Hall Caine

“ Captain (to the guard) —Remove the lady to the room below.
Nadine (throwing herself into Victor's arms in a frenzy of terror) —No, no! Have mercy on me, Victor! Victor! Victor! Save me! Save me!
(The guard tear her out of Victor’s arms and drag her down stairs) .
Victor (covering his ears to shut out her cries) —Oh, God! Oh, God!
Captain (rising and crossing the room to Victor after the cries have died down beneath the stage) —Why will you make me seem so hard and brutal? I give you every warning, offer you every alternative.
Victor—Kill me, I beseech you; kill me. ”

“ Sergeant and Guard (shouting him down) —Halts Maul!
Captain (with the same deadly calm) —War is war and I must have that password.
Victor—Never from me, never!
Captain—We'll see. If I have failed perhaps somebody else will be successful. (To sergeant) —Bring in the younger of the two ladles.
(Sergeant goes out by door on right) .
Victor (aghast) —You can't mean that? To threaten a wife In order to force her husband—it's incredible, impossible! War is war, you say ... Is this what you call war—war on women? (Drawing himself up) . But no matter! Belgian women can be brave. ”

“ Captain—Yours.
Baroness (drawing herself up proudly) —Then he shall not give you the password. I am only an old woman, but I am the daughter of a soldier, the widow of a soldier and the mother of a soldier. My son shall not degrade the honor of a soldier to save his mother's life.
Victor (with a triumphant shout) —Do you hear that? Didn't I tell you that Belgian women could be brave. (Holds out his arm.) Mother!
Baroness (embracing him) —Victor!
Captain (to his guard) —Remove her. ”

“ Nadine—What word, sir?
Captain—His password.
(Victor is holding his breath and listening.)
Nadine—But he can't do that, sir. No soldier ever can.
Victor (relieved) —Ah!
Captain—You must succeed in persuading him, madame, or else—— (he hesitates) .
Victor (breaking in hotly) —Or else you'll be shot.
Nadine (catching her breath) —Shot?
Victor—Yes, shot as Private Jonniaux is to be shot—because I refuse to be false to my King and country.
Nadine (with a frightened cry) —Victor!
Victor (contemptuously to Captain) —My wife won't do it—take that for your answer. ”

“ Captain (severely) —Lieutenant Lambotte, if you do not give up the password then Private Jonniaux will be shot.
Private J. (gasping) —Shot!
Victor (after a peal of derisive laughter) —What a Joke! Even German officers can't take a man's life in that unceremonious way, against all the regulations of military law.
Captain—I advise you not to count of what German officers cannot do—law or no law.
Victor (fiercely) —By God, you're right there, and all the world knows it.
Captain (sternly) —Well, I've told you what will happen—will you give me the password now? ”

“ He sent me to find out what those movements were. If I don't find out, and any disaster befalls our forces, I shall be degraded, perhaps shot. It is therefore life or death to me also. That's our system—our military system. ”

“ Listen! That's your wife. She thinks you are killing her. You are. If the sergeant returns before you give me the password it will be Impossible to save any of you. No power on earth can save you then. Quick—decide. Save yourself and all that belong to you. It's your last chance.
(Victor, who is seen to be marking time, pretends to consent.)
Victor—But how—how can I do what you say?
Captain—Change uniforms with my lieutenant. Then, in the uniform of a German soldier, you, your comrade, your wife and your mother shall be conveyed through the imperial lines. ”

“ Victor—Harm! Don't you see? If they can get the password they can get through the Belgian lines. Then our army may be destroyed—our country wiped out—there may be no more Belgium.
Nadine—But the man who receives the password may never be able to use it. He may even be detected. A German is a German, a Belgian a Belgian—the Belgian soldiers at the outpost will not be deceived. ”

“ Captain (in front of table, dictating) —"To the general officer commanding—General vou Hindenberg—Second army—Two Belgian soldiers captured here, Lieutenant Victor Lambotte and Private Jonniaux, have been guilty of treachery in war; and two non-combatants, the Baroness Lambotte and Madame Victor Lambotte, mother and wife of the first-named prisoner, have aided and abetted them in conduct which impedes the progress and imperils the safety of the Imperial army. ”

“ Captain—Good ! (To the ladies and the priest) —You are at liberty to go back to your room and to move about the house as you please. But I must warn you that your chateau is now in the occupation of the representatives of the German army and any attempt to escape from it or to signal to or otherwise communicate with the enemy will be followed by speedy and severe punishment. You may go.
(Corporal opens doors on right; the ladies and priest are moving toward it when the large door at back is opened hurriedly and a German soldier enters.)
Soldier (saluting) —Captain! ”

“ Captain—Quick! Lose no time. The sergeant may return at any moment now.
(Victor, having stripped off his overcoat and tunic, stands with the German tunic in his hands. He is listening intently. There is a moment of dead silence. Then comes the tramp of horses in the distance, galloping toward the house.)
Captain—Listen ! The sergeant is coming back.
(The sound of the galloping becomes louder. Victor is looking steadfastly at the bell above the clock.)
Captain—My people are here with my general's order. The password quick, before it is too late. ”

“ But I must have the password—I must have it now—before midnight. Will you give it up?
Victor—Never!
Captain—You are a brave man, and as such I honor you. You believe you are doing your duty. Well, I am doing my duty, too. Listen! Perhaps you'll see that I'm not acting by an impulse of brutality. I came here tonight on my way to the Belgian lines. Our General had heard from his flying corps that important new movements were being made to-day at enemy headquarters such as might before morning imperil the safety of, the German army. ”

“ The German captain and his lieutenant throw up their hands. At the next moment the King of the Belgians enters. His officers salute.)
Victor (flinging himself at the King's feet, and crying in a joyful voice that is, at the same time, full of sobs) —My King! My King!
(As the curtain falls the people from the room below come running up the stairs: The Baroness Lambotte, Madame Victor Lambotte, Private Jonniaux and the servants of the chateau.)
Curtain
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. ”

“ Soldier—Achtung! Vorwarts!
(The two prisoners enter under arrest. One is in the uniform of a Belgian lieutenant of cavalry; the other of a private. As the lieutenant enters, with a defiant air, the younger of the ladies utters an involuntary cry of recognition.)
Nadine—Ah!
Baroness (laying hold of her hand) —Hush!
Captain (seeing this) —H’m! (To guard) —Disarm them.
(The prisoners are disarmed of swords, revolvers, etc. While this is being done the German lieutenant points to picture on wall and then to the Belgian lieutenant. The captain nods, then steps forward.) ”

“ For these offenses there being danger in delay for the ordinary processes of military law, I condemn all four to death, and hereby ask for the general's confirmation of my sentence and authority to carry it to immediate execution. ”