Chapter I: Front Matter (1)

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MONTHLY TWO DOLLARS PER YEAR

NUMBER =1=. PRICE 30 CENTS =SEPT. 15, 1893.=

The
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LIBRARY
OF AMUSEMENTS
AND ENTERTAINMENTS

“LAUGH AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU;
WEEP AND YOU WEEP ALONE.”

Dramatized Readings:
RECITATIONS IN POETRY AND PROSE,
ILLUSTRATED WITH TABLEAUX.

Arranged by the Author of “Preston Papers.”

PUBLISHED BY
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Preston Library No. 2,

(ISSUED OCT. 15, 1893.)

Life Studies from Mother Goose,

In Wax Works, Pantomimes, Plays,
Songs and Tableaux.

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ARRANGED BY THE AUTHOR OF “PRESTON PAPERS.”

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Adapted to a variety of places and purposes, and arranged for different grades of talent, with complete directions for staging, costumes, etc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preston Library No. 3,

(ISSUED NOV. 15, 1893.)

A CHRISTMAS
NUMBER,

and will provide a number of entirely original entertainments
for the Christmas Holidays.

-------

SUBSCRIPTIONS RECEIVED AT ANY TIME.

_PRESTON LIBRARY No. 1._

DRAMATIZED READINGS:
RECITATIONS IN POETRY AND PROSE,

ILLUSTRATED WITH TABLEAUX.

-------

ARRANGED BY THE AUTHOR OF “PRESTON PAPERS.”

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CINCINNATI:
THE PRESTON PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1893.

COPYRIGHT 1893.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.

----------

In preparing tableaux to illustrate a song, poem or prose reading or recitation, the manager will find that success depends largely upon _promptness_. This requires a thorough knowledge of the part to be rendered, as well as of the places in the reading where tableaux are to be shown, and of the characters and stage settings for each picture.

_A full dress rehearsal is indispensable_, as many points--insignificant of themselves--will come up for adjustment that cannot be decided upon at the last minute; and although of itself trivial, the pose or expression of a single character, the misplacing of an article of furniture or ornament, the draping of a costume, etc., will help make or mar a beautiful picture.

A stage manager who will see to all these details and provide himself with intelligent assistants who will _quietly_ “set” the stage for one picture and clear it for the next, behind the curtain, in such a manner as not to interrupt the reader in front of it, nor take the attention of the audience, is equally necessary.

_Absolute quiet_ behind the curtain must be insisted upon, and the “characters” not allowed to make it a place for social reunion between the parts.

Two dressing rooms are necessary, even if the characters are all of one sex--as things can be more easily arranged with but few to disturb them.

_All persons not needed behind the curtain must be excluded_, as their presence only tends to confusion and delay.

The assistants who manage the furniture and other stage accessories, must know just what is required for each tableau, and when--and have those near at hand that are first needed, storing at the greatest distance those not again required, when clearing the stage.

The tableaux should be numbered, and the requisites for each listed, and a copy given to the stage director and assistants, for their reference and to avoid mistakes and delay.

_Look out for the curtain._ At the last moment it has sometimes been found that the curtain would not work, or that those appointed to manipulate it did not understand its mechanics, and great embarrassment has resulted. A signal must be determined upon, between the reader and the stage manager, that the curtain may rise _at the point proper to illustrate what has just been read_--not what will follow.

Should there be a lack of side screens, these may be supplied by covering ordinary clothes-horses with cambric, cotton, or cotton flannel, having due regard to the costumes and figures to be shown. A dark back and side for a picture all light and brightness (as a fairy or wedding scene), and light if the picture is a darker one. _Judgment here is valuable._

DIRECTIONS.

Having selected the poem or story you wish to present, make choice of your reader. Get some one _who reads naturally and distinctly_. The tableaux take away all necessity for dramatic action on the part of the reader--if any ever existed--and the entire attention may be devoted to bringing out the thought of the author.

The reader should _practice in the room where the entertainment is to be given_, at least enough to be sure of its acoustic properties and so secure the right pitch of voice,--height and size of room, as well as shape and furnishings, making a great difference.

The reading must be given in front of the closed curtain, that the manager may be having the stage prepared for each succeeding tableau, that it may be presented promptly when desired.

Ordinarily _tableaux should he shown twice_, as few in the audience get more than a glimpse of what they want to see in detail. If elaborate, even a third showing is always acceptable, and as the picture is already arranged it requires but little time, and is better than one long period of showing it.

_In making up_, use as simple materials as possible; scorched flour for darkening the skin, corn starch for white powder, an ordinary soft lead pencil for outlining eyebrows, etc. Dark wigs may be made of curled hair (such as is used for mattresses) sewed to a cambric “skull” fitted to the head for which it is intended; white ones of cotton batting sewed on in tufts to represent short curls; mustache, whiskers, etc., may be manufactured from coarse linen thread attached to a bit of cloth which again has to be “stuck on” by means of mucilage, court plaster or white of egg.

Foot-lights are essential for tableaux, and if not supplied, a row of small hand lamps at the front edge of platform is easily procured. Candles are good also--but not quite so safe. Shades for either may be made of old tin cans, all the seams unsoldered, top and bottom removed, the tin being turned toward the audience, and _throwing the light on the picture_. Shade must at least be as high as the blaze. Wings are as difficult to make seem natural as anything, and yet should be easily made and adjusted, by first cutting a pattern of the desired shape and length; cut the wings from cotton flannel, nap running from shoulder to tip; sew stiff bonnet wire around the edges, being sure to make a pretty shape and _not too small_; set them on a piece of cloth three by six inches, also wired. Wings must not be stiff enough to be awkward, nor limp enough to be troublesome; if the latter, additional wiring, lengthwise diagonally, will correct it--and if the cloth is too light in texture it may be used double.

THE BIRTH OF THE IVY.

ILLUSTRATED WITH TEN TABLEAUX, ESPECIALLY ARRANGED FOR THIS PUBLICATION.

CHARACTERS:--“A Ladye of High Degree”; Her Knight; Her Page; Peasants.

COSTUMES:--In the first two tableaux the Ladye wears any elegant dress that is sufficiently antique, and which can be put on over the white one used in the third and fourth. In the fifth a hat and mantle may be used to change the appearance, but little time being given between the changes of scene; a plain dark gown in the sixth and seventh, over which may be draped something brilliant for the eighth; in the ninth a white or light colored wrapper or simple house dress.

In the second tableau the Knight first appears--and in ordinary dress; in the next in full military costume, as also in the fifth, his “last appearance.”

The Page, who should be a handsome boy of from seven to twelve years old, wears dark blouse waist, dark knee pants, sash of brilliant color, deep lace ruffles at wrist, broad round collar of same, low shoes with high heels; black velvet cap with plume; velvet cape with bright lining for last tableau.

Peasant women’s dress--short, scant skirt of any bright color; plain, round short sleeved; bodice of same or harmonious contrasting color. If an old woman is shown in group, she may wear cap and kerchief of white, the latter voluminous and crossed over chest.

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Many and many a year ago
(I’ll tell the tale as ’twas told to me.)
A Ladye dwelt in her own proud hall,
A Ladye of high degree;[1]
And many a Knight came wooing her,
For stately and fair was she;
The fairest, stateliest flower that grew
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

Now one of these Knights she loved full well,
And he bowed low at her feet;[2]
“I have wooed thee for three long years,” he said,
“When wilt thou wed me, sweet?”
But she with a light laugh answered “Wait.”
“I will wait one year,” said he,
“And then I shall come to claim your hand
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.”

So off to the foreign wars he went
To fight with an angry horde--
And the whole land rang with the fame of him
And the might of his good sword.
But after a twelve-month back he came,
And again at her feet knelt he.[3]
“Now wilt thou wed me, Ladye fair,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea?”

But her pride than her love was stronger still;
And lifting her haughty head--
“Wait longer. He who patiently waits
Is never a loser,” she said.
The lover rose with a smothered sigh,
But never a prayer prayed he--
As mounting his steed, away he rode,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

The Ladye frowned, and the Ladye wept
In her love and wrath and pain,
For she had not dreamed he could thus obey
And ride from her side again.[4]
Then twice the seasons came and went
With bird and blossom and bee--
With the summer rose and the winter snows,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

And then again to his Ladye’s bower
Strode the Knight with a ringing tread.
“For two long years I have waited, patiently,”
Were all the words he said.[5]
And still in pride that o’ermastered love,
“Wait longer” answered she.
“If I wait, I will wait forever,” he cried--
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

“Then wait forever,” she coldly said,
And drew her white hand away,
Sure he would fall at her feet again
For his Ladye’s grace to pray;
But never another word he spoke
And never a sign made he,
But mounting his steed he rode away
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

How dragged the slow months, one by one!
The Ladye, in sore distress,
Wept night and day in her lonely bower,
Bewailing her haughtiness.[6]
At length she summoned her trusty Page--
“Speed over the hills” said she,
“Go tell my lover I wait for him
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.”[7]

* * * *

But the Knight came not, nor sent he word,
Save this one short message: “Wait.”
And the sun rose up, and the sun went down,
And the flowers died, soon or late.
At length she summoned her Page again,
And again to him said she:
“Go tell my Knight I wait for him
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.”

The Page came back and doffed his cap,
And these were the words he bore:
“He loses nothing who patiently waits.”
And not one syllable more.[8]
“He remembers well” the Ladye cried.
And in wan despair lived she
Two more long, desolate years,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

“Now go to my lord once more” she prayed--
“Tell him my death is near.
Tell him I wait his face to see,
And I long his voice to hear.”
The Page came back with a lagging pace--
“O, what does he say?” cried she.
“Dear Ladye, he bids you wait for aye,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.”[9]

“I am well paid,” the Ladye cried,
“And in coin I know too well.
He doth but give me my own again--
So now farewell, my love, farewell.”
And soon she lay in the starlight pale
Under an old yew tree,
With a stone at her head and one at her feet,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

* * * * *

But when the springing grass was green
On the grave of her who slept
A plant with wonderful shining leaves,
Out of the darkness crept.
It wandered here, and wandered there,
It climbed up turret and tree,
And from point to point, over rock and rill
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.

Slowly and surely it onward crept,
That plant so strange and rare.
The peasants whispered, under their breath,
“’Tis the beautiful Ladye Clare.
She seeks the heart that she threw away;
She is creeping on bended knee
To her lover’s castle, that frowning stands,
Where the Rhine runs down to the sea.”[10]

TABLEAUX.

1. Drawing room scene. Ladye Clare stands in foreground. Furniture should be as elegant as possible.

2. Ladye Clare at left of center, in easy chair; Knight half kneels in front of her; both side-face to audience; Ladye’s hand extended to Knight, who is in the act of raising it to his lips.

3. Ladye stands at right of center, head erect, Knight again kneeling--but in reverse position.

4. Ladye in center, sitting with head bowed on center table, over which her arms are thrown.

5. Ladye at left, half way back on stage; Knight entering with long strides from left of foreground, each looking intently at the other.

6. “Ladye’s bower.” Couch at left, with handsome cushions and spread; vases filled with flowers, bric-a-brac, pictures, etc., adapted to a young lady’s room. Ladye Clare in easy chair at right; handkerchief pressed to her eyes by right hand, while left falls over arm of chair.

7. Same scene--Page entered back of couch, in listening attitude, cap held in hand in front of him, facing Ladye, who waves him away with right arm, hope in her face.

8. Same scene.--Ladye sits on couch; Page stands in center front, with head down, cap held behind him--in full view of audience.

9. Ladye on couch, half reclining, white spread thrown over her; hair hanging loosely (face should be powdered); expression of disappointment; Page stands at entrance, reluctant to intrude or to give his message.

10. Grave in center of foreground, covered with green vines and cut flowers. Peasants at either end, and in background. Stones (boards covered with white paper) may be placed at head and foot of grave.

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CALLAGHAN’S FAILURE.

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BY THOMAS WINTHROP HALL.

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Mr. Callaghan was busily engaged in an inspection of silverware that seemed to interest him exceedingly. He examined each object carefully, often stopping long enough to test the particular object with his teeth, or even to bend it. At the same time his actions were quiet, and, one might say, reserved. He did not appear to care to be noticed.[1]

He was a rather tall young fellow, carelessly dressed, as they say in novels, and he had a pale face, like a student’s. One might, indeed, have thought him a poor student, were it not for his eyes, which, instead of looking tired and dreamy, like a student’s, were exceedingly active and restless. On the whole, his face and his general appearance were not pre-possessing. Indeed, the policeman on the beat most frequented by Mr. Callaghan in social life, reported him at the Precinct House as “a general tough--suspicious.”

Mr. Callaghan, although very young, had already learned the value of exceeding caution. Hence, he was almost noiseless; and he inspected the silverware in the very mild light of a half-opened dark lantern. A happy smile played around the corners of his face for a while, for the silverware he was examining proved to be of the finest and newest, and bore the monogram of a famous New York family. For that matter, the entire surroundings of Mr. Callaghan, at that time, were of the richest. The very sideboard at which he labored was worth a small fortune, and the cut glass upon it looked very beautiful in the mellow light. There were rich red tints in some of the glassware, occasioned by their contents, but Mr. Callaghan did not stop to examine them. He did not believe in drinking during business hours. The time was something after midnight.

Mr. Callaghan was aroused from his pre-occupation by a faint click. It sounded very much like the click of the trigger, as a revolver is cocked. ’Twas a trifle startling, but he did not lose his presence of mind. He faced around like a flash, and turned off the rays of his dark lantern. He knew it was almost useless to take the latter precaution, however, for he was well informed, and knew that, in the houses of the rich of to-day, it required but the pressure of a button to turn on a full stream of electric lights throughout an entire floor. The sudden burst of light came, just as he expected it would, and as it did so, he heard a voice say “Don’t dare to move!”

He was more startled by the voice than he was by the sudden glare of electric light, for it was the voice of a young girl!! Mr. Callaghan blinked a few times, took a good look, and then his thin face broadened a trifle into a smile. At the other end of the room stood a very pale but resolute girl in a pink wrapper. She held a little gold-mounted revolver, of a calibre so small that Mr. Callaghan but for his natural politeness, would have laughed at it outright, and she was biting her lip, for she was apparently rather nervous. The revolver was pointed in Mr. Callaghan’s direction, but alas! the hand that held it was shaking very perceptibly[2]....

Callaghan grinned. “Isn’t it rather late for you to be out?” he asked her.

“Don’t dare to move,” she replied; “I know precisely what to do. Papa told me before he went away. I’m going to sound the burglar alarm and have you arrested; then you will be sent to State’s Prison.”

“Well,” almost laughed Mr. Callaghan, “why don’t you do it? I’m waiting.”

“Because,” she answered, hesitatingly,--“because you’re standing in front of it.”

“Oh, am I?” answered Callaghan. “Then I’ll move away, I always like to be polite to ladies.” He moved away a few steps. She frowned a little bit. Then she said “Excuse me. Will you please move a little further away?” “Certainly,” he replied, “anything to oblige a real lady.”

She stepped toward the alarm, which Callaghan had not, until then, perceived, and stretched forth her hand.[3]

She was about to turn the little handle, when Callaghan said hastily: “Hold on a minute. Do you think that would be a nice thing to do?”

“Of course it would,” she answered.

“Just think about it a moment,” Callaghan continued; “if you did that, I’d be arrested, and sent up for fifteen or twenty years. Fifteen or twenty years, in a little cell, all by myself, with no one to talk to and nothing to do--except break stones for my health. Now, I don’t care anything about it myself, of course; I havn’t done you any wrong. I havn’t got away with the silver, and therefore, there isn’t any wrong done you, is there? I tried to, but you’ve got the best of me, and you’re an awfully brave little girl to do it, too. But just think of yourself during the next fifteen or twenty years, if you have me sent up. Every day you’ll be thinking about the poor fellow who’s doing time because you made him; and every night you’ll be lying awake, crying, because you made him suffer so much, for such a little thing; and every time the minister in your church says anything about forgiving your enemies, you’ll be thinking he means you; and,”

She broke in “I think I’ll let you go.” She said it very earnestly.

Callaghan laughed aloud. “That’s right,” he said, “I knew you would, for I knew you were a lady the minute I saw you. I didn’t mean what I said. Probably in a month you’d forget all about me. No one remembers a fellow who’s doing time, but the police and the detectives. I was just trying an experiment. Do you think I was afraid you’d call the police? Nonsense. Do you think I was afraid of your little revolver? Nonsense. I’ve been shot twice by real revolvers. If you’d tried to sound the burglar alarm, do you know what I’d have done? I’d have made a quick jump for you and I’d have my hands about your throat before you could have winked. If you’d fired the revolver, you’d missed me. Girls can’t shoot.”

He said this last almost contemptuously, but he was sorry a moment after, for he noticed that she was growing very white, and very frightened too. Nevertheless, he continued: “And after I’d got my hands about your neck, and you couldn’t scream or struggle or shoot, what do you suppose I’d have done?”

She did not reply. She could not speak. She was trembling violently. “I’d have--I’d--,” he was embarrassed, and he actually blushed,--Callaghan blushed--“I’d have kissed you,” he said with an effort, “and then I’d have gone away. But you needn’t look frightened any longer. I ain’t going to hurt you, and I ain’t going to kiss you; for some day you’d be ashamed of it. You’d be ashamed to tell your sweetheart that Rocky Callaghan kissed you; and I ain’t goin’ to take any thing that belongs to this house, although I could, right before your eyes. I’m just going home peaceably.”

He started to walk toward the window by which he had entered.[4] As he did so, however, he looked at her critically, stopped, and said: “You’re going to hold out just about till I’m gone. Then you are going to faint. I can’t leave you here alone in a faint. I’ll fix it.”

He walked deliberately to the sideboard and poured out a glass of ice-water. “Here,” said he, “drink this, and then go upstairs as quick as you can. I’ll lock the window after I go out.”[5]

She took the water with a frightened “Thank you,” and drank it. Mr. Callaghan turned to leave. “That brings the red back in your cheeks,” he said.... “Now, I’m going, but I want you to remember that I’m not afraid of the burglar alarm nor of your little revolver. I’m not going to rob you because--because you’re so brave and because you’re so pretty. I sort of hate to make a failure of a job, and I guess the boys will guy me a bit for it; but you are too pretty.” Saying which, Mr. Callaghan climbed nimbly through the window and disappeared.

TABLEAUX.

1. Dining-room scene, very scant light. Silverware on table, on which sits half-opened dark lantern; side-board in background; burglar behind table in center, faces audience while examining silverware, face lighted by lantern. (Face may be darkened by scorched flour.)

2. Same scene, brilliantly lighted, with burglar at left end of table; girl in pink wrapper at right end of room, hair down and arm extended holding toy pistol or revolver. (Face powdered white.)

3. Same as second. Girl moved a little to right with arm reached toward burglar alarm.

4. Burglar turned facing girl, back half turned to audience.

5. Burglar passing water, which girl has stretched hand to receive.

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MATRIMONIAL PHILOSOPHY.

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[WITH MOVING TABLEAUX ARRANGED FOR THIS PUBLICATION.]

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There were lovers three in the days gone by,
They were healthy, they were wealthy, yet they’d sit and sigh,
Sit and sigh till the window curtains shook,
And all for the sake of a sweet maid’s look.
For they loved her one, and two, and three,
And each one prayed her his bride to be;
Till she cried, “Ah, no, you must surely see,
If I don’t love one that I can’t love three.”
Three sad men, but they loved enough for ten,
And they sighed enough for twenty, these sad young men.[1]

Then these lovers three in the days gone by,
In their anguish did they languish, and they longed to die.[2]
Longed to die, till a year had passed or more,
And a fourth suitor came to the maiden’s door;
And he knelt so low on bended knee,
As he asked the maid his bride to be,
That the others thought “He will cut out me,”
And their souls were racked with jealousy.[3]
Three stern men, but they frowned enough for ten,
And they scowled enough for twenty, these stern young men.[4]

Then the fourth young swain in the days gone by,
Wooed this maiden so love laden, till she made reply,
Made reply--“You have won my trusting heart,”
And at church they vowed never more to part;
But they quarreled so when they were wed,
That the three young men they smiled and said--
“It’s a lucky thing that he cut out me,
For his wife is a shrew as we all can see.”[5]
Three wise men, but they smiled enough for ten,
And they laughed enough for twenty, these wise young men.[6]

TABLEAUX.

1. Parlor scene, with lady on one side of the room, the lovers in waiting--each in turn approaching and being rejected, retire to a seat to “sit and sigh.”

2. Shows the young men only; having changed their positions they are doing a general “languishing” business.

3. The young lady in center of foreground receives suitor No. 4, who comes on “bended knee.”

4. Shows the first three young men in center of front, hands in pockets--frowning and scowling.

5. Shows husband and wife at left end of stage quarreling--young men at right in attitudes of interest, watching the couple.

6. The three young men in center, front of stage, one smiling, the other two laughing.

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THE OPENING OF THE PIANO.

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OLIVER W. HOLMES.

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(WITH TABLEAUX.)

In the little southern parlor of the house you may have seen,
With the gambrel roof, and the gable looking toward the green,
At the side towards the sunset with the window on the right,
Stood the London-made piano I am dreaming of to-night.[1]

Ah me! how I remember the evening when it came,
What a cry of eager voices, what a group of cheeks in flame.
When the wondrous box was opened that had come from over seas,
With its smell of mastic, and its flash of ivory keys.[2]

Then the children all grew fretful in the restlessness of joy;
For the boy would push his sister and the sister crowd the boy,[3]
Till the father asked for quiet in the grave, paternal way,
But the mother hushed the tumult, with the words, “Now Mary, play!”

For the dear soul knew that music was a very sovereign balm;
She had sprinkled it o’er sorrow, and had seen its brow grow calm;
In the days of slender harpsichords, with tapping twinkling quills,
Or caroling her spinit with its thin metallic trills.

So Mary, the household minstrel, who always loved to please,
Sat down to the new “Clementi” and struck the glittering keys;[4]
Hushed were the children’s voices, and every eye grew dim,
As floating from lips and finger, arose the Vesper Hymn.[5]

Catherine, child of a neighbor, curly and rosy red,
(Wedded since, and a widow--something like ten years dead,)
Hearing a gush of music such as never heard before,
Steals from her mother’s chamber and peeps at the open door.[6]

Just as the “Jubilate” in threaded whisper dies,
“Open it! open it, lady!” the little maiden cries.
(For she thought ’twas a singing creature caged in a box she heard);
“Open it! open it, lady! and let me see the _bird_!”[7]

TABLEAUX.

1. Sitting-room. Piano at right. Piano box just opened, in background at left. Center-table has books and papers.

2. Several children crowding about the instrument in attitudes of eager inspection. Parents a little in background.

3. Boy and girl in foreground, crowding and pushing.

4. Oldest daughter sits down to play, children near front, parents in background.

5. Sing “Vesper Hymn”--if possible, with piano accompaniment.

6. Little girl looking in from opposite side of room, screen door ajar; family grouped as above.

7. She has advanced to center of foreground, side face to audience, but looking toward the mother, the rest watching her.

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DEAR OLD GRANDMOTHER.

Grandmother paces with stately tread
Forward and back through the quaint old room,
Out of the firelight dancing and red,
Into the gathering dusk and gloom;
Forward and back in her silken dress,
With its falling ruffles of frost-like lace,
A look of the deepest tenderness
In the faded lines of her fine old face.[1]

Warm on her breast, in his red night-gown,
Like a scarlet lily, the baby lies,
While softly the weary lids creep down
Over the little sleepy eyes.
Grandmother sings to him sweet and low,
And memories come with the cradle song
Of the day when she sang it long ago,
When her life was young and her heart was strong.[2]

Grandmother’s children have left her now,--
The large old house is a shadowed place;
But shining out in the sunset glow
Of her life, like a star, comes the baby’s face.
He lies where of old his father lay,
And softly she sings him the same sweet strain,
Till the years intervening are swept away,
And the joys of life’s morning are hers again.[3]

Grandmother’s head is bending low
Over the dear little drowsy one.
The steps of her pathway are few to go;
The baby’s journey has just begun.
Yet the rosy dawn of his childish love
Brightens the evening that else were dim;
And in after years, from her home above,
The light of her blessing will rest on him.[4]

MOVING TABLEAUX.

1. Sitting-room with antique furniture. Old lady pacing across stage front, carrying baby in red night-dress.

2. Baby in cradle; grandmother near, facing audience, sings “Hush, my dear; lie still and slumber.” If Grandmother’s part is taken by some one who can not sing, this may be done by a hidden voice.

3. Same as 2. Sings “Sleep, Baby, Sleep.”

4. Grandmother sits quiet--bending over cradle.

ANSWERING AN ADVERTISEMENT.

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BY FRANK M. THORN. (Abridged and Adapted.)

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CHARACTERS.--Lawyer; Irish woman and son. COSTUMES.--Typical. PLACE.--Lawyer’s office.

Good mornin’ til yez, yer honor! And are yez the gintlemon
As advertised, in the paper, for an active intilligint b’y?
Y’ are? Thin I’ve brought him along wid me,--a raal fine sprig iv a
wan:--
As likely a b’y iv his age, sur, as iver ye’d wish til empl’y.[1]

That’s him. Av coorse I’m his mither! Yez can see his resimblance til
me,
Fur ivery wan iv his faytures, and mine, are as like as two paze,--
Barrin’ wan iv his hivenly eyes, which he lost in a bit iv a spree
Wid Hooligan’s b’y, which intinded to larrup me Teddy wid aize.

And is it rid-headed ye call him? Belike he is foxey, is Ted;
And goold-colored hair is becomin’ til thim that’s complicted wid
blonde!
But who cares for color? Sure, contints out-vally the rest iv the head!
And Ted has a head full iv contints, as lively as t’hrout in a pond!

Good timpered? Sure niver a bet’her. The peaceablest, quietest lamb
As lives the whole lin’th iv our st’hrate, where the b’ys is that kane
fur a row
That Ted has to fight iv’ry day, though he’d quarrel no more than a
clam.--
Faith, thim b’ys ’ud provoke the swate angels, in hiven, to fight
onyhow!

Perliteness comes aisy til Ted, for he’s had me to tache him the thrick
Iv bowin’ and scrapin’ and spakin’ to show paple proper respict.
Spake up till the gintlemon, Teddy! Whist! Aff wid yer cap first, ye
stick!
He’s shapish a t’hrifle, yer honor; he’s allus been brought up that
strict.[2]

Come! Spake up, and show yer foine bradin! Och! Hear that! “How air yez,
Owld Moke?”
Arrah, millia murther! Did iver yez hear jist the aqual iv that?
“How air yez, Owld Moke?” says he! Ha! Ha! Sure, yer honor, he manes it
in joke!
He’s the playfullest b’y! Faith, it’s laughin’ at Teddy that makes me
so fat!

Honest? Troth he is that! Yez can t’hrust wid onything. Honest! Does he
luk like a b’y that ’ud stale?
Jist luk in the swate, open face iv him, barrin’ the eye wid the
wink:--
Och! Teddy! Phat ugly black st’hrame is it runnin’ down there by yer
hale!
Mutheration! Yer honor, me Teddy has spilt yer fine bottle iv ink![3]

Phat? How kem the ink in his pocket? I’m thinkin’ he borry’d it, sir;--
And yez saw him pick up yer pin-howlder and stick it up intil his
slaive!
And yez think that Ted mint til purline ’em? Ah, wirra! wirra! The likes
iv that slur
Will d’hrive me,--poor, tinder, lone widdy,--wid sorrow down intil me
grave![4]

Bad cess til yez, Teddy, ye spalpeen! Why c’u’dn’t yez howld on, the
day--
Ye thafe iv the world!--widout breakin’ the heart iv me? No. Yez
_must_ stale!
I’ll tache yez a t’hrick, ye rid-headed, pilferin’, gimlet-eyed flay!
Ye freckle-faced, impident bla’guard!--Och! whin we git home yez’ll
squale![5]

MOVING TABLEAUX.

1. Lawyer at desk, left of center and a little back; woman in center, faces judge and audience alternately; boy in background.

2. Boy dragged to front by mother, and while she talks, he fusses with desk furnishings.

3. Boy and mother in center--front. (Ink on his light colored pants may be simulated by black cloth sewed on.) Mother points to it.

4. Boy in background--mother side faces audience while addressing the lawyer, wrings hands and weeps.

5. Boy again near front, listening to threats of mother, who shakes him and her fist in turn.

--------------

THE BRIDAL VEIL

-------

BY ALICE CARY.

-------

We’re married, they say, and you think you have won me,--
Well, take this white veil from my head and look on me.
Here’s matter to vex you and matter to grieve you.
Here’s doubt to distrust you and faith to believe you--
I am all, as you see, common earth, common dew;
Be wary, and mould me to roses, not rue![1]

Ah! shake out the filmy thing, fold after fold,
And see if you have me to keep and to hold--
Look close on my heart--see worst of its sinning--
It is not yours to-day for the yesterday’s winning--
The past is not mine--I am too proud to borrow--
You must grow to new heights if I love you to-morrow.[2]

We’re married! I’m plighted to hold up your praises,
As the turf at your feet does its handful of daisies;
That way lies my honor--my pathway of pride.
But, mark you, if greener grass grows either side,
I shall know it; and keeping the body with you,
Shall walk in my spirit with feet on the dew.

We’re married! Oh, pray that our love do not fail!
I have wings fastened down, hidden under my veil!
They are subtle as light--you can never undo them;
And swift in their flight--you can never pursue them;
And spite of all clasping and spite of all bands,
I can slip like a shadow, a dream, from your hands.

Nay, call me not cruel, and fear not to take me.
I am yours for a lifetime, to be what you make me,
To wear my white veil for a sigh or a cover,
As you shall be proven my lord or my lover;
A cover for peace that is dead; or a token
Of bliss that can never be written or spoken.[3]

TABLEAUX.

1. Drawing-room scene. Bride and groom in full wedding costume; bride in white, with orange blossoms and veil of tarlatan or lace; both stand near center in foreground, a little apart, facing each other.

2. Husband in act of lifting veil from side front.

3. Both are sitting on sofa--settled and serene.

--------------

JIMMY BROWN’S SISTER’S WEDDING

-------

[ABRIDGED AND ADAPTED.]

-------

She ought to have been married a long while ago. That’s what everybody says who knows her. She has been engaged to Mr. Travers for three years and has had to refuse lots of offers to go to the circus with other young men. I have wanted her to get married, so that I could go and live with her and Mr. Travers. When I think that if it hadn’t been for a mistake I made she would have been married yesterday, I find it dreadfully hard to be resigned.

Last week it was finally agreed that Sue and Mr. Travers should be married without waiting any longer. You should have seen what a state of mind she and mother were in. They did nothing but buy new clothes and sew, and talk about the wedding all day long.[1]

Sue was determined to be married in church, and to have six bridesmaids and six bridegrooms, and flowers and music and all sorts of things. The only thing that troubled her, was making up her mind who to invite. Mother wanted her to invite Mr. and Mrs. McFadden and the seven McFadden girls; but Sue said they had insulted her and she couldn’t bear the idea of asking the McFadden tribe! Everybody agreed that old Mr. Wilkinson, who once came to a party at our house with one boot and one slipper, couldn’t be invited; but it was decided that every one else that was on good terms with our family should have an invitation.

Sue counted up all the people she meant to invite and there was nearly three hundred of them! You would hardly believe it but she told me that I must carry round all those invitations and deliver them myself. Of course I couldn’t do this without neglecting my studies and losing time, so I thought of a plan which would save Sue the trouble of directing the invitations and save me from wasting time in delivering them.

So I got to work with my printing press and printed a dozen splendid big bills about the wedding. When they were printed I cut out a lot of small pictures (of animals and ladies riding on horses) of some old circus bills and pasted them on the wedding bills.[2] They were perfectly gorgeous and you could see them four or five rods off. When they were all done I made some paste in a tin pail, and after dark went out and pasted them in good places all over the village.

The next afternoon father came into the house looking very stern and carrying in his hand one of the wedding bills. He handed it to Sue and said: “Susan, what does this mean? These bills are posted all over the village, and there are crowds of people reading them.” Sue read the bill, and then gave an awful shriek and fainted dead away--and I hurried down to the post-office, to see if the mail had come in.[3]

This is what was on the wedding bills, and I am sure it was spelled all right:

Miss Susan Brown announces that she will marry
Mr. James Travers,
at the church, next Thursday, at half-past seven sharp
All the friends of the family
with the exception of the McFadden tribe and old Mr. Wilkinson
are invited.
Come early and bring lots of flowers and cake and ice cream.[4]

(The wedding as it finally took place will now be shown.)[5]

TABLEAUX.

1. Sewing-room; Susan, mother and two dressmakers at work, by hand and machine, on the trousseau, “billows” of which appear everywhere. (Properly--Susan should be in duplicate, one for the sewing-room and one for the bridal scene there not being enough time for the bride to dress between the scenes.)

2. Jimmy at work on his big bills.

3. Father holding the poster; Susan in a faint.

4. The “poster” illustrated according to description. (Insert the name of your most prominent local church.)

5. The wedding as it finally took place--a typical scene, with minister, bride and groom in foreground, bridesmaids and attendants on either side; parents and guests in background; pages and maids of honor, if stage is large enough. Costumes should all be elegant and harmonious. (See “Bridal Wine Cup,” p. 44.)

--------------

STRONG COFFEE.

-------

BY CHARLES MACKAY.

-------

“Hush! Joanna!
I’ll forgive you!
But it’s certain that the coffee wasn’t strong!
Own your error! Why so stubborn in the wrong?”[1]

“You’ll forgive me? Sir, I hate you!
You have used me like a churl.
Have my senses ceased to guide me?
Do you think I am a girl?”

“Oh no! You’re a girl no longer
But a woman, formed to please.
And it’s time you should abandon
Childish follies, such as these.”

“Oh I hate you! but why vex me?
If I’m old--you’re older still.
I’ll no longer be your victim
And the creature of your will.”[2]

“But, Joanna; why this bother?
It might happen I was wrong.
But if common sense inspire me,
Still that coffee wasn’t strong.”

“Common sense? You never had it!
Oh, that ever I was born
To be wedded to a monster
That repays my love with scorn.”

“Well, Joanna, we’ll not quarrel;
What’s the use of bitter strife?
But I’m sorry I am married.
I was mad--to take a wife.”

“Mad, indeed! I’m glad you know it.
But if law can break this chain
I’ll be tied to you no longer--
In this misery and pain.”

“Hush, Joanna! Shall the servants
Hear you argue, ever wrong?
Can you not have done with folly?
Own the coffee was not strong.”[3]

“Oh you goad me past endurance!
Trifling with my woman’s heart.
But I loath you and detest you!
Villain! monster! let us part!”

* * * *

Long this foolish quarrel lasted
Till Joanna, half afraid,
That her empire was in peril,
Summoned never failing aid.

Summoned tears in copious torrents,
Tears and sobs, and piteous sighs;
Well she knew the potent practice--
The artillery of the eyes.[4]

And it chanced as she imagined--
Beautiful in grief was she.
Beautiful to best advantage;--
And a tender heart had he.

Kneeling at her side he soothed her:
“Dear Joanna! I was wrong.
Never more I’ll contradict you--
But, oh, make my coffee strong!”[5]

TABLEAUX.

1. Scene. Breakfast-room; man and woman at opposite ends of table, side face to audience--she busy cutting her meat and looking down at her plate; he looking at her, cup poised in right hand, on the way toward his mouth.

2. Lady has risen, and angrily faces her husband.

3. Man has risen; stands in front of table, looking toward his wife.

4. Joanna, again sitting, weeps.

5. Husband kneeling in front of her.

--------------

“IF.”

If, sitting with this little, worn-out shoe,
And scarlet stocking lying on my knee,
I knew the little feet had pattered through
The pearl-set gates that lie ’twixt Heaven and me,
I could be reconciled and happy too,
And look with glad eyes toward the jasper sea.[1]

If in the morning when the song of birds
Reminds me of a music far more sweet,
I listen for his pretty broken words,
And for the music of his dimpled feet,
I could be almost happy, though I heard
No answer, and saw but his vacant seat.

I could be glad if, when the day is done,
And all its cares and heart-ache laid away,
I could look west ward to the hidden sun,
And with a heart full of sweet yearnings say:
“To-night I’m nearer to my little one
By just the travel of one earthly day.”

If I could know those little feet were shod
In sandals wrought of light in better lands,
And that the footprints of a tender God,
Ran side by side with his, in golden sands--
I could bow cheerfully and kiss the rod,
Since Benny was in wiser, safer hands.

If he were dead, I would not sit to-day
And stain with tears the wee sock on my knee;
I would not kiss the tiny shoe and say,
“Bring back again my little boy to me!”
I would be patient, knowing ’twas God’s way,
Although I must not all the wisdom see.[2]

But O! to know the feet once pure and white,
The haunts of vice had boldly ventured in!
The hands that should have battled for the right,
Have been wrung crimson in the clasp of sin--
And should he knock at Heaven’s gate to-night,
To fear my boy could hardly enter in!

TABLEAUX.

1. Home scene. Lady sitting in easy chair, shoe and stocking on lap; room dimly lighted.

2. Lady weeping.

--------------

THE WASHER-WOMAN’S SONG.

-------

BY EUGENE F. WARE.

-------

In a very humble cot,
In a rather quiet spot,
In the suds and in the soap,
Worked a woman full of hope;
Working, singing, all alone,
In a sort of undertone,[1]
“With a Saviour for a friend,
He will keep me to the end.”

Sometimes happening along,
I had heard the semi-song,
And I often used to smile,
More in sympathy than guile;
But I never said a word,
In regard to what I heard,
As she sang about her Friend
Who would keep her to the end.

Not in sorrow, nor in glee,
Working all day long was she,
As her children three or four,
Played around her on the floor;
But in monotones the song
She was humming all day long:[2]
“With the Saviour for a friend,
He will keep me to the end.”

Just a trifle lonesome she,
Just as poor as poor could be,
But the spirits always rose,
Like the bubbles in the clothes,
And though widowed and alone,
Cheered her with the monotone,
Of a Saviour and a Friend
Who would keep her to the end.

I have seen her rub and scrub,
On the washboard in the tub,
While the baby, sopped in suds,
Rolled and tumbled in the duds;
Or was paddling in the pools,
With old scissors stuck in spools;
She still humming of her Friend
Who would keep her to the end.[3]

Human hopes and human creeds
Have their root in human needs;
And I would not wish to strip
From that washer-woman’s lip
Any song that she can sing,
Any hopes that songs can bring;
For the woman has a Friend
Who will keep her to the end.

TABLEAUX.

1. Kitchen scene, with woman washing in center of stage, side face to audience; clothes baskets, soiled linen, boiler, clothes bars, etc., scattered in the room. The washer-woman sings last two lines, while curtain is raised.

2. Same scene. Woman and tub in background facing audience while she rubs and sings; children on floor in foreground. Sings again.

3. Baby is the most conspicuous part of this picture, and the livelier the better, even to laughing or crying. Woman hums the tune as she works.

--------------

THE SMALL BOY’S EXPLANATION.

It was Sunday evening. Angelica had invited her young man to the evening meal.[1] Everything had passed off harmoniously until Angelica’s seven-year-old brother broke the blissful silence that had settled like a rainbow on the family circle, with:

“O, _Ma_! You oughter seen Mr. Lighted last night when he called to take Angie to the drill! He looked so nice, sitting ’long side o’ her, with his arm”----

“Fred!” screamed the maiden, quickly placing her hand over the boy’s mouth.[2]

“You just ought ter seen him,” continued the persistent informant, after gaining his breath, and the embarrassed girl’s hand was removed; “he had his arm”--

“Freddie,” shouted the mother; and in her frantic attempts to reach the boy’s ear she upset the tea-pot, sending its scalding contents into Mr. Lighted’s lap.[3]

“I was just going to say,” the half-frightened boy pleaded, between a cry and an injured whine, “he had his arm”--

“You boy,” thundered the father, “away to the wood-shed.”

And the boy made for the nearest exit, exclaiming as he went, “I was only a goin’ to say that Mr. Lighted had his army clothes on, and I’ll leave it to him if he didn’t.”[4]

TABLEAUX.

1. Dining-room scene. Father at right and mother at left end of dinner table; small boy and Angelica at side facing to audience; young man on opposite side, back to audience; servant in side rear, with glasses on tray.

2. Angelica’s hand is over the boy’s mouth, he evidently struggling to get away from it.

3. Tea pot upset, mother trying to reach the boy.

4. Boy disappearing through screen door at left rear, but half faces audience.

--------------

LOOKING BACKWARD.

Ay; but wait, good wife, a minute,
I have first a word to say;
Do you know what to-day is?
Mother, ’tis our wedding day![1]

Just as now, we sat at supper
When the guests had gone away;
You sat that side, I sat this side,
Forty years ago to-day!

Then what plans we laid together,
What brave things I meant to do!
Could we dream to-day would find us
At this table--me and you?

Better so, no doubt--and yet I
Sometimes think--I can not tell--
Had our boy--ah, yes! I know, dear;
Yes, “He doeth all things well.”

Well, we’ve had our joys and sorrows,
Shared our smiles as well as tears;
And--the best of all--I’ve had your
Faithful love for forty years!

Poor we’ve been, but not forsaken;
Grief we’ve known, but never shame--
_Father for Thy endless mercies
Still we bless Thy Holy Name_.[2]

TABLEAUX.

1. Aged couple at supper table; woman at end, man at side facing audience; lighted lamp on table--small, so as not to hide man’s face.

2. Heads bowed while blessing is asked.

--------------

LESSONS IN COOKERY.

Miss Cicely Jones is just home from boarding-school and engaged to be married, and as she knows nothing about cooking or housework, she is going to take a few lessons in the culinary art to fit her for the new station in life which she is expected to adorn with housewifely grace.

She makes a charming picture as she stands in the kitchen door, draped in a chintz apron prettily trimmed with bows of ribbon, her bangs hidden under a Dolly Varden cap, while she gracefully swings to and fro on her French kid heels.[1]

“Mamma,” she lisped, “pleathe introduce me to your assistant?”

Mamma said, “Bridget, this is your young lady, Miss Cicely, who wants to learn the name and use of everything in the kitchen and how to make cocoanut rusks and angel-food, before she goes to housekeeping for herself.”[2]

Bridget is not very favorably impressed, but as she looks at the vision of youth and beauty before her, she relents a little and says:

“I’ll throy.”

“Now Bridget, dear,” said Miss Cicely when they were alone, “tell me everything, won’t you? You see I don’t know anything except what they did at school--and oh, isn’t this old kitchen lovely? What makes the ceiling such a beautiful bronze color, Bridget?”[3]

“Shmoke,” answers Bridget shortly, “an’ me ould eyes are put out wid the same.”

“Shmoke, I must remember that. Bridget, what are those shiny things on the wall?”

“Kivvers--tin kivvers for the kittles.”

“Oh, yes--kivvers. I must look for the derivation of that word. Bridget, what are those round things in the basket?”

“Sure, thim’s praties. Fur the Lorrud’s sake where hev yez lived niver to hear tell o’ praties? Feth, thim’s the principal mate in the oul’ counthry!”

“Oh, but we have corrupted the name into potatoes. I see. It is such a shame not to retain the idioms of a language. Bridget, do you mind if I call you Biddie? it is more euphonious, and modernizes the old classic appellation. But what is this liquid in the pan here?”[4]

“Howly Mither! Where wuz ye raised? Feth, that’s millick, fresh from the coo.”

“Millick! That is the vernacular I dare say, for milk; and this thick yellow coating?”

“It’s crame--Lord--sich ignurntz.”

“Crame! Well, well; now Biddie, dear, I must get to work. I’m going to make a cake--all out of my own head, for Henry--he’s my lover, Biddie--to eat when he comes to-night!”

(Aside) “It’s dead intirely he’ll be if he ates it.”

“Now Biddie, I’ve got everything down here on my tablet: A pound of butter, 20 eggs, 2 pounds of sugar, salt to your taste--flour, vanilla, baking powder in proportion as your judgment dictates. Now Biddie, let me have the eggs first. Why! it says, ‘beat them well,’ but won’t that break the shells?”[5]

“Feth, I’d brek ’em this time anny how, lest they don’t set well on Mister Henry’s stummick,” said Bridget pleasantly.

“All right. I suppose I can use the shells separately. There they go! Biddie dear, I’ve broken all the eggs into the flour, and you may save the shells to give to some poor people. Now, what next? Oh, I’m so tired! Isn’t housework just awfully hard? But I’m so glad I’ve learned to make cake. Now what shall I do next, Biddie?”

“Axin yer pardon, yez might give it to the pigs, Miss Cicely,” said Bridget, “it’s mesilf can’t say no ither use for it.”