffing? We've known each other since childhood. You know I'm not going to give up anything I want because it belongs to somebody else. And I know you're not going to give up what you want—comfort and luxury—for a crazy man who wears his collar hind-side before!
Clare
Jerry!
Jerry
Now that's admitted, let's go on.
Clare
Mr. Gilchrist isn't exactly poverty-stricken!
Jerry
No; he got quite a lot of money from his father. You like him and when you said "yes," you thought you were getting somebody you liked, and all the rest of it, too. But something's gone wrong with Gilchrist, and you know it!
Clare
Why do you say that?
Jerry
Because, if you didn't before, you heard this afternoon. I saw you standing in the door. And I'm going to tell you a few things more!
Clare
I don't want to listen!
Jerry
Maybe—but you will! Do you know that your young trouble-hunter has given away nearly one-tenth of his capital in three months?
Clare
No, and I don't believe it!
Jerry
All right; ask my father! The old man has his money in trust! Gilchrist won't touch his income from Gilliam Groceries, because they're profiteering, and he's preaching such anarchy that both wardens are coming this afternoon to complain to Dr. Wadham! I don't want you to throw yourself away on a raving bug!
Clare
And your advice is——
Jerry
Marry me. I'm a nice fellow, too—and I can give you what you really care about. You're over your ears in debt, without any chance of paying up—or cutting down. And you are, shall we say, twenty-nine in October? I know what it cost you when your father died, and you had to come down a peg. You don't want to keep on—coming down, do you?
Clare
And so—you advise me to marry you?
Jerry
Yes.
Clare
[Looking at him squarely and significantly]: Knowing all I do know about you?
Jerry
I don't see how that concerns you.
Clare
It proves you don't love me.
Jerry
I want you, and I'm offering marriage to get you.
Clare
You haven't said one word of love.
Jerry
I've said: "What's the use bluffing?" I'm no movie hero—and no crazy dreamer. I'm a little shop-worn, perhaps—maybe, a little soiled—but I'm sane, and I'm solvent. You're good-looking, and smart, and a lady. You'll help my standing and I'll help your credit. For the rest—we needn't bother each other too much.... What do you say?
Clare
I say it's—revoltingly—sordid!
Jerry
[Looks at her an instant]: All right! [Takes out his watch, looks at that, and crosses to L.] You think it's sordid at 3.45 on Christmas Eve. Well, keep your ears and your mind open, and see how you feel in the morning. My telephone's six nine four two Rhinelander—and this is the last time I shall ask you! [Puts his hand on the knob].
Clare
Wait! [He turns back] Whatever you believe of me, I love Mr. Gilchrist!
Jerry
Rhinelander six nine four two.
Clare
And, what's more, I'm going to marry him!
Jerry
Rhinelander six nine four two.
Clare
Jerry, I think you're the most detestable person I've ever known in my life!
Jerry
[Laughing]: Rhinelander six ... nine ... four ... two!
[He exits L., leaving Clare humiliated and fuming. She stands still a moment, and then starts to exit R. At the tree, she throws down the parcels she is still carrying, and, as she does so, Dr. Wadham re-enters R.]
Dr. Wadham
Why ... Miss Jewett!
Clare
I'm nervous!... I want to finish up and go home!
[She exits R. Dr. Wadham looks after her; then picks up the parcels. Jerry's father, George Goodkind, enters L. He is about the Doctor's age—sixty—but he has had vast experience with life, and he enjoys comfort now because he has been very uncomfortable. Goodkind is much like any other successful business man you might meet—and like—at dinner. He is brisk and economical of time, but pleasant, and, unless his interests are involved, extremely amiable. He does what he conceives to be his duty by his family, his community, and his God, and feels that all three should appreciate it.]
Dr. Wadham
Ah ... Mr. Goodkind! [Glances at his watch] You're early!
Goodkind
How do you do, Doctor? [Puts down his hat] Walked out of a meeting. I don't like letting religion interfere with business, but I wanted to get here before Benfield. It's about young Gilchrist.
Dr. Wadham
Shall we go into my study?
Goodkind
Benfield's coming here, and I've only a few minutes. Did you know Gilchrist proposes to preach a Christmas sermon about the strike?
Dr. Wadham
What strike?
Goodkind
This garment strike. He announced his subject from the pulpit, and Benfield's furious.
Dr. Wadham
Mr. Benfield isn't interested in clothing.
Goodkind
No, but he's invested heavily in my West Virginia coal mines, and down there we're on the verge of the biggest walk-out in our history. You see what I mean?
Dr. Wadham
Yes.
Goodkind
The labor problem's none of the church's business. Or any outsider's business. It's a worrisome subject, and there's no good stirring it up. That's what you want to tell Gilchrist!
Dr. Wadham
I have told him ... frequently.
Goodkind
And what's the answer?
Dr. Wadham
He says every problem ought to be the church's business, and that, until the church becomes a power in live issues, it isn't a power in life!
Goodkind
He won't listen to reason?
Dr. Wadham
No.
Goodkind
Then he'll have to listen to something else. If he persists about this Christmas sermon—[Barnaby enters L. Goodkind turns. Impatiently] What is it, Barnaby?
Mr. Barnaby
There's a man out there wants to see Mr. Gilchrist.
Goodkind
What kind of a man?
Mr. Barnaby
[Indifferently]: A poor man. I think he's a Jew.
Goodkind
Who ever heard of a poor Jew?
Dr. Wadham
Mr. Gilchrist isn't here.
Mr. Barnaby
I told him that, but he won't go away. I wanted to ask had I better send for the police?
Dr. Wadham
Oh, I wouldn't do that!
Mr. Barnaby
Why don't he go over to the Synagogue instead of hanging around a Christian Church? Mr. Gilchrist gave this fellow his overcoat. I suppose he's come back for the gloves!
Dr. Wadham
Tell him I'll speak to Mr. Gilchrist. [Mr. Barnaby shakes his head despairingly and exits.]
Goodkind
Well, there you are, and what I wanted to talk about privately is ... what's got into the boy? Has he gone crazy?
Dr. Wadham
I've asked myself that. I've asked myself if what he saw in France——
Goodkind
Exactly. A lot of young fellows go off the handle and start out to reform the world, but this lad has run through twenty thousand dollars in less than three months!
Dr. Wadham
In addition to his salary?
Goodkind
Yes. I could understand if he'd spent the money on himself, but he hasn't! He's given it away! [Dr. Wadham shakes his head] Gilchrist's father was my first partner, and I got the boy in here, and I feel responsible for him. As trustee, I can refuse to turn over another penny of his principal, and, as senior warden, I can demand his resignation from this church. But I want him to have every chance. Tell him if he'll get a grip on himself, and reconsider tomorrow's sermon—— [Enter Benfield L.] Here's Benfield!
["Charlie" Benfield is fifty, and a "rough diamond." He is self-made, and proud of it, though nothing really good—nothing of education, or refinement, or knowledge and appreciation of fine things—has gone into the making. He is arrogant, domineering, used to having his own way, and to sweeping aside obstacles. He comes in with his hat on his head, and it is a minute later, when Dr. Wadham's glance makes him aware of the fact, that he removes it.]
Benfield
Hello, George! Howd'y', Doctor! Am I late?
Dr. Wadham
[Benfield's very presence makes him nervous]: We've been waiting for you. Hadn't we better retire to my study if we're going to discuss Mr. Gilchrist?
Benfield
We're not! We've been discussing long enough! All I got to say now is: Gilchrist leaves this church or I do!
Goodkind
Now wait a minute!
Dr. Wadham
Isn't that a little mandatory?
Benfield
I don't know what it is, but it goes! I've worked hard all my life, and now this fellow gets up and tells me what I've worked for is nothing, and that I'm nothing, and all my ideas is wrong!
Dr. Wadham
He didn't say that.
Benfield
Oh, yes, he did—last Sunday and every Sunday! I've got two million dollars tied up in Black River mines, and I'm not paying to have the socialist papers down there print that my own minister is in favor of strikes!
Goodkind
Wait a minute, Charlie! That's not the tone to take to Dr. Wadham! We all feel that Gilchrist has gone too far, and we're agreed——
Benfield
Does he preach tomorrow?
Goodkind
We're agreed that if he insists on preaching about the strike——
Benfield
He goes?
Goodkind
He goes!
Benfield
All right. And if he don't insist?
Goodkind
He stays.
Benfield
And I go! [He gets his hat and returns. Daniel Gilchrist enters L.] You can decide which of us is the most valu'ble to your church! Because I tell you again—and straight—this church ain't big enough for Gilchrist and me!
Daniel
[Smiling]: A church that isn't big enough for two little men, Mr. Benfield, must be somewhat crowded for God!
[Benfield cannot trust himself to answer. He jams his hat upon his head, and exits L. Gilchrist is 33. He was a football hero at college, and shows it. He was a gentleman before he went to college, and he has been one ever since, and he shows that, too. What he doesn't show is what one expects in a "reformer"—narrowness, hardness, something forbidding. An ascetic, beyond doubt, self-denial has only made him trim and fit. The goodness that shines in his face is partly good humor. He has honest eyes, with fire in them, and there is strength and zeal back of that—strength and zeal that will leave their mark later. As yet, his exaltation is chiefly in his smile. His great gift is charm—and sympathy. At this moment, he wears no overcoat, and is glowing from the cold. Still smiling, he looks after Benfield.]
Dr. Wadham
[Embarrassed]: Mr. Benfield is a little—ah—a little——
Daniel
Yes; a little.
[Goodkind crosses for his hat, and observes Daniel, who is chafing his wrists.]
Goodkind
Pneumonia weather, Daniel! Where's your overcoat?
Daniel
Outside.
Goodkind
Oh, yes. There's a man out there, too, who says he won't go 'way until he sees you. [He joins Daniel] Dan, you're an awfully decent fellow, but I still think you made a mistake going into the church. If you ever want to talk it over with me, I'd be glad to help you—any time! You know that! Good-bye, Doctor! Good-bye, Dan, and a Merry Christmas! [He exits L.]
Dr. Wadham
Daniel, you're in trouble.
Daniel
[Smiling]: Doctor, I'm used to it.
Dr. Wadham
This time it's serious. I've warned you often. I don't see how you can have been so blind.
Daniel
I haven't been blind.
Dr. Wadham
Then you don't care for your position in this church.
Daniel
[With feeling]: There's only one thing I care for more.
Dr. Wadham
And that is?
Daniel
To be worthy of it.
Dr. Wadham
When you're as old as I am, Daniel, you'll understand that being honest doesn't necessarily mean being disagreeable.
Daniel
Doesn't it mean—telling the truth?
Dr. Wadham
Do you know the truth, Daniel?
Daniel
Yes; don't you? Doesn't every man—in his heart? And if we want to keep it in our hearts, and never think about it or look it in the face, shouldn't someone pry open the door and cry: "Behold"?... I didn't tell them anything they didn't know, Doctor. I don't know anything they don't know. I just reminded them——
Dr. Wadham
[Exploding on the last word]: That we were heathen!
Daniel
That we were Christians, and every man our brother, and that we were sitting, overdressed and overfed, in a Christian Church, while our brother froze and starved—outside—in a Christian World!
Dr. Wadham
That isn't fair! These good people have given——
Daniel
Given—what cost them nothing! Frumpery and trumpery and diamond stars! That's how all of us give—what we don't need; what we don't even want!... You're a good man, Doctor, and, honestly, what would you say tomorrow if your wife told you she'd sold her rings, and given the money to the poor?
Dr. Wadham
Why, I——
Daniel
You'd say she was crazy!
Dr. Wadham
But there's no necessity——
Daniel
Oh, yes, there is! There'll be people lying in the parks tonight. What would Mrs. Tice say if I invited them to sleep in her pew?
Dr. Wadham
That there's no reason why she should share dirt and disease!
Daniel
Exactly! We may believe in the brotherhood of man, but we know about germs! We're not sure what is truth, but there's one thing we are sure of, and mean to be sure of, and that's our own comfort! You know that, and I know it, and they know it—but we mustn't say it! All right; in God's name, what are we to say?
Dr. Wadham
[Who has been nervously regarding this raving as confirming the worst fears of Mr. Goodkind]: Precisely. And that brings us to tomorrow's sermon. I understand you intend to talk about the strike. [Dan nods "Yes"] And that's not a very pleasant subject for Christmas. Wouldn't it be more fitting to preach from the text, "Glory to God in the Highest"?
Daniel
"And on earth, Peace, good will toward men"?
Dr. Wadham
[Delighted]: Yes! You might say, "There are many kinds of peace——"
Daniel
But there aren't!
Dr. Wadham
There is physical peace—peace that came with the end of this cruel war!
Daniel
There is no peace! There is only fear—and hate—and vanity—and lust, and envy, and greed—of men and nations! There are only people preying on one another, and a hungry horde at the very doors of your church!... My text will be: "And Peter followed afar off."
Dr. Wadham
I don't understand.
Daniel
[Into his tone, hitherto indignantly human, comes something mystic—something divine]: We all follow—afar off.
Dr. Wadham
[Alarmed; not at the words, but at that "something divine"]: Daniel ... my dear fellow!
Daniel
Don't worry. I'm quite sane. Only—I've been wondering about that for a long time.
Dr. Wadham
Wondering?
Daniel
What would happen if anybody really tried to live like Christ.
Dr. Wadham
[Shaking his head]: It can't be done.
Daniel
Isn't it worth trying? Men risk their lives—every day—in experiments far less worth while. We've had centuries of "fear, and hate, and greed"—and where have they brought us? Why not try love?
Dr. Wadham
How can you make them try?
Daniel
By showing that it would work.
Dr. Wadham
It won't work, Daniel. It's a beautiful ideal, but it won't work. Times have changed, and things are different. Life isn't as simple as it was two thousand years ago. The trouble with you, Daniel, is that you're not practical.
Daniel
I wonder.
Dr. Wadham
And the great need of the church is practical men. We mustn't take the Scriptures too literally. We must try to interpret their spirit. And, above all, we must please our congregations, or we shan't have any. And then what becomes of our influence? Better fall back on my text for tomorrow, Daniel.
Daniel
I can't.
Dr. Wadham
At least, you must promise not to discuss the strike.
Daniel
I can't do that, Doctor.
Dr. Wadham
Or else let me take the pulpit.
Daniel
I won't do that! [A pause.]
Dr. Wadham
Very well! Preach your Christmas sermon, and afterward——
Daniel
Yes?
Dr. Wadham
I think you may find a greater field of usefulness elsewhere. [A long pause. The men look at each other, and then Daniel turns away to conceal his emotion. He goes up for his hat, and returns.] I'm sorry, Daniel. I know you've been very happy in your work here. I know how failure hurts. But you saw it coming, and you wouldn't turn aside.
Daniel
[He looks up with flashing eyes]: The man who turns away from his vision—lies! [Shakes hands] It's all right, Doctor. [He crosses L. Clare Jewett, ready for the street, enters R.]
Dr. Wadham
[Brightly]: Well, Miss Jewett! [Daniel hears the name and stops. He is consoled by her very presence] What's happened to the choir?
Clare
Mr. Hinkle cut his finger. I've been applying first aid.
Dr. Wadham
Woman's traditional mission—to bind our wounds.
[He turns to exit, and sees Daniel. He is struck by the double significance of his remark, and the timeliness of Clare's arrival.]
Well, I must be going! Step into my study in the morning, Daniel, and we'll have a look at your sermon! [He exits L. From here the lights dim very slowly.]
Clare
I hope I never see another doll! Got anything on your mind, Dan?
Daniel
[Quickly]: What do you——
Clare
I mean anything special to do?
Daniel
Oh!—No.
Clare
Take me home.
Daniel
[He beams]: I'm getting my Christmas present early! [Gets his hat.]
Clare
Where's your coat?
Daniel
Outside. That is—I lent it to a friend. Oh, I've got another—somewhere!
Clare
But you can't go out without a coat. [Looks at wrist watch] Anyway, I told the taxi man to come back at half past four. That's the worst of not having a car. Well, we may as well sit down! [He assists her, but his mind is afar.] What's the matter with you, Dan?
Daniel
Nothing important.
Clare
There will be if you insist on going around without an overcoat! [Looking at him narrowly] You're too generous. [He is still afar.]
I say you're too generous! How are we going to be married if you go on giving things away?
Daniel
[Laughs]: Is generosity a fault in a husband?
Clare
That depends. Is it true you've been giving away—well—large sums of money?
Daniel
Who told you that?
Clare
A little bird. [He laughs] And that you've refused to take part of your income?
Daniel
Little bird tell you that?
Clare
Yes.
Daniel
Must have been a cuckoo!
Clare
Is it true?
Daniel
About the money? Yes.
Clare
Why?
Daniel
Well, there's the strike, and a good deal of unemployment, and I've got so much. Why—I've got you!
Clare
[Rises]: Let's not talk about it now. [She turns L. Hesitates; looks at her wrist watch; looks off L.] Yes; let's!—You're so changed. I hardly know you. We don't seem to want the same things any more.
Daniel
What do you want, Clare?
Clare
I want to be happy.
Daniel
That's exactly what I want!
Clare
How can anybody be happy without money?
Daniel
How can anybody be happy with it? Anyway, do you think people are? Happier than the people who just have enough?
Clare
In our day and age there's nothing worse than poverty! There's nothing more degrading than having to scrimp, and save, and do without, and keep up appearances! I've tried it ... ever since my father died ... and I know! I can't do it any longer, and I won't!
Daniel
Clare!
Clare
[She turns away, and comes back somewhat calmer]: I don't want to quarrel with you, Dan. I just want you to be sensible.... I love you, but I love the good things of life, too. I like to be warm and comfortable.
Daniel
You can be sure of that.
Clare
But that's only the beginning. I want good clothes, and furs, and my car, and money to spend when I like. I want my own house, and my own servants, and a husband who amounts to something. I'm no different from other women of my class.
Daniel
I hoped you were.
Clare
A year or two ago people thought you were going to be a Bishop. Today you've made an enemy of every influential man in the church. All that may be very noble, but I'm not noble, and I don't pretend to be. I don't feel any call to sacrifice myself for others, and I don't think you have any right to ask it!
Daniel
I do ask it, Clare.
Clare
You mean you're going on like this?
Daniel
I mean I can't give you expensive clothes, and servants, and a big house while all about us people are hungry.
Clare
What do you propose to give me?
Daniel
A chance to help.
Clare
To help wash the dishes, I suppose, in a three-room flat in a side street!
Daniel
And to visit the sick, and befriend the friendless.
Clare
A charming prospect!
Daniel
It really is, Clare. You don't know how happy we can be with work, and our modest plenty. There's so much to do—and they won't let me do it here. We've got to get near the people in trouble, and we can't with a big house and all that. I don't think we shall come to a three-room flat. [He smiles] We'll have five or six rooms, and our books, and each other.
Clare
I can't believe you're serious. You've always been a dreamer, but I can't believe you're going through with this fantastic nonsense!
Daniel
I've chosen a narrow path, dear, but I hoped it might be wide enough for us both.
Clare
It isn't. With your means and opportunities, you're offering me what any bank clerk would give his wife. I thought you loved me, but you're utterly selfish, and I think a little mad. You've a right to throw away your own life, but you've no right to throw away mine. [She hands him his ring] Our engagement is off. [A pause. She starts for the door, and then hesitates, looks at her wrist watch, waits for him to call her back. When he doesn't, she returns.] Don't you think you're making a terrible mistake?
Daniel
[Looks up from the ring. Simply]: No. [Clare turns again, this time quickly and with resolution, and exits L. The church is quite dark, except for light streaming from the open door R. Dan looks at the ring, and puts it in his pocket. With his back to the audience, he looks at the altar of his church. Suddenly, from R., the organ is heard, playing "Hark the Herald Angels." He crosses and closes the door. In the blackness, he hears a step. The Poor Man has come on through the open door L.] Who's there?... Are you looking for someone?
Poor Man
Yes.
Daniel
I'm the assistant rector ... Mr. Gilchrist.
Poor Man
I know you, Mr. Gilchrist.
Daniel
Oh, yes; I remember. You're the man who was cold. Can I do anything for you?
Poor Man
I think you can.
Daniel
Let's have it then.
Poor Man
Perhaps I can help you, too.
Daniel
In what way?
Poor Man
In my way.
Daniel
My poor man, I wish you could!
[His despair impels him to confide in anyone]: I was so sure of what I wanted to do, and now I begin to wonder if it can be done!
Poor Man
It has been done.
Daniel
But in this day—in this practical world—can any man follow the Master?
Poor Man
Why not? Is this day different from any other? Was the world never practical before? Is this the first time of conflict between flesh and spirit? If it could be done then, why not now, and, if it was ever worth the doing, why not now?
Daniel
But how?
Poor Man
We have been told how.
Daniel
"Take no thought of the morrow.... Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor.... Love thy neighbor as thyself.... Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you." But if a man did those things today people would think him mad!
Poor Man
What does it matter?
Daniel
He would lose everything!
Poor Man
And gain everything!
Daniel
What good can one man do?
Poor Man
Why don't you try?
Daniel
He tried, and they crucified Him!
Poor Man
Did they? And if they did, what does that matter? Is a man dead whose ideal lives? Ye crucified me, but I am with ye alway, even unto the end of the world!
Daniel
In God's name, who are you?
Poor Man
I am a Jew!
[As he speaks, slowly the tree and everything beneath it is illuminated by the Star of Bethlehem. The light, dim at first, grows stronger and stronger, its rays revealing sanctuary and picking out the points of the cross on the altar. But where the Poor Man stood is nothing. There is no one there. The spirit—if spirit it was—has disappeared. The man—if man it was—has gone. Daniel gives a cry, and, as he does so, the light is extinguished, and suddenly, to the music that has been heard faintly through the door R. during this scene, the full choir sings: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." In black darkness
the curtain falls