Edwin Davies Schoonmaker

“ Left, a little way to the rear from the centre of the room, a heavy iron stove with chairs standing about. A woodbox is over near the wall, left. Forward right, a table with a bugle lying upon two or three sheets of loose paper, and, farther over, a heap of ore samples in which, with the light of the near-by lamp falling upon them, the gold is plainly visible.
Harvey Anderson, his hat pulled low over his eyes, sits with his back to the bedroom, staring at the stove. The only motion discernible is an occasional pressing of the lip when he bites his moustache. ”

“ Mrs. Egerton.
(As before)
That gleam about his brow! And now he's gone!
(She wanders back in the hall as in a dream)
Egerton.
And to see Chadbourne——Are you listening?
Voice of George.
Yes.
Egerton.
To Chadbourne that he has authority from me—
From Egerton, to treat them all alike.
Mrs. Egerton.
(Vacantly, to her husband)
What have you done, Donald!
Egerton.
That I expect
The mill defended, let it cost what may.
Gladys Egerton.
I hate him, O I hate him!
Mrs. Egerton.
(Who has come forward and stands facing him)
What have you done! ”

“ Harry Egerton.
Father, buy Jergens out.
[Pg 207]
Gladys Egerton.
(Calling into the room)
Tell them it's all right, brother, that it's nothing.
Harry Egerton.
Give him his price and let him go his way——
Egerton.
(Calling toward the room)
A misunderstanding.
Harry Egerton.
And let me run the mill.
And let us see, my father, you and I,
If we can't make that place of work down there
As famous for its harmony as this house.
A land is not its timber but its people,
And not its Art, my father, but its men. ”

“ Presently, about twenty feet up in the rear and on either side, faint lights begin to appear and faint sounds of music are heard. Gradually the lights brighten a little and the sounds of music become more and more audible until one becomes conscious that on the left an orchestra is playing and to the right a piano. One also becomes conscious of a vast and beautiful hall over the floor of which, as the music plays, the forms of dancers are gliding. ”

“ A militiaman hurries from the crowd, grabs a bugle from the Sixth Militiaman and, darting out centre, starts to blow it)
Sixth Militiaman.
(Excitedly)
Don't do that! Here!
Militiaman.
(With the knapsacks)
Don't do that!
(The crowd begins to break up, many of the men climbing back over the railing into the mill proper)
Militiaman.
(Comes sliding down the pole)
What's the trouble?
Jim King.
(Returning with Dicey and Masters)
They're out for their selves, damn 'em; we'll be too.
Seventh Militiaman.
(Coming away with two or three others)
Young Egerton's pure gold if ever was. ”

“ And laugh and just be gay. Even the pines,
The beautiful pines, are tainted, and the snow.
The winter long I'll never dare go out.
I'll be afraid I'll catch this 'Help the world'
[Pg 175] And come home hearing things. You precious goose!
You just shan't give way to this silly mood.
And at the moment when you have about you
The money and the best names in the State;
Just everything that mortal heart can wish.
(They watch the men coming down the steps)
You ought to be so proud.
Mrs. Egerton.
I am.
(The piano stops)
A Girl.
(Who has been waltzing)
O pshaw! ”

“ It is sufficiently light, however, to enable one to discern the grotesque richness of the hall which, as one sees at a glance, is an elaborate representation of a pine forest, the boles of the trees standing out in beautiful irregularity along the walls, the boughs above in the semi-darkness seeming to disappear in some sort of cathedral roof. ”

“ Cap Saunders.
You're sure a wild one, Harvey; that you are.
You'd stir a muss up, that's what you would do.
(Goes to the boulder and stands beside Anderson, and they both look off up the valley)
Harvey Anderson.
The mansion all lit up—what's going on?
(They are silent)
It's a strange world, Cap, it's a funny world.
You throw a piece of bread down; it draws ants,
Red ants and black ants, little ants and big,
And if you'll keep it up you'll have them here
Building their hills about you; you know that.
Cap Saunders.
(Returning to the fire)
It's wonderful how much some men can do. ”

“ Harry Egerton.
If you have any way to guarantee
That these men who have worked here many years
And faithfully, as I know, will have their right
To work respected and at an honest wage,
And that while there are profits to be shared
There'll be no starving time among these men——
General Chadbourne.
Don't think because you're Mr. Egerton
That you're immune. You'll find the laws the same
Whether you're Mr. Egerton or not.
(Starts for the stairs)
If need be I'll call out ten thousand men.
Voice.
(Back in the mill)
Bring on the Constitution and let's vote! ”

“ Between the trees, also in relief and life-sized, figures of men at work getting out timber. Forward right, teams dragging logs, and, on the opposite wall, a distant view of a river with rafts floating down. Standing on stumps, huge figures support the arched doorways, of which there is one in the rear wall right, and one centre in each of the side walls. Left rear, the grand staircase with the glow of some hidden lamp shining upon the landing. Here the carved scene upon the wall is that of an inclined trestle-work, with logs going up apparently into some mill above. ”

“ A street showing, right, the great lumber plant of the Egerton Company. Centre, occupying the greater part of the space between left and right, a sort of common, overstrewn, as such places usually are, with sawdust and waste sawings of the mill, extends back a hundred yards or so to where the river sweeps in from behind a rising slope on the left and disappears behind the high fence of the mill-yard on the right. Across the river, right, the same denuded mountains as were seen in the preceding Act, and, centre, the alluvial stretches of the valley widening out into the plains. ”

“ The old man's never tried to start the mill.
But let a thing like that go up some day.
(Buck Bentley with an empty nail keg in his hand comes from the mill-yard and sits down with his back to the farther gate-post and begins to fill his pipe)
Chauffeur.
If you've heard thunder, one of those loud claps
That ends the winter, and if you'd lived here
And knew the old man's power, then you'd know
I'm shooting low when I say they'll be here,
If they don't all fall dead upon the way.
They've got to make hay now. Days don't stand still
When the old man is moving to and fro. ”

“ Of better homes hereafter, it's the Mill.
And there ain't no fairness that ain't fair in here,
And there ain't no freedom that ain't free in here,
Though there ain't no use of saying that to you.
Sam Williams.
We have to live.
General Chadbourne. [Pg 229]
(Ignoring Anderson, as he does throughout)
Employers have the right
To buy their labor in the open market,
And if you fellows here can't meet the price——
Voice.
(From the crowd)
You'd have us starve?
General Chadbourne.
You'll have to step aside
And give way to some stronger men that can
Sam Williams. ”

“ For I know how to spend, while Egerton
And Jergens and those fellows down there don't,
In spite of their big houses. They know how
To quarrel with men and squeeze their last dime out,
But they don't know how to say, 'By God, come on;
Let's have a drink together; we're all friends.'
(The old man busies himself about the fire, preparing the evening meal. Anderson sits down on the boulder and looks off up the valley. Where the town was seen, lights begin to appear)
Harvey Anderson.
You'll wake up some day, Cap, and look about
And Harvey will be gone. ”

“ In the foreground for a space of twelve or fifteen feet, cut off from the main hall by the faintest outlines of an immense arch, small groups of elderly people stand about watching the dancers, [Pg 49] or saunter right and left into the adjoining apartments. In these apartments also people are seen moving about, and there is a hum of voices as of men and women in conversation. At no time does it become very light, and all that passes seems to pass in a dim shadow world. ”

“ We will begin a new age in this land.
Harvey Anderson.
Up with your hats, pards! God's on the mountains!
(Tosses his hat into the air. The workmen, in an almost religious ecstasy, go out left, crowding around Harry Egerton and Harvey Anderson. Dicey, King and Masters remain behind, whispering together, then follow the crowd. The militiamen, most of them silent with amazement at the scene they have witnessed, gradually disappear into the mill-yard)
First Militiaman. ”

“ Sam Williams.
I mean to vote, Wes, for that Living Mill
That Mr. Egerton has told us of.
For that's the thing, or something like that thing,
We've worked for all these years. And now it's come,
A place where we can work and be free men,
Having a say in things, as Harvey says,
God help us if we can't get on as friends.
(Jim King takes Dicey aside, where Masters joins them)
Harry Egerton.
(Coming to Bentley and the militiamen)
I want to thank you, Bentley, and you men,
I want to thank you for the help you've been.
You've played the noblest part I ever knew.
[Pg 245]
Buck Bentley. ”

“ Egerton.
Merchants are merchants, Chadbourne.
Chadbourne.
I suppose.
Captain, will you get my overcoat?
(Haskell, who with the Chauffeur has been looking through the glasses, goes into the mill-yard. A number of militiamen who have been hanging around the gate gather about Anderson and they are soon having a good time together)
Egerton.
What do they care for Country or for Art,
Or any of the higher things of life?
'Give us this day our daily trade.' We live,
We manufacturers, to fill their tills. ”

“ Harry Egerton.
My father! O my father!
(From the conservatory comes a sound of laughter, and a beautiful girl runs in. A moment later the bloom of a large white chrysanthemum is thrown in after her. A young man enters. Other couples come in. George Egerton, evidently master of ceremonies, moves about here and there. A tuning of instruments is heard. People come from the side rooms. When all is in readiness, while the dancers, who have taken their positions, stand waiting for the music to begin, the sighing is again heard)
George Egerton. ”

“ Voice.
(From the crowd)
Well?
Jim King.
Listen to me.
Sam Williams.
Comrades, they can't start up;
They've not the men.
[Pg 133]
Wes Dicey.
Suppose they don't start up?
Suppose they shut down till the ice blocks there?
Then where'll we be?
Jim King.
You'll hear the children cry.
Harvey Anderson.
Shut up your mouths or, if you're married men,
Let your wives speak. 'You'll hear the children cry!'
Where in the hell do you hail from any way?
Or have they starved you till you've lost your grit?
Haskell.
One minute.
Voice.
(From the crowd)
Bread! ”

“ Centre rear, at right angles to the side walls, so that one sitting upon a stool may look back into the mill, is a long checkers' desk with two or three stools before it and with the usual litter of papers, books, and a telephone upon it. In the right wall, rear, where one coming up the stairs may walk straight on and enter, is a door connecting with the main office.
As the Scene opens, something very important seems to be going on in this main office. A crowd of men, workmen and militiamen together, are packed about the door, intent upon whatever it is that is transpiring inside. ”

“ They are all of one design and rest in the rear upon the ground, the front being propped up on posts, in some cases six or eight feet high. Of two or three of these shacks it would seem that the occupants had tried to have a garden, for here and there are small green patches as of late turnips, also tall stakes with withered bean vines clinging to them. From the numerous footpaths that come down toward the mill-gate it is evident that these [Pg 76] shacks are the homes of the employees of the Egerton Company. The mill-yard on the right is surrounded by a high board-fence. ”

“ And yet you can't blame Jergens very much.
Something has got to happen pretty soon.
Amalgamated's off again, I see.
Bishop Hardbrooke.
Who is this Harvey Anderson?
Ralph Ardsley.
He's the rough
That kept the men from going back that day.
Drew his revolver. Big man here now. You see
He'd been out on the mountains with a cast,
One of the men the Company had out.
So it's quite possible, as Jergens claims,
[Pg 255] That Anderson found the mine. For gold these days—
To get possession of a mine like that—
Men have been killed for less.
Bishop Hardbrooke.
But Harry——
Ralph Ardsley. ”

“ I'm for young Egerton if it comes to that.
Second Militiaman.
Most of us boys are sons of workingmen.
Third Militiaman.
I never thought of that.
Fourth Militiaman.
Buck's about right, too, kids.
We came here to see the square thing done,
Not to be half-sole to the old man's boot.
[Pg 141]
First Militiaman.
Let's set Buck free.
Second Militiaman.
What do you say, kids?
(They go into the mill-yard, talking earnestly)
Second Sentry.
Dan!
(The First Sentry joins him and they whisper together)
First Sentry.
(Starts with the other for the gate)
I've nothing against Buck. ”

“ Some sawing logs, others with axes raised
Hard at the big round boles, some half cut down;
Make her look like a forest through and through.'
And they've tugged at it till they've got it done.
And all they've chopped and sawed and built is his,
And he puts it in his pocket and sits down
And they can't help themselves. They've got to eat,
And Egerton he's the man that's——
(He has risen and stands looking back through the darkness)
Cap Saunders. ”

“ Inside the mill, showing in front a sort of half storeroom, half office shut in from the main body of the mill by a railing in the centre of which is a gate that swings in and out. Far back in this main body of the mill one sees a number of great gang saws from which off-carriers, with freshly sawed slabs and lumber upon their rollers, branch right from the main line that runs the full length of the mill. Through an opening in the far end, whence the logs are drawn up an incline to the saws, one sees as through a telescope a portion of the river and of the mountains on the opposite bank. ”