Floyd Dell

“ Marriage, my young friends, is an iniquitous arrangement devised by the Devil himself for driving all the love out of the hearts of lovers. They start out as much in love with each other as you two are to-day, and they end by being as sick of the sight of each other as you two will be twenty years hence if I don't find a way of saving you alive out of the Devil's own trap. It's not lack of love that's the trouble with marriage—it's marriage itself. ”

“ Yet there is the nest-building instinct. You feel it, both of you. If you don't now, you will as soon as you are married. If you are fools, you will try to live all your lives in a love-nest; and you will imprison your souls within it, and the Devil will laugh. ”

“ Can't you talk with a girl in a cherry orchard for half an hour without falling in love with her?
HE
Not if the girl is you.
SHE
But why especially me?
HE
I don't know. Love—is a mystery. I only know that I was destined to love you.
SHE
How can you be so sure?
HE
Because you have changed the world for me. It's as though I had been groping about in the dark, and then—sunrise! And there's a queer feeling here. (He puts his hand on his heart) To tell the honest truth, there's a still queerer [13] feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's a gone feeling, if you must know. And my knees are weak. ”

“ And when I say marriage, I don't mean promising to love, honor, and obey, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health till death do you part—that's only human nature to wish and to attempt. And it might be done if it weren't for the iniquitous arrangement of marriage. ”

“ Everyone has. There is an instinct in us which makes us go back to the ways of our savage ancestors—to gather about a fire in the forest, to cook meat on a pointed stick, and eat it with our fingers. But how many books would you write, young man, if you had to go back to the camp-fire [29] every day for your lunch? And how many new dances would you invent if you lived eternally in the picnic stage of civilization? No! the picnic is incompatible with everyday living. As incompatible as marriage. ”

“ He is pale and frightened, but there is a desperate look in his eyes, as if some unknown power were forcing him to do something very rash. In short, he seems like a young man who has just fallen in love. ”

“ To meet the immensely increased demands of the play-reading public and those interested in the modern drama, Stewart Kidd are issuing under the general editorship of Frank Shay a series of plays from the pens of the world's best contemporary writers. No effort is being spared to secure the best work available, and the plays are issued in a form that is at once attractive to readers and suited to the needs of the performer and producer. ”

“ The work satisfies a long-felt want for a handy collection of the choicest plays produced by the art theaters all over the world. It is a complete repertory for a little theater, a volume for the study of the modern drama, a representative collection of the world's best short plays. ”

“ I believe in municipal ownership of street cars, and all that sort of thing. I'll give you some books to read.
SHE
Well, I never ride in street cars, so I don't care whether they're municipally owned or not. By the way, do you dance?
HE
No.
SHE
You must learn right away. I can't bother to teach you myself, but I know where you can get private lessons and become really good in a month. It is stupid not to be able to dance. ”

“ Fantasy in free verse, one act. Thirty minutes. Outdoors. Two women, one man. Present.
These plays, as well as SHORT PLAYS, have been presented by clubs and schools in Boston, New York, Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, New Orleans, San Francisco, etc., and by the Portmanteau Theatre, the Chicago Art Institute Theatre, the Denver Little Art Theatre, at Carmel-by-the-Sea in California, etc. ”

“ We've got to decide that before we face my uncle and your aunt.
GEORGE
Of course we'll get married. You have your work and I mine, and—
HELEN
Well, if we do, then you can't have that sunny south room for a study. I want it for the nursery.
GEORGE
The nursery!
HELEN
Yes; babies, you know!
GEORGE
Good heavens!
[CURTAIN]
MORE SHORT PLAYS
By MARY MacMILLAN
Plays that act well may read well. Miss MacMillan's Plays are good reading. Nor is literary excellence a detriment to dramatic performance.
This volume contains eight Plays:
His Second Girl. One-act comedy, just before the Civil War. ”