Mariolatry

“ To scorn them is, somehow, to show too great disregard and lack of knowledge. And we, over here, who have not as youngsters laughed aloud at the drolleries of Guignol, who have not learned our folk-tales interspersed with the antics of some local Kasperle, who are not surprised by Punch and Judy at a familiar street corner, now and then, who have not been privileged to witness the spectacular faeries of Italian fantoccini, the exquisite shadows of the Chat Noir, the elaborate modern plays at the Munich art-theatre,—how can we really say what we think of the marionette? ”

“ So great that it kept her silent.
“You seem rather surprised,” said the little Marionette. “Why?”
“Why, I never knew you could talk!” she exclaimed, recovering a little from her surprise. “Or any other toy, either,” she added.
“Life is full of surprises,” remarked the little Marionette; “especially in the toy-shop.” ”

“ The spirited surprise, the happy ambush, the daring onslaught, the fortunate escape,—these, as they involve no monstrous slaughter—no murderous strife of masses,—no rending of walled towns and sack of cities, the ordinary historian disdains. The military reputation of Marion consists in the frequent performance of deeds, unexpectedly, with inferior means, by which the enemy was annoyed and dispirited, and the hearts and courage of his countrymen warmed into corresponding exertions with his own. ”

“ But the little Marionette was not to be found.
"This is too bad of her!" said the little girl. "Our last time! And after she has promised not to be late!"
Tears rose to her eyes.
"I am very much disappointed," said she as she walked up and down the shop looking for her friend.
"I shall never find her.... Why, there she is!" she exclaimed suddenly.
And she hurried up to the little Marionette, who, half-concealed by a big Drum, lay on the ground beside a Puzzle.
"You are not very kind," remarked the little girl reproachfully. "I asked you to be early, and you never came at all." ”

“ Sitting astride the log, Marion wrapped Patience’s warm dry cape about the child. Hardly a moment had elapsed before her crying ceased.
Of all the strange experiences that had come to Marion, this was the most weird. To have escaped from hounds and kidnappers with a child, to have come gliding down here in such a strange manner, to find herself sitting astride a huge log surrounded by black, rushing waters, and gliding steadily forward to an unknown destination, this was adventure of the most stirring kind. But Marion found little enough time for such reflections. ”

“ The problem now is to create a marionette whose appearance will suggest the Myles who is brave, strong, loyal, daring, but, above all things, courageous. Can you not see him, tall, broad of shoulder, fearless of eye, as he stands before Sir James Lee? Strong of limb and strong of will, he reflects the spirit of his time. ”

“ The Tories scattered and fled! In this little brush Marion did not lose a man.
Marion was always on the alert—quick, dash, fire, away!—that was his way of fighting. No wonder he carried terror to the enemy. And yet he never used exactly the same tactics twice. Once he planned to [Pg 259] fall suddenly on a force twice as large as his own. It had a watchful leader who could not be caught napping. Dangerous business, we say. Yes, but see how the "swamp fox" did it! He carefully hid a body of his best sharpshooters in ambush along the road about a mile from the British. ”

“ And she smiled.
“Force of habit, I suppose, as she herself said,” she remarked after a pause. “We all have our little ways. Now what sort of story would you like to-morrow?”
The little girl thought deeply for a few73 moments. Then she said: “You have told me a story about a sailor, so I should like the next one to be about a soldier.”
“A soldier—a soldier—” the Marionette answered. “I don’t think I know one about a soldier—Yes, stay; there is the story of the Officer and the Elephant. That is about a soldier.”
“An Officer and an Elephant! How nice!” exclaimed the little girl eagerly. ”

“ Slowly, reverently, they move up through the broad lane, flanked by eager faces; the choristers are followed by the brilliant party of ushers,—soldier and civilian,—the [Pg 434] gray-haired father and his handsome wife; then come the fair bridesmaids, two and two, all in fleecy silk, and bearing dainty bouquets of daisies tied with the cavalry colors, while between the last two, sister and cousin, and as though led by them, veiled, and with downcast eyes, a matchless picture of sweet womanly grace and beauty, is Marion. ”

“ Marion seemed to possess an intuitive knowledge of his men and material, by which, without effort, he was led to the most judicious modes for their exercise. He beheld, at a glance, the evils or advantages of a position. By a nice adaptation of his resources to his situation, he promptly supplied its deficiencies and repaired its defects. Till this was done, he did not sleep;—he relaxed in none of his endeavors. By patient toil, by keenest vigilance, by a genius peculiarly his own, he reconciled those inequalities of fortune or circumstance, under which ordinary men sit down in despair. ”

“ It sent hundreds, whom nothing had moved before, into the ranks of Marion and Sumter. The moment of defeat and greatest despondency—the dark before the dawn—was that when the people of the country were preparing to display the most animating signs of life. The very fact that the force of Marion was so insignificant, was something in favor of that courage and patriotism, that confidence in his own resources and his men, which, defying all the inequalities of force, could move him to traverse the very paths of the conqueror, and pluck his prisoners from his very grasp. ”

“ Ever since Marion’s appeal in the study, a close observer might have traced an almost wistful uneasiness in her father, would have noticed that his eyes followed her, that his voice was modulated into unusual gentleness in addressing her, and that once or twice in a discussion with Anthony he had sided with her, taking her part, indeed, with a sharpness which seemed uncalled for. His heart smote him for the blindness which, after all, had caused little or no mischief. But we are all inclined to suppose that we might have averted evil had we only seen it coming. ”

“ Marion watched the dark form of the sentry as he walked the length of the building, turned, and heavily stamped back. He disappeared; presently the measured beat was heard in the yard beyond. A minute later the moon swung clear of the curtain of haze.
More cautiously this time Marion moved the shutter back, then thrust out her head in the clear light. Immediately a hand stole from between the bars across the way, and waved a stealthy greeting. Marion raised her own hand and pointed to the moon. Her finger travelled in a mimic motion of the moon crossing the sky, once—twice. ”

“ It was the custom of Marion’s men, when hard pressed by a superior force, to scatter, each man looking out for himself. Often they would dash headlong into a dense, dark swamp, to meet again at some place agreed upon. Even while they were still in hiding, they would sometimes dart out just as suddenly as they had vanished, and surprise another squad of British which might be near at hand. “Swamp Fox” was the name the British gave to Marion.
With the aid of such partisan bands, and with skilful handling of his army, Greene was more than a match for Cornwallis. ”

“ No one of late has done as much as he toward reviving the interest in puppets and stimulating curiosity concerning them. His collection of puppets and shadow figures forms a veritable museum of marionettes from all parts of the world. His many articles in The Mask and in a later publication called The Marionettes, both published in Florence at the Arena Goldoni, direct attention to the puppet;—more, it must be admitted, as a model or suggestion to the actor, than as a minor art-form in itself. ”

“ In America, there is a growing list of friends of the marionette. Probably the name best known to you will be that of Tony Sarg, a charming artist who has taken his puppet plays to the largest cities in our country and delighted us with his Rip Van Winkle, Rose and the King, and Don Quixote. The manager of his marionettes, Mr. Matthew Searle, is also an artist of ingenuity and taste.
In Chicago, the splendid work of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Brown made new friends for the marionette. Mr. Perry Dilley introduced marionettes and guignol to the people of California. ”

“ Marion watched till the sun was gone. Then the golden light grew softer and paler, the clouds melted from crimson and rose, to the faintest blush, and at last all merged in a silvery greyness, which in its turn gradually deepened again to the dark, even blue of a cloudless night. And one by one the stars came out, each in its accustomed place; all the old friends whom Marion had first learnt to call by name from the windows of the little cottage at Brackley. Somehow the strangeness and the loneliness seemed to leave her as she saw them, and a feeling of tranquil happiness stole over her. ”

“ It was at sunset the next evening that Marion commenced his flight to North Carolina. He kept with him only sixty men. The rest dropped off by degrees as they approached their several hiding-places, lying snug, until they again heard the signal of their commander,—frequently nothing but a whisper,—which once more brought them forth, to turn the pursuit upon their enemies and avenge themselves by sudden onslaught for the ruin of their homesteads. On this retreat, Marion took with him the two field-pieces which we found him placing in battery on the Pedee a short time before. ”

“ With the help of the rope he should be able to let himself noiselessly down.
In reality only a few minutes had passed since the arrow had reached its mark, but to Marion it seemed already an hour. She looked anxiously at the eastern sky, now suffused with stronger light. In another half hour the daylight would be making very plain all the features of town and country alike. A few hoarse notes came to her ears, punctuated by the heavy footfall of the sentry in the yard. ''Tis a cheerful soul!' mused Marion, with a wry smile. A minute later the dark form loomed round the corner. ”

“ He was conscious of his shell-pink ears, fetching whiskers, and the large elegant watch which he drew from his pocket with a flourish.
Marionette animals such as dogs, cats, and pigs may be made from cloth. Even dragons may be made from cloth. Every animal marionette presents a new problem for your ingenuity to solve. ”

“ Mario soon wearied of the absurd rôle he was compelled to play. In vain did he try to transform that nature, incapable as it was of loving the right for the right's sake, or even of conceiving that Mario or anyone else on earth could so love it.
"If you did not love that Lauriane so madly," she said to him with appalling frankness, "you would entrust me with your vengeance; for she always has despised you and always will." ”

“ Something more than the restlessness of spring had driven Marion to the solitude of the cliff side, something more than the emptiness of the house which Simone had just left for a visit to her French home, something more than the realisation that soon she would be in Kensington again with her aunt.
Marion walked idly about the headland, pacing to and fro along the grassy stretch. From time to time her eyes swept the sunlit Channel. Presently she climbed to a higher ridge of the slope and sat down on the stone ledge that gave a view of the harbour. ”

“ A wave of colour ran over Marion's face as the figure approached, and for a few seconds she struggled with a wild desire to turn and flee.
Then she heard her own voice speaking, and only a slight tremor, a deeper tone, betrayed her feeling.
'You always were a very sudden person, Roger,' she said.
Roger tossed his seaman's cap on the ground and gently took her hands. The dark eyes, with gold lights dancing in the brown, looked merrily into the steady grey ones. The look sobered, and Marion's glance fell. She did not see the brown eyes run over her face and shining, red-gold hair. ”

“ Marion's career of activity commenced with his command. Though always prudent, he yet learned that prudence in military life must always imply activity. The insecurity of the encampment, with a militia force, is always greater than that of battle. The Roman captains of celebrity were particularly aware of this truth. But the activity of Marion was necessarily straitened by the condition in which he found his men. ”

“ Marion is returned for the Provincial Congress from St. John's, Berkeley—Made Captain in the Second Regiment —Fort Johnson taken—Battle of Fort Moultrie.
Engaged in rural and domestic occupations we hear no more of Marion, except as a citizen and farmer, until the beginning of the year 1775. In the latter capacity he is reputed to have been successful; and between the labors and sports of the field, the more violent humors of youth seem to have been dissipated in exercises which are seldom followed by reproach. ”

“ This means that it must be either lighter or darker than the puppets, so that they can be seen against it. It must be so simple that the eye can follow the marionette easily, and not be lost in the detail of the background, which will happen if there are too many colors, and the colors are not of the same value. The scenery should not be an end in itself, but should be a beautiful setting for the marionettes, and by its fitness give an added sense of the beauty of your play.
100
How to pull your curtains. ”