John Jay Chapman

“ Dark have been my forebodings, standing first on one foot and then on the other, through the night hours, preyed upon by visions, holding my eyelids open by my will, while strange thoughts like vultures over their carrion, wheeling about above me, assail me, tear me with their beaks and talons. Dark looms the cloud bank through the black portals of the river. The fog holds the bleared eyes of the morning. And I, stiff with watching, suspect some evil. Some foul play is in the mountains, stalking in the shadows of the dawn. ”

“ When the south wind blows death upon their pride,—
O intimate undoing! In what form walkest thou here?
Treason. [Without.] Who calls?
Leader of Men. One who knows thee well enough: thou need'st not hide.
[Enter Treason.]
Leader of Men. [To Father Hudson.] Behold the unsleeping fiend that lives in him! His name is Treason.
Treason. Art thou there, Benedict?
Arnold. [Aside.] Why not? 'Tis Fame,
Reward, wealth, power, revenge and simple justice
All at a clap. ”

“ Such a hero as antiquity can show, towering, magnificent, made of cloud and thunder, made of lightning and glory, a god among fighting men, a Hector or Mars appearing from the bosom of the sky on the day of battle, bringing victory. ”

“ West Point becomes your own.
André. Is there some house
Or tavern, where with more deliberate mind
We may o'erlook the papers, and make note
Of our exacter meanings?
Arnold. Close at hand,
The mansion of my agent, Joshua Smith.
André. Good, we'll go there. O Arnold, death is nothing;
Our lives are forfeit to our country's cause.
Which of us would not quit the world in peace
After some act that scaled the walls of time,
And stood on the rampart?
Arnold. Right, and bravely said! I've given my life
As many times as I have mounted horse
To reconnoitre—
André. ”

“ Nothing but justice—I'll have justice!
Both Choruses. Foolish is the man who thinks upon his wrongs though they be great. The sting is in him; the poison is in himself.
Lo, he accuses others, and the deed of his death is done with his own hand.
Father Hudson. What is the man disturbed about, my children?
Leader of Men. He is a hero and a battle-god:
The spoils and the rewards he justly won,
Others have seized, and left his haughty heart
A withered laurel.
Father Hudson. Surely it was wrong;
The hero should receive the hero's meed.
Leader of Men. ”

“ Strange it is what souls are woven together by destiny; and out of what substance life is wrought.
All men become something incredible to themselves; for they are unwound like a cocoon, and know not which way the thread doth run. ”

“ Arnold. It may be death.
[She kneels by him in silent anguish.]
Both Choruses. Surely truth is not born except through pain; and the long delay increaseth it.
It is a happiness for a young man to see his error. But for an old, only death remains. He hath no strength for new things. Let him die in his old ways, yea, though they be evil.
Very sad is repentance when it is too late; when the blight has fallen, and no fruit cometh thereafter. Very sad is the grief of an old man. I cannot lay hold of it. There is no comfort to be given him, for he knoweth the world.
Father Hudson. ”

“ André. But my uniform—
Arnold. It is a case for a change of coats.
André. But the countrymen are swarming in every highway—
Joshua Smith. They are all my friends. Every rebel is my friend;—and—harkee,—every Tory is my friend—from Peekskill to New York! You'll be as safe as the General himself,—and much more comfortable,—till you reach the British Headquarters.
Arnold. [To André.] He's right, André, he's right. It's a safer way than the other when all's said. He knows every lane in the country. [More firing.] Here, take the papers. And God bless you! There's no time to lose. ”

“ They are caught with the net; they are frozen in the ice of God; they are very helpless, and cry for relief day and night.
Accept thy pains, for they are good. Reason not against fate but lay down thy will in earnest.
Father Hudson. Will the man come again?
Leader of Men. Once more shalt thou see him, and remember him forever. Lo, now he comes as the wounded lion, as the tiger bereft of his prey and wounded by the hunter. [Enter Arnold, a pistol in one hand, a letter clutched in the other. During this speech he crosses the stage.] His plot has failed and his iniquity is as a broken toy. ”

“ Arnold. Send William here:
The time grows short.
[Enter servant bringing the sword which Mrs. Arnold takes and gives to Arnold.]
Mrs. Arnold. [To servant.] Send Master William here.
[Exit servant. Enter William Arnold, a boy of eight.]
Arnold. William, you are a soldier:—
This old sword
Was once your brother Ben's,—my eldest boy.
He served his God, his Country, and his King,
And found a soldier's death. It is a record
We may be proud of in the family.
You and your brothers, Edward, George, and Robert,
Are dedicated soldiers to the King. ”

“ Somewhere in the foreground a sofa or low couch: An engraved portrait of George III. Arnold is sitting at the table, but his arm-chair is turned away. He is in a profound reverie, gazing at the floor. He is dressed in the uniform of a British officer. His hair is gray and his face worn. At the back of the stage at one side of the door, sits Treason, somewhat in the attitude of a sheriff's officer keeping guard._]
Treason. [To Arnold.] What are you muttering, comrade? Go to sleep! And yet sleep not too sound; there's work ahead! With all the world against us. ”

“ For his punishment shall be within himself day by day. [Exit Arnold.] Behold, [Shades his eyes with his hand as if observing Arnold] he is on the shore; his barge of eight oars obeys the signal; he stands in the prow; the rowers smite the water. With fury they row, for he commands them; with fury and terrible ire they row, for they fear the man. He has drawn a white handkerchief from his breast, though his pistol never leaves his hand. The prow of the British sloop of war looms above his barge. They see his signal. They are letting down the gangway. ”

“ A danger to mankind!
[He sits down upon the couch. Mrs. Arnold throws herself on his knees and sobs convulsively.]
Both Choruses. Who shall praise a woman, save He that made her, save God that understandeth all things?
I will sing a song of woman, and magnify the wife of a man's soul. His goodness she has discerned when no man else can find it: his crimes are known to her, yet is he not in them: she seeketh his soul among many. ”

“ This man, a few years since, could endure reverse; but now he is broken and worn away: his soul bows down; he cannot hold out longer.
It is a good thing when a young hero dies; for so is he safe. His immortality is meted to him. O spare us a trial like this man's who is on the brink of great misfortune.
Arnold. [Starting up.] They have betrayed me! Who goes there?
[Enter Joshua Smith. Exit Treason.]
Joshua Smith. A friend!
Arnold. His name?
Joshua Smith. Joshua Smith. And yours?
Arnold. Arnold, my man. Good God! you startled me. I must have slept. What news? Will André come? ”

“ They circle the group, and pile the wreaths about the couch, then stand about in symmetry.]
Father Hudson. Enough, my children, I understand. Leave me awhile. Let there be no loud praises. Go silently.
[A dead march is played. Father Hudson resumes the plastic, immobile, and almost invisible attitude which he occupied at the opening of the play. The Choruses file silently out, one on each side of the orchestra.] ”

“ Verily all courage is immortal: the man himself cannot kill it.
Lo, what great things are done through even bad men; and this man had in him much goodness.
[A pause. Distant military music. Four young boys dressed in white, and bearing tall spears with little banners attached to the tips, enter and stand each at one corner of the couch. The arrangement suggests a medieval church tomb, of which Mrs. Arnold's kneeling figure forms a part.] ”

“ Arnold kisses the little boy, and gives him the sword with which he walks toward the door. The child feels that something very serious is happening, although he does not entirely understand it. When near the door he turns, runs back and embraces the old man again ”