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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Makers of Madness, by Hermann Hagedorn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Makers of Madness
+       A Play in One Act and Three Scenes
+
+Author: Hermann Hagedorn
+
+Release Date: September 3, 2005 [EBook #16636]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAKERS OF MADNESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+MAKERS OF MADNESS
+
+
+
+
+THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+
+
+NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS
+ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO
+
+MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
+LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA
+MELBOURNE
+
+THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
+TORONTO
+
+
+
+
+MAKERS OF MADNESS
+
+A PLAY IN ONE ACT AND THREE SCENES
+
+BY
+HERMANN HAGEDORN
+
+AUTHOR OF "FACES IN THE DAWN," ETC.
+
+
+New York
+THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+1914
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1914
+
+BY HERMANN HAGEDORN
+
+Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1914.
+
+This play has been copyrighted and published simultaneously in the
+United States and Great Britain. All acting rights, both professional
+and amateur, are reserved in the United States, Great Britain, and
+countries of the Copyright Union, by Hermann Hagedorn. Performances
+forbidden and right of representation reserved. Application for the
+right of performing this piece must be made to The Macmillan Company.
+Any piracy or infringement will be prosecuted in accordance with the
+penalties provided by the United States Statutes:
+
+"Sec. 4966. Any person publicly performing or representing any dramatic
+or musical composition, for which copyright has been obtained, without
+the consent of the proprietor of the said dramatic or musical
+composition, or his heirs or assigns, shall be liable for damages
+therefor, such damages in all cases to be assessed at such sum, not less
+than one hundred dollars for the first and fifty dollars for every
+subsequent performance, as to the Court shall appear to be just. If the
+unlawful performance and representation be willful and for profit, such
+person or persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
+be imprisoned for a period not exceeding one year." U.S. Revised
+Statutes, Title 60, Chap. 3.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: Where obvious, I added missing punctuation,
+and changed the typo "psycholology" to "psychology".
+
+
+
+
+TO
+ADOLF GUNTHER HAGEDORN
+
+
+
+
+    NIGHT! And a black and barren sky
+      With a wet wind in from the coast.
+    And only the kites to make reply
+    To heaving body and pleading cry--
+    Here where the lost battalions lie,
+      I walked last night with a ghost.
+
+    His face was gray, his hands were red,
+      And a ghostly mare he rode,
+    That wearily stepped, with drooping head,
+    Over the shadowy lines of dead,
+    And rolled her eyes, and shook with dread
+      Under her foam-white load.
+
+    The ghost turned not to left or right.
+      But mutely he beckoned me,
+    And moved like a pillar of livid light
+    Through the humid dark of the foggy night,
+    With eyes deep-sunken and greenly bright
+      As phosphor on the sea.
+
+    He led me where in ghostly files
+      The dead slept with their toys.
+    Miles, miles, and never-ending miles,
+    Along the valley's mournful aisles,
+    The voiceless, vague, misshapen piles
+      Of men and golden boys!
+
+    He led me up the gory hill
+      By wood and sodden heath.
+    Ravage! And faces, lone and chill,
+    In the murmuring wash of the willow-rill!
+    Slaughter! And voices, begging shrill
+      The merciful grace of death.
+
+    A waning moon broke, sickly pale,
+      Through the muddy fog's disguising;
+    And over the breadth of the ghastly vale
+    The battle-wake like a steamer's trail,
+    And a heaving as of waves in a gale,
+      Rising and falling and rising!
+
+    And out of the air, and up from the plain,
+      The ancient battle-story!--
+    Of stricken love and laughter slain,
+    And hearts beneath the hoofs of pain--
+    But not a breath of human gain,
+      And not a word of glory.
+
+
+
+
+MAKERS OF MADNESS
+
+
+
+
+CHARACTERS
+
+_In the Capital of Iberia_:
+
+  THE KING
+  THE PRIME MINISTER
+  THE MINISTER OF WAR
+  THE CHIEF OF STAFF
+  A SECRETARY
+  OFFICERS
+
+_In the Capital of the Republic_:
+  GROSVENOR, a contractor
+  CONROY, a manufacturer of guns
+  POLLEN, owner of a chain of newspapers
+  SENATOR TANEY
+  SENATOR HARRADAN
+  REPRESENTATIVE MAYNARD
+  A GENERAL IN THE ARMY
+  A CAPTAIN
+  CROWD
+  PAGE
+
+_In costuming this play, it is essential that the uniforms of the
+Iberian officers in the first scene should not be conspicuously copied
+after those of any of the armies of Europe. A compromise, grotesque to
+the expert, would be better here than a misleading realism._
+
+
+
+
+MAKERS OF MADNESS
+
+SCENE I
+
+_A room in the Ministry of War in the capital of Iberia._
+
+_Evening._
+
+_The_ MINISTER OF WAR, _a tall, stern, bearded man with
+deep-set eyes and many furrows, is sitting at a large, mahogany
+desk-table, Left._
+
+_The_ CHIEF OF STAFF, _silent, motionless and watchful, stands
+beside him with his hands resting on the table-top. He is thin, old and
+emaciated, clean-shaven, firm-lipped, and looks startlingly like a bird
+of prey. Right, stands a group of generals and other officers._
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Rising and speaking in a sharp, crisp bass voice._
+
+I can only repeat, gentlemen, what his Excellency, the Chief of Staff,
+has already made clear to you. Nothing has been decided. You have your
+orders in your pockets. There may be war and there may not be war. I
+understand, gentlemen, your natural impatience once more to draw the
+naked steel for the glory of our country, and you may rest assured that
+his gracious majesty, the King, will not forget that his fame and the
+happiness of his people rests ultimately in your hands. Personally, as a
+man of family and as a Christian, I hope to God that peace may be
+preserved. But if God wills that our enemy, by his insolence, forces us
+to draw the sword, I know that you will wield it with honor and will not
+sheathe it until our enemy is crushed, root and branch, stock and
+barrel, and brought so low that he will never raise his head again in
+dishonorable defiance of our holy rights.
+
+[_The_ OFFICERS _shout with enthusiasm, lifting their helmets
+in air. The_ MINISTER OF WAR _sits down again._
+
+That is all, gentlemen.
+
+[_With a grim smile._
+
+But I recommend that you do not send your service uniforms to the tailor
+tonight. You may have need of them.
+
+[_There is another cheer. The_ OFFICERS _stand about in groups
+a minute or so, then file out through the double-door in the centre of
+the rear wall. One elderly general, only, comes up quickly to the desk._
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_In a rasping voice, to the_ CHIEF OF STAFF.
+
+Delay again? Aren't we ever going to get at their throats?
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+We are ready. But the King!
+
+[_He shrugs his shoulders._
+
+The peace propagandists are after him. Mediation is the magic word.
+Mediation--by which the neutral nations block our legitimate road to
+victory for their own benefit, in the name of civilization and progress.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+Old women's talk.
+
+[_With a swagger._
+
+Give me a sword in my right hand again, I say! I'll break open a few
+skulls yet, for all my sixty years. Eh? Mediation! Let those mediate, I
+say, who are afraid to fight!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Calmly, dispassionately._
+
+We are not mediating yet. You may tell that to your friends if they
+become downhearted.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Saluting._
+
+To command, your Excellency! It is good that some one looks out for the
+honor of the army.
+
+[_Saluting again._
+
+Good night, gentlemen!
+
+[_The_ MINISTER OF WAR _half rises and bows slightly. The_
+CHIEF OF STAFF _nods. Exit the_ GENERAL.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_With a flash in his old eyes._
+
+Ha! Once more to have those fellows behind me. Think of it! Each man of
+them represents fifty thousand. And behind them another million and
+another! God! What a machine to handle.
+
+[_He slaps his forehead._
+
+And the old brain working still!
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Rising and crossing to a window, right forward, then speaking
+thoughtfully._
+
+I don't know, Clement. I am growing old. I think sometimes that war is
+the most terrible matter in which we erring humans become engaged. I
+have always thought that--at times.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Who has crossed to the Left and stands facing a map of the world,
+covering half the wall._
+
+So you are a sentimentalist, after all?
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Looking out of the window._
+
+No. Because there is something stronger in me, conquering the repulsion.
+My temperament, character, destiny. I am impelled to war. A dozen
+generations of soldiers in my blood press me on. My whole education
+presses me on. My sympathies and my religious sense make me tremble
+before the impending horror, but--I confess to you--I believe I want
+this war.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Without turning._
+
+So do we all. War is the soldier's work. And he does not want to play
+all his life. Look. We land here and here and here.
+
+[_He indicates places on the map with a paper-cutter, speaking with
+growing excitement._
+
+No defenses, except at this place--a masonry fort built thirty years
+ago. Bad cement, moreover. Fraudulent contractor. Then--
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Returning to his desk, resolutely._
+
+No, you old hawk, we're not going to do it. We'll be content to settle
+ourselves in peaceful graves, you and I and the old Chief. No war, no
+war!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Calmly._
+
+That is sentiment. Here is fact. We land here and here and here. Then
+march down here and up there, uniting the armies. Rich country. I've
+never seen it, but I know it better than any letter-carrier in the
+district. We live on the land, burning and pillaging if the inhabitants
+don't give us what we want. A little dose will tame them. We'll sweep
+all before us in six weeks.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_In mock protest._
+
+Stop, man, stop! You make me want to try it.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+I can't stop. It's a game with me. I play it all day in my thoughts and
+all night I direct campaigns in my dreams. A great game. Only sometimes
+I get tired of playing it on paper, and want to hear the real guns and
+see the real battalions.
+
+[_A_ SECRETARY _enters with a message._
+
+
+SECRETARY
+
+[_To Minister of War._
+
+A message from the King sent over from the Foreign Office. The Prime
+Minister was not there.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+Let me have it.
+
+[_He takes the message and glances at it._
+
+What?
+
+[_With a gesture to the Secretary._
+
+That will do.
+
+[_Exit_ SECRETARY.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+Well?
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Flaring up._
+
+Look at this, look at it! The King is sending our national honor to the
+dogs. He has secretly resumed communication with the Ambassador of the
+Republic, instead of doing what was natural and constitutional, sending
+the man to us. He is going to compromise. Pack up your tin soldiers, old
+man. Take them home for your grandchildren to play with. Our country
+evidently has no more use for them.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_With compressed lips._
+
+Show me.
+
+[_He takes the paper and reads its contents aloud._
+
+"The King desires to inform the Foreign Office that, in pursuance of
+his well-known love of peace, he sent for the Ambassador of the Republic
+this afternoon and outlined a plan that would satisfy the royal
+government and at the same time yield certain points to the government
+of the Republic. The Ambassador was courteous, but, although
+acknowledging the generosity of the King's offer, regretted that he was
+unable to consider any compromise before communicating again with his
+government. The King replied that if his offers were refused he could
+then have nothing further to say in the matter, but would have to turn
+it over entirely to his Ministers.
+
+"The King suggests to the Foreign Office that these facts be put before
+our Ambassadors abroad, and, to pacify the public mind, be given at once
+to the newspapers."
+
+My God, and you want peace!
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Harshly._
+
+Well, how do you like it?
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+He's backed down, he's backed down. All the world will be shouting
+tomorrow how our King has backed down. _Christo!_ To accept defeat
+before you've begun to fight!
+
+[_He turns again to the map._
+
+If this other plan should be frustrated by the enemy's navy, look, we
+could land here and here and--
+
+[_The door opens and the_ PRIME MINISTER _enters. He is a
+stern, titanic figure in the sixties, sallow-skinned, gray-haired._
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Standing in the doorway._
+
+Good evening, gentlemen. Counting your battalions?
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Absorbed._
+
+And here, joining our armies at--
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+Thank God, you're here. Where in sin have you been?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+Home on my estates, saying good-bye to my family.
+
+[_He smiles grimly, and with his cane makes a thrust in carte and
+tierce._
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+You think you are going to war?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+I know.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Taking up the paper the_ CHIEF OF STAFF _has let fall on the
+desk._
+
+Read that. It came from your office.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Takes it and begins to read._
+
+Eh? The King? Mediation on his own hook?
+
+[_With growing anger._
+
+So? So? So?
+
+[_He lets the paper flutter to the floor._
+
+Very good. He can find a new Prime Minister. I resign.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Turning abruptly._
+
+No, you don't!
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Hotly._
+
+We stick together in this. You are not going to resign.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+My good friends, I am going to resign.
+
+[_He picks up the paper off the floor._
+
+Give me your seat at the desk. On the back of this ignoble parley, my
+resignation goes to him.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+You are the support of the army. We go to the dogs, if you leave us.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Sitting at the desk._
+
+So? "The King suggests to the Foreign Office that these facts be put
+before our Ambassadors abroad and, to pacify the public mind, be given
+at once to the newspapers." He suggests. So do I suggest--something
+different.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_In front of the map again._
+
+Three hundred thousand men here, turning the flank of a possible army
+marching north with that ridge of mountains as a cover--If we can only
+have the chance!
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Studying the message, suddenly._
+
+By Heaven! If--
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+What is it? You look as if--
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+If nothing! Bring me some claret out of that inexhaustible cabinet of
+yours.
+
+[_He draws his pen through a section of the message. The_ MINISTER
+OF WAR _goes to a cabinet in the rear wall and brings forth a
+decanter of claret and glasses._
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Pouring a glassful for the_ PRIME MINISTER.
+
+Here, dear old Titan.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Gulping it down._
+
+Thanks. More. And cigars.
+
+[_The_ MINISTER OF WAR _refills the glass and brings cigars.
+The_ PRIME MINISTER _wreathes himself in smoke._
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_With his back still turned to the others._
+
+I planned this campaign first some twenty years ago. But there was no
+navy then to speak of, and no airships. It is more intricate now, but
+very much more interesting as an intellectual problem.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Indicating his glass._
+
+Another, good man.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+You're smelling blood when you drink like that.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Turning to the_ CHIEF OF STAFF.
+
+Here! You old death's head! You are prepared, you say?
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Calmly._
+
+I have been making my plans for twenty years. The present plans have
+been complete, except for slight revisions, for three years.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+The army and navy are fully equipped?
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+Down to the last shoe-string.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_To_ CHIEF OF STAFF.
+
+Would you say it would be better to wait a week or a month or even a
+year--or to strike at once?
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Firmly and quietly._
+
+Strike at once.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+You dreamers, you theorists! How about the King's negotiations?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Rising, with the message in his hand._
+
+Gentlemen, I have seen fit to abbreviate the King's message. I have not
+altered a word nor added a word. I have merely omitted all that did not
+seem to me pertinent or useful. The message reads as follows: "The King
+sent for the Ambassador of the Republic this afternoon and outlined a
+plan that would satisfy the royal government. The Ambassador regretted
+that he was unable to consider any compromise. The King replied that
+then he could have nothing more to say in the matter."
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+There's ginger, by Heaven! The other was a dove-peep to a parley. This
+is a trumpet call of defiance.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_With quiet delight._
+
+The Republic will never swallow that.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+They are not supposed to. They will declare war, and then be the
+aggressors.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Exultantly._
+
+Our God of old lives yet and will not let us perish in disgrace!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Looking about._
+
+My helmet. Damn it! Where is my helmet? I am going to dig at the plans
+once more. If God lets me lead the armies in such a fight, the devil can
+come when I'm through and fetch away the old carcass.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
+
+Where's your Secretary?
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Crossing to door._
+
+Secretary, here!
+
+[SECRETARY _enters._
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Handing him the paper._
+
+To the telegraph-operator with this. It is to be sent to every news
+bureau in the city and to all our embassies abroad.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+Tomorrow, the mobilization!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+Tonight! I need those twelve hours for my plans.
+
+[_The_ SECRETARY _holds the door open for the_ CHIEF OF
+STAFF _who is about to go out when suddenly in the doorway appears
+a young man of thirty, pale, dark, timid. He hesitates on the
+threshold._
+
+
+SECRETARY
+
+[_Taken aback, bowing._
+
+Your Majesty!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Drawing back._
+
+My King!
+
+[PRIME MINISTER _and_ MINISTER OF WAR _bow._
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Courteously._
+
+I trust I am not breaking in upon a matter that does not concern me?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+There is nothing that the King's servants may do that does not concern
+the King.
+
+
+KING
+
+True. But sometimes the King is kept in ignorance nevertheless.
+
+[_To the_ SECRETARY.
+
+What paper is that you have there, if you please?
+
+
+SECRETARY
+
+[_With an uneasy glance at the others._
+
+Here, your Majesty.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Aside to_ SECRETARY.
+
+Get out!
+
+[_Exit_ SECRETARY.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+It is the report of your Majesty's interview with the Ambassador.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Glancing at the paper and speaking in quick, excited tones._
+
+My message has been altered. It was conciliatory. It is a challenge now.
+Who did this?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+Your Majesty sees the culprit before you.
+
+
+KING
+
+Are you trying to make war?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+I am trying, your Majesty, to save the country from the results of your
+Majesty's indiscretion in calling the Ambassador to your palace without
+consulting your Ministers. If we do not strike now we lose our prestige
+as a great nation, our national honor is dragged in the dust. We have to
+fight. We cannot afford to back down.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Striding across the room, agitatedly._
+
+But this is unholy, barbaric--this deliberate concoction of a great,
+terrible war. I saw clearly this evening as I was talking with the
+Ambassador how utterly without inner necessity this war-scare is. It is
+a made thing from beginning to end, and I refuse absolutely to sanction
+it.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Deliberately._
+
+Your Majesty is an idealist. We are practical, and, I may say,
+far-seeing men. And we are the three men, perhaps, who have given your
+Majesty the chair you sit on and made your kingdom what it is.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Drawing himself up._
+
+I think I have not been ungrateful. But my people come first, and I will
+not have my people plunged into misery for no valid and inevitable
+necessity.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+Your Majesty, I have served you for fifteen years and I served your
+exalted father for twenty. You are right. This war may be avoided. In
+two days this war-cloud could be so utterly dissipated that men would
+laugh here and in the great Republic that for a day they had talked so
+hotly of war. Dissipated. For a year, for two years. For always? No. The
+war must come sooner or later. It is a matter, in the first place, of
+prestige, of national honor. But, more emphatically, it is a question of
+mathematics, birth-rate, death-rate, revenue, taxes, industries,
+imports, exports.
+
+[_Crossing to left._
+
+There is a map of the world, your Majesty. This stretch of land there we
+need as a safety-valve. If we get that we are safe. If we fail to get it
+we explode. Not at once. But sooner or later. Our army and navy have
+never been in better shape. These two gentlemen can give your Majesty
+their word for that. But you can take mine, too. The enemy's army is
+politically rotten, and enfeebled by sentimental peace propaganda. Their
+defenses are inadequate and their navy likewise. Those things will
+change. Strike today--and they never raise their heads again. Wait--and
+it is you who may be crushed.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Sharply._
+
+That is a theory. Not a fact. Ten years may change the aspect of things
+entirely, particularly if we use those ten years in preparations not for
+war but for peace, honest at home and abroad, just, open, civil, to our
+neighbors.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+Your Majesty, I look farther than ten years, farther than ten times ten
+years. And I have wrought for this moment, prepared for this moment,
+this moment of our strength and our enemy's weakness. I have a right to
+insist that I, who have brought your kingdom thus far, shall not have my
+hands tied when the moment for stern action arrives.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_With a whimsical smile._
+
+After all, my good Prime Minister, it is _my_ kingdom, you know.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Moved._
+
+Your Majesty knows that what I have done I have done for your glory.
+The liberals have cursed me for a reactionary through the length and
+breadth of the kingdom; because I served you, and served you in all love
+and devotion.
+
+
+KING
+
+I know your devotion. But give me a fresh example of it. Keep my kingdom
+at peace with the world.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+That I cannot do.
+
+
+KING
+
+You cannot? You _will_ not.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+I could not face my conscience, or make my peace with God, if I weakened
+now and allowed the golden opportunity to pass by. For your Majesty's
+sake as well as for our country's.
+
+
+KING
+
+For mine?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+Your Majesty has forgotten that your throne was built by war and rests
+on force. Force only, military prestige only, can uphold you. The rebels
+of labor have crept close to your throne now. Ten more years of peace,
+and you are cast out overnight, to wander over Europe, a homeless
+absurdity, a king without a chair to sit on.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_With flashing eyes._
+
+We shall see!
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Quietly._
+
+May I ask your Majesty in all humility and devotion to give me back that
+slip of paper?
+
+
+KING
+
+You have thought of our national honor, our prestige, our commercial
+growth, our dynastic life. Have you given no thought at all to the men
+you send to death to purchase these?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+A man has no higher privilege than to die for his country. I beg your
+Majesty--the paper?
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Tearing the paper once across._
+
+And the women?
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Grimly._
+
+We'll find them new husbands, your Majesty. The paper, if you please.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Tearing the paper into shreds._
+
+I forbid this war!
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_With controlled anger._
+
+My God, your Majesty! You are letting a sentiment master you. There are
+worse things than war. There are possibilities in peace infinitely worse
+than any war, or there would be no war. War may kill a million bodies,
+but a wicked peace can snuff out unnumbered souls!
+
+
+KING
+
+I will take my chances with peace.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+It is for you we are fighting, your Majesty, but not for you only, not
+for your glory only and the permanence of your House, but for the
+permanence of the monarchical principle, which we know is better and
+higher than the principle of democracy, since it is the earthly symbol
+of God's singleness of rule, and comes direct from God.
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+[_Coolly._
+
+Moreover, your Majesty, it works!
+
+
+KING
+
+This is a matter of war and peace, not a matter of monarchy or
+democracy.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+Your Majesty does not see far enough. Give us war, and we keep our
+monarchy. Give us peace, and we plunge within ten years into the rapids
+of revolution and democracy.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Simply._
+
+I will take my chances with peace.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Stern and cold._
+
+Very good, your Majesty. Then you may paddle your bark alone. I resign.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+And I resign!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+And I!
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Crossing to the window, where he stands with his back turned to the
+others. His voice is uncertain._
+
+I did not expect that of you.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Moved._
+
+Oh, your Majesty! You know what my love has been--
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Turning._
+
+Half the country will fall from me if you three desert me.
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+It is not desertion, your Majesty. It is loyalty to something even
+higher than the King, the principle that makes him King.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Perplexed._
+
+Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps I am sentimental--
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Gently._
+
+Your Majesty is humane, but perhaps a deeper humanity demands a
+hardening of the heart sometimes.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
+
+But you always detested war. You called yourself my Minister not of War,
+but of Peace.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+[_Rigidly._
+
+When the honor of our country is at stake--
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Impatiently._
+
+But nobody is attacking our honor!
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_Bluntly._
+
+The case is as I said. We need this war, and we must have it.
+
+
+KING
+
+[_Torn by his conflicting desires._
+
+I cannot let you resign. There is no one else I can trust as I trust you
+three. But not war, not war!
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+I am a lover of peace, but the time has come when we must have war.
+
+
+MINISTER OF WAR
+
+It is our sacred duty, your Majesty, to draw our swords for light and
+justice when God calls!
+
+
+CHIEF OF STAFF
+
+And God has always been with us. God will be with us now!
+
+
+KING
+
+[_White and tense._
+
+You are three strong men against me. I want peace, but I am helpless
+without you three. For I am an anachronism. Not nature but human force,
+fighting against nature, keeps me on my throne. If you must have war,
+have it. But I tell you this: God has no part in it. Leave God out of
+the game!
+
+[_He sinks into the chair by the desk._
+
+
+PRIME MINISTER
+
+[_To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
+
+Call your Secretary!
+
+[MINISTER OF WAR _goes to the door. The_ SECRETARY
+_enters. The_ PRIME MINISTER _takes a paper out of his pocket._
+
+Here. It is a copy of the message I directed you to send to the news
+bureaus and embassies. Transmit it at once.
+
+[_The_ SECRETARY _bows and goes out. The_ KING _falls
+forward on the desk, sobbing. At his side, straight and stern, the_
+PRIME MINISTER _Stands. To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
+
+Give orders for immediate mobilization.
+
+[_The stage is slowly darkened._
+
+
+
+
+SCENE II
+
+
+_As the lights rise again they reveal a small, comfortably furnished
+clubroom, with a wide window opening on a balcony in the back, and doors
+right and left. It is evening and the electric lamps are lit._
+
+
+GROSVENOR, _a man of fifty-odd, large, sleek, unctuous,
+well-groomed, is discovered in an arm-chair, surrounded by newspapers.
+He glances with feverish interest at one after the other. A cheer is
+heard outside, then the sound of fifes and drums. He rises excitedly and
+throws open the French window. The tramp, tramp of a regiment is heard._
+TWO OFFICERS _in uniform, a_ GENERAL _and a_ CAPTAIN, _enter left._
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_A strongly-built man in middle age, with a firm, resolute face._
+
+Evening, Grosvenor. Not poaching on your rights if we come in here a
+minute? The other windows were crowded.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Not at all, General, not at all. We're all making way for the khaki
+today, sir. And proud to have the chance.
+
+[_With overdone politeness to the Captain, a handsome man of the
+romantic type._
+
+Take my place, Captain.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+Thanks. Great tune that, eh? Stirs up a man's vitals, eh?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Yes, indeed; yes, indeed.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+Wait till we put that into the repertory of the enemy's bandmasters.
+
+[_Leaning out of the window._
+
+Come. They're a fine-looking lot, eh?
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+Fine! Fine! The pick of the land. Fighters to a finish, every one of
+'em.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+And say, but they're thanking God tonight for the war-scare that's
+brought 'em back from manoeuvres.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Eagerly._
+
+They are, eh?
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+Manoeuvres are too tame. They're crazy to get into a real fight.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_In excited, subdued tones._
+
+Then you think--there'll be war?
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Turning._
+
+The President expects to hear from our Ambassador any minute about the
+private interview he wired he was about to have with the King.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Taking up the papers._
+
+Seen the latest?
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Picking out one paper with a particularly flaring headline._
+
+"Iberia planning secret attack," eh? That man Pollen knows more things
+that aren't so than a college graduate.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_Taking another paper._
+
+He's entertaining enough, though. I daresay he has some influence.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+I pray to God that we may keep peace, but we must not let ourselves be
+walked over--we must not--
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_Laughing._
+
+Exactly. The nation is at last to see what it spends its army and navy
+appropriations for. Eh?
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+No sane man wants war, but if--
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+I'm sane. And I want war. I want to go out and help lambaste those
+infernally cocksure armies of that jelly-and-cream King. We've parleyed
+long enough. Now we'll fight. Force is the only convincing argument
+after all.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+As our Master said, "I bring a sword"--
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_At the window again._
+
+Fine fellows those. Look at that boy there, third from the end. And that
+lieutenant. Strapping, wonderful fellows--with brains! That's the great
+thing. Give me five hundred thousand of those and I'll hold off all
+comers.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_With nervous acuteness._
+
+How long d'ye think it'll last?
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+Six months. Maybe a year.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Tentatively._
+
+You couldn't, I suppose--say--more exactly?
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_With a glance of suspicion._
+
+How should I--before it's even begun?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Hastily._
+
+Oh--er--just a matter of curiosity.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_Laughing._
+
+At any rate, we'll be back in time for the next presidential election.
+We're coming back with the General on our shoulders, and when we drop
+him it'll be through the skylight of the President's house.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Self-consciously._
+
+Don't talk nonsense.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+There's nothing like a war to make a man President.
+
+[_At window._
+
+More and more and more of 'em. Bully lines. Not natty enough to be a
+joke, just straight and trim. Those fellows'll carry you into the
+presidency, General, if anyone can. A few of 'em'll have to choke first,
+but that's fisherman's luck.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Turning._
+
+That'll do, Dave.
+
+[_A_ PAGE _enters Right._
+
+
+PAGE
+
+[_Crossing the room._
+
+Mr. Grosvenor? Mr. Grosvenor?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Eagerly._
+
+Here.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+[_Handing him a telegram._
+
+Any answer?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Wait.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_Still watching the soldiers._
+
+They _are_ happy.
+
+[_Pause._
+
+I wonder which of 'em'll come back, and which won't.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Who has torn open the yellow envelope, sinks back in his chair. To_
+PAGE.
+
+No answer.
+
+[_He mops his brow in utter dejection. The officers by the window do not
+see him as he studies the telegram and studies it again as though he
+could not believe his eyes._
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_Turning._
+
+Any news, Mr. Grosvenor?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Thickly._
+
+A plot, a damned Stock Exchange plot.
+
+[_He hands the_ CAPTAIN _the message._
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_After a glance at the message._
+
+Hello! Say, General, look at this.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Turning._
+
+What's up?
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+The State Department has just had news from our Ambassador to Iberia.
+Delightful interview with the King. Evident willingness to meet us half
+way.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Coolly._
+
+Is this straight? It sounds fishy.
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+They're trying to gain time. I don't believe it.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+It's a damned plot.
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+Looks to me like a blind to stop our preparations. I'm going over to
+the War Department. Coming, Captain?
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+It's that crafty Prime Minister over there playing us tricks, eh?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Hotly._
+
+It's a plot!
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+Something's queer! Good night, Grosvenor!
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Effusively._
+
+Good night, General, good night. God be with us all in these dark days,
+I say!
+
+
+GENERAL
+
+[_Solemnly._
+
+Amen to that!
+
+
+CAPTAIN
+
+[_Saluting carelessly._
+
+Good night.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Good night, good night.
+
+[_The_ OFFICERS _go out._ GROSVENOR _strides excitedly
+up and down._
+
+It's a plot, it's a damned plot--
+
+[_He goes toward the rear and picks up a telephone instrument on a desk
+by the window._
+
+Can you get me the House? Mr. Maynard. Yes. Making a speech? Never mind.
+
+[_He hangs up the receiver and presses a button on the wall. Then he
+quickly writes a message on the back of the telegram and encloses it in
+an envelope. The_ PAGE _enters._
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Ring, sir?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Yes. Take this to the House at once. To Mr. Maynard. See that he gets it
+himself. Here's a dollar.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+[_Touching his cap._
+
+Thank you, sir.
+
+[_Exit._
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Taking up the telephone again._
+
+Give me the Senate. Mr. Taney. Saw him go out?
+
+[_He hangs up the receiver impatiently._
+
+Isn't anyone on the job?
+
+[_He strides up and down._
+
+A damned plot!--
+
+[_Enter, right, hurriedly,_ SENATOR TANEY_, a stout, red-haired
+man, clean-shaven._
+
+
+TANEY
+
+[_Puffing._
+
+Hello, Grosvenor.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Thank God, you're here.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Only got a minute. Hell's loose in the Senate.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+I've been nearly crazy waiting for news.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+God, man. Perhaps you think I ain't been busy rounding up a lot of
+on-the-fence-men? It seems to me pretty nearly everybody was on the
+fence. No decided opinions at all. But they're coming, they're coming.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+How 'bout that report about the King over there wanting peace?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+That's what the row's about. The highbrows an' the peace people are
+shouting hurrahs all over the place, an' the rest of us has to do what
+we can to drown 'em out.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Restlessly moving about the room._
+
+If it's true about the King, can you--work it--anyway?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+How do I know?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Got any figures? For or against?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Yes. It's about an even go.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Disappointed._
+
+You can't give me anything more definite?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+What's up, anyway? You look nervous.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+I am. This business is cutting into my sleep. My last cent is tied up,
+and I've got a good many other people's last cents as well. Damn it,
+Taney, this is worse than Monte Carlo. You're dealing with cold-blooded
+chance there, but here you're dealing with sentiments, emotions. It's
+exhausting. War is a terrible thing, Taney. It worries me day and night.
+Think of the lives! And yet we need this war, we need it for the good of
+the nation. And now that we're ready, it would be a calamity if--
+
+
+TANEY
+
+[_Turning to go._
+
+Don't you worry about that.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Nervously._
+
+How's the House going?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Don't know anything about the House. But I guess your man Maynard is
+doing his job. I'm off to see Cottrell. Another man that wants news. Be
+back in ten minutes.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Keep me posted, for God's sake. You know--I'm not ungrateful. You shan't
+lose by your efforts, Taney. You know I'm a liberal man.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+[_Quietly, but with emphasis._
+
+Look here. You're not Conroy and you're not Pollen. They're the whales
+in this pond. You're only a nervous minnow. I'm working with bigger men
+than you. And perhaps I've got some convictions of my own, had 'em for
+years. If I hadn't, no money of yours would buy me. I believe the people
+want this war to settle once and for all whether that wishy-washy King
+or us is going to direct the universe, and if the people want it, it's
+my business to see that they get it. If that means any money in your
+pocket, it's none of my business. But I'm not your slave, Grosvenor. And
+don't you forget it.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+You'll keep me posted? If anything goes wrong, I've got to have time to
+get from under. You'll surely keep me posted?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Get your man Maynard on the string. I'm hanged if I'll be your office
+boy.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Beseechingly._
+
+Taney--
+
+[TANEY _goes out._ GROSVENOR _takes a step toward the
+door, stops, and drawing a cigar from his pocket, begins chewing the end
+nervously. Then he turns quickly, and crossing to the right, picks up
+the telephone instrument again._
+
+Office of the "Morning Bulletin," please.
+
+[_Pause._
+
+Mr. Pollen, please. Out? This is Mr. Grosvenor. On his way to the Club?
+Thanks.
+
+[MR. CONROY _enters, right. He is a short, stockily-built man
+with a belligerent chin covered by a close-cropped, grizzled beard._
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Hello, Grosvenor.
+
+[_With a sharp glance and not entirely pleasant smile._
+
+I might have known that I'd find you on the job. What is it this
+time--canned goods, uniforms, hospital supplies--or just general
+enthusiasm?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+A little business, but mainly enthusiasm. A great time to be alive,
+Conroy! Any news?
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Maynard's making a rousing speech. Spread eagle. Our honor as a nation.
+The dearest, sweetest flag that ever waved over a noble, invincible
+people. Damned rot. But the brethren from the rural districts lap it up
+like cider in October. He's gaining votes. Protege of yours, ain't he?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Yes. Used to be my office boy. Clever chap. Has a sensible view of
+things. Realizes that our national honor and our property must be
+defended at all hazards.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Sitting down at the desk and beginning to write. With a cynical
+laugh._
+
+You mean _property_. You don't give a damn about national _honor_. You
+know you don't. What's the use of trying to fool me?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Conroy, do you mean to impugn my patriotic motives?
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Without looking up, good-naturedly._
+
+Grosvenor, we've known each other thirty years. I don't try to bluff you
+because I know that you know too much about me. You made the beginnings
+of your pile out of one big war and you've been playing up a lot of
+little republics against each other ever since, harvesting a neat
+little fortune every time. Now it's a real world-war you're after. If it
+comes, you're made, if it don't, you're broke. It's a cinch. Mind you,
+I'm not throwing stones. Only I don't want you to think you can pull the
+noble patriotic guff on me.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+I have certain investments, of course, which might possibly be promoted
+by a war. But I am not thinking of that. I am thinking of the honor of
+my country, that honor which has never yet been stained, and shall not
+be stained if I can do aught by my own efforts and by my prayers to God,
+to keep it pure.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Rising._
+
+You carry it off well. I couldn't bluff the way you can. I haven't your
+religious feeling. I know why I want war. It's because I'm a
+manufacturer of guns. Everybody knows my business, and they know that if
+there wasn't war or a fear of war constantly, I and my wife and children
+would starve. War is my work and it's been my work most of my life. And
+I've worked for this war because it was the biggest thing in sight. I've
+worked for it with all the brains I've got, just as I'd have worked for
+two-hundred-egg hens if I'd been a chicken farmer. I'm not a
+sentimentalist. Besides, war's a good thing occasionally. I believe that
+absolutely. It quiets down your socialists, cuts down your superfluous
+population, increases the moral stamina of the nation. A lot of this
+talk of war being hell is mush. A few people get shot up, but no one
+forced 'em to go. It's their own funeral.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+No, Conroy, no. I don't agree with you. I may possibly not lose
+financially by this war, but nevertheless, war is terrible, awful. The
+Christian sense balks at it. Only, I feel this way, sometimes when the
+honor of the nation demands--
+
+
+CONROY
+
+You damn bluff!
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Confronting him._
+
+Conroy! If you please!
+
+[POLLEN, _a tall, thin man in the late forties, enters left.
+He has an impassive, intellectual face, interesting though
+unsympathetic. His manner is calm and quietly alert, suggestive of
+reserve power._
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_Without cordiality._
+
+Hello, Conroy. Hello, Mr. Grosvenor.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Obsequious at once._
+
+Mr. Pollen!
+
+
+CONROY
+
+I was just going to send a note round to you, Pollen. Couldn't get you
+on the phone. What d'ye think? Yes or no?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_With a faint, ironic smile._
+
+Yes.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Excitedly._
+
+What?
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Deliberately._
+
+Are you sure?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+How can you be sure?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+I have two reasons. One, because the biggest banker in the country told
+me so. That's unimportant. He may have been lying. The other, because--
+
+[_He smiles quietly._
+
+my papers tell me so.
+
+[_He picks up one of the papers off the floor._
+
+I see you have been honoring me by reading them. Don't my papers tell
+you that there's going to be war?
+
+
+CONROY
+
+No one pretends, Pollen, that your papers are wonders of undecorated
+truth.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+Well, this time, trust them. What if they do lie about facts
+occasionally? I am not interested in facts. Facts are always misleading.
+But I know something about psychology--
+
+
+CONROY
+
+And you're sure?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+How can you be sure?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_Standing at the window._
+
+Because the people are smelling blood. That's why. And now they won't
+let up till they're satisfied. I've watched the war-feeling growing for
+a year. I tried 'em out on headlines and editorials, first little mild
+fellows to set them thinking. Then, when their thoughts were set toward
+trouble, well, we increased the percentage of oxygen.
+
+[_Thoughtfully._
+
+It's been extremely interesting. The psychology of crowds is one of the
+most satisfying subjects I have ever studied. Say, fifteen, twenty
+millions, that individually hate you, but as a crowd, a body of readers,
+unconsciously, perhaps, even against their will, do exactly what you
+say. We're going to have war, because the people have now got to a state
+in which they believe that nothing short of war will save them from
+utter ruin. They want war. I know it. The circulation of my papers has
+mounted by the hundred thousand daily. And it isn't only because the
+people want the news. They want the excitement. It's the gambling
+instinct in them. They've seen the ball rolling, and they can't keep out
+of the game. The very bigness of the thing lures them on; the bigger the
+issue, the bigger the fascination. The millions of men and the billions
+of dollars--that lures them. And the awfulness--the dead, the wounded,
+the horrors, that lures them like nothing else. There was one thing
+missing until tonight.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Fascinated._
+
+What was that?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+Fear. They were too cocksure. But I gave them fear in the eight o'clock
+extra. There was a rumor that the rest of Europe would take part.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_With a malicious glance._
+
+That looks well for your business, Conroy.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+I'm not complaining.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+We're playing the thing up in the late editions all over the country.
+It'll give the people a queer catch in the throat. They'll see the
+possibility of a fierce struggle, even of defeat. There'll be a
+wonderful wave of patriotism. You watch. The people'll rise right up. In
+twenty-four hours there won't be a man in the country that'll be able to
+tell black from white. All they'll see will be red.
+
+[_Pointing out of the window._
+
+Look at the people out there, standing round. They can't stay indoors.
+They're waiting for the extras. They won't believe 'em when they read
+'em, but they can't resist the excitement. Well, the bonfire's ready.
+Nothing lacking now except the match.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Striding up and down._
+
+That's all very well, Mr. Pollen. But suppose the King over there backs
+down?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+He won't. The people won't let him.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+_His_ people? They don't want war.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+Not _his_ people.
+
+[_Pointing._
+
+Ours. I tell you, they've smelt blood.
+
+[_From a distance, faintly, but growing louder, boys are heard calling,
+"Extra! Extra!"_
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Excitedly._
+
+Extra! I wonder--
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Going to the balcony, and calling down._
+
+Here, boy!
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_Laughing softly._
+
+There you go.
+
+[_He presses a bell-button on the wall, bends over the writing-desk and
+writes a line which he encloses in an envelope._
+
+You're easy. And there are a hundred million like you. When it comes to
+war, reason goes to sleep. You both of you knew perfectly well that I
+had absolutely no later news than you, but you let yourself be
+hypnotized like children. I can do anything I want with you.
+
+[_Enter_ PAGE.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Ring, sir?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+Take this to the news-stand in the hall.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Yes, sir.
+
+[_Exit._
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_At the window again._
+
+The edition is going like hotcakes. It has Maynard's speech in it. Did
+either of you hear it?
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Yes. Damned rot, but effective.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+He keeps the patriotism hot.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Proudly._
+
+I trained that young man in patriotism.
+
+[_Enter_ REPRESENTATIVE MAYNARD, _left; a young man, conceited
+and with a swagger._
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+Good evening, gentlemen.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Maynard!
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Great boy!
+
+[_They all clap him on the shoulder and shake his hand._
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+A wonderful speech, my boy. We're playing you up for Governor of the
+State in tonight's late editions.
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+I'll sweep the State. It's patriotism, it's the flag, that gets the
+rubes. You should have seen the whiskers of the rural sections waving in
+the wind!
+
+[_Shouts of newsboys outside: "Bulletin! War! All about the war!"_
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Eh?
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+[_To Pollen._
+
+Any news I've missed?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+How's that? They're shouting "War" already.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_Calmly._
+
+I told 'em to. That was the message I sent down. That shout gave you a
+thrill, didn't it? Well, that was what I was after. If I don't hold you
+down in your chair you'll rush out to buy a copy, even though I should
+stand here all night, shouting in your ears that it's a fake.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Shocked._
+
+You are inflaming the people!
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+Exactly. There have been people unkind enough to assert that that was my
+business. What's yours, Grosvenor?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Eh?
+
+[_Hotly._
+
+What d'ye mean?
+
+
+CONROY
+
+You're livin' in a crystal palace, Grosvenor. Don't you go and forget
+that.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Indignantly._
+
+I--
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+[_To Grosvenor._
+
+I've got to get back to the House, Mr. Grosvenor. I just came over to
+see if you had any--suggestions?
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Testily._
+
+No. Only keep me posted. That's all.
+
+[_Expanding again._
+
+And remember, our honor as a nation is at stake.
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+They're not forgetting our honor while I'm on the floor.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Drawing_ MAYNARD _aside as he is about to go out, and
+whispering._
+
+Need any--ready money?
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+[_Grinning._
+
+There were a half dozen brethren on the steps as I came out, who
+implied they were broke, and wouldn't object to a loan.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Taking a wallet from his pocket and handing it to Maynard, after he
+has made sure that Grosvenor and Pollen are not looking._
+
+Here. Help the poor devils along.
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+Thanks. I will.
+
+[PAGE _enters right, with a card on a salver._
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Senator Taney?
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+No.
+
+[_Taking up the card._
+
+Who wants him?
+
+_[He whistles softly._
+
+Harradan! No, son, Senator Taney is not here.
+
+[_Exit_ PAGE, _left._
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Excitedly._
+
+Harradan's smelling a rat. He's getting after Taney!
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_Quietly._
+
+Don't you worry. I can finish Harradan up in black-faced letters
+tomorrow morning. He'll think he's reading his own tombstone.
+
+[TANEY _enters, right._
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Hello, Pollen. Hello, Conroy. Well, Grosvenor, Cottrell is as jumpy as
+you are.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+Have you seen Harradan?
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Have I seen Harradan? I should say I had! He's leading the peace party
+in the Senate. Fighting like a fiend.
+
+[_Clearing his throat._
+
+That man has nearly cost me my vocal chords.
+
+[_Ruefully._
+
+To see him you wouldn't connect him with the word "peace."
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+He's in the club. He's asked for you.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Come on, Grosvenor. This is no place for an honest business-man to be
+found conversing with a Senator.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Nervously._
+
+Quite right.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+[_With a grin._
+
+Well, Maynard, they don't seem to think we're safe company for good
+little boys. Suppose we get back on the job?
+
+[_They move toward the right._ POLLEN _remains standing, calm
+and imperturbable, by the window._
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+You people act as though you had a bad conscience. I don't think I'd let
+a mere Senator interfere with the freedom of my movements, if I were
+you.
+
+[SENATOR HARRADAN _enters, left. He is a soldierly-looking man
+in the seventies._
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+Good evening, gentlemen.
+
+[_Pause._
+
+I seem to have tumbled into headquarters.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Hello, Harradan. Looking for me?
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+Yes.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+You know these gentlemen?
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Coolly._
+
+Sufficiently.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+I'm due back at the Senate. I'll talk with you till the cock crows after
+we adjourn. Will that do?
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+I should like to talk to you now.
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+In that case, I'll go back to the House.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+We won't intrude--
+
+
+CONROY
+
+The Senators have the floor--
+
+[_They are about to beat a retreat._
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+I wish you'd stay, gentlemen.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Looking at his watch, nervously._
+
+I'm sorry I--
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+You'll please stay, Mr. Grosvenor. You, too, Mr. Conroy.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+I'm hanged if I'll be dictated to.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Quietly._
+
+Do as you please. But if you don't stay, I'll have you both under arrest
+in fifteen minutes.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_In disgust._
+
+Oh, come off!
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Indignantly._
+
+What do you mean, Senator?
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Fiercely._
+
+My God, man, don't make me mad. I'm twenty years older than you, but I
+could wipe the floor up with you yet!
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+[_Nervously lights a cigar and during the ensuing scene shifts it with
+his lips from one corner of his mouth to the other in extreme
+agitation._
+
+I don't know what you're talking about.
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+Well, you don't need me.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+I do.
+
+[MAYNARD _sits down, chewing his lips._
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_With an amused, patronizing smile._
+
+You haven't expressed yourself about me yet, Senator. Am I invited to
+the party?
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+You may stay or not as you like.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+Thanks.
+
+[_Deliberately._
+
+Do you know, if I were you, I don't think I'd detain these other
+gentlemen just now.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Calmly._
+
+Go to the Devil to whom you belong, Mr. Pollen. I'll do as I see fit.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+I merely advise you. It isn't always considered patriotic when the
+people want war, for a Senator to want peace too hard. I shall strive to
+point that out to twenty million people or so tomorrow morning. Make
+your will, Senator. The avalanche is coming. You'll be the loneliest
+voice that ever came out of the wilderness. I prophesy your swift
+demise.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+This is wartime. Most of us are ready to die, if necessary. Only some of
+us would rather die in the service of peace than in the service of war.
+You're a very powerful man, Mr. Pollen. I don't doubt at all that you
+can kill me if you put your mind on it. You have poisoned the whole
+nation. You are at liberty to kill me outright, but I won't let you
+slow-poison me.
+
+[_Turning._
+
+Taney, I've got information against you, and you've got to listen. You,
+too, Maynard.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_At window._
+
+Am I out in the cold again? I'm listening intently.
+
+[_He goes to the telephone and takes up the receiver._
+
+News-stand, please.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Pleadingly._
+
+Taney--
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+[_At the telephone._
+
+That you, Burke? Liven up your youngsters outside. They've gone to
+sleep.
+
+[_He hangs up the receiver, and complacently lights a cigarette._
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+We were friends in the past, Taney. I always knew you were a jingo, but
+I thought there was hope. I came here because I still thought so. I
+didn't know you had lined up with the buzzards.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+See here, Harradan. What are you talking about anyway?
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+We all know why Grosvenor and Conroy and their kind are here. And a few
+of us have been wondering who were pulling the wires for them.
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+You've got me mixed up with somebody else. I'm here attending to--to my
+regular business.
+
+
+CONROY
+
+[_Bluntly._
+
+And why shouldn't we be down here? I'm in a legitimate business. Guns.
+And I'm looking after my interests. I'm not declaring war. But if there
+is a war I don't see any reason why I should get left in the scramble.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+War! God, do you know what the word means? I've been in two wars. I've
+seen and heard and--smelt battlefields. And I've seen women and children
+waiting at home--and waiting.
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+I'll give you a thousand dollars, Senator, for a thousand-word article
+on the horrors of war. You can't make it strong enough.
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+[_Laughing._
+
+That's one on you, Senator.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+Taney, you're a man of sense, and you love your country. Now--
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Good night, gentlemen, I'm going.
+
+[_He turns toward the door._
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+Same here.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Turning swiftly._
+
+No, you're not. I want a list of names. I want a list of all the people
+who are paying you to shout for war. Understand?
+
+[_Fiercely._
+
+I want that list now.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+[_Coolly._
+
+Hell may grow buttercups, Harradan. But you don't get any names out o'
+me.
+
+[_Quickly._
+
+Besides, I ain't got any to give. And I'll have you up for defamation of
+character for saying that there's anybody can buy me!
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_After a pause, quietly._
+
+Taney, you've always been a business-man. You look at things just one
+way. You aren't bothered much by imagination. Perhaps you don't know
+what you're doing. War, man! Dead men by thousands, wounded men
+shrieking for some one to put them out of their misery, fire, ruin,
+starvation! For what good, for what good, ever?
+
+
+POLLEN
+
+I raise my offer, Senator. Make it two thousand.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+You ought to go into vaudeville, Senator. Subject, "The Horrors of War."
+
+[_The others laugh._
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+God, the country stands on the verge of the greatest calamity in its
+history and you can't do anything but laugh!
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+You're an inspiration, Senator. Just like that dago or Dutchman or
+whoever he was who tried to smash up the windmills. But you haven't a
+sense of humor.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_With quiet dignity._
+
+No. My sense of humor died during our last war. Will you give me those
+names that are going to help me kill this satanic craving for war? Are
+you?
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+You're talking through your hat, Senator. I don't know anything about
+any names.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+Very well.
+
+[_Turning to go._
+
+I have five names. They'll do until to-morrow. God willing, they'll
+bring Congress back to its senses. I thank my God that I found you
+buzzards out in time. I'll fling your names across the Senate
+tonight--yours, Conroy, and yours, Grosvenor, and yours, Taney, and
+yours, Pollen, and yours, Maynard! By Heaven, the country shall hear
+them from end to end. And there'll be less talk of war then! You and
+your kind are stirring up the millions to dream of war, to shout about
+defending our national honor--What honor is there in murder?--stirring
+their blood with the fifes and drums of your rhetoric! Through your
+newspapers, you are turning the thoughts of our children to war, our
+children who should be to us the symbol of a nobler, purer future
+rising out of the sordid wreckage of the present--you make them drunk
+with your cant about national glory--_glory!_--until their innocent
+faces glow feverishly up to you, hungry for battle. You will not rest
+until you hear the terrible savage cry from their lips--War, war! You
+shall not hear it if I can prevent it! I am going to the Senate now. In
+fifteen minutes your names shall be a byword and a hissing among the
+nations. The best you can do is to take your vile guns and turn them on
+yourselves!
+
+[_A great shout is heard outside. Then the fifes and drums again. The_
+PAGE _enters excitedly._
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Message for Senator Taney.
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Here, quick.
+
+[_He takes the paper._
+
+Gentlemen, listen to this from the Iberian Foreign Office to the
+Associated Press: "The King sent for the Ambassador of the Republic this
+afternoon and outlined a plan that would satisfy the royal government.
+The Ambassador regretted that he was unable to consider any compromise.
+The King replied that he could have nothing further to say in the
+matter."
+
+[GROSVENOR _and the others jump to their feet with excited
+exclamations._
+
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Quickly._
+
+The thing's not true. There's a mistake somewhere. It doesn't fit in
+with what went before.
+
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+Fit in? Who cares? It's a challenge! They've insulted us!
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+They've challenged our national honor!
+
+
+CONROY
+
+Now, by God, they can pay!
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Rushing to the telephone._
+
+Give me the Department of State.
+
+[_There are more shouts outside and more bands. Suddenly the door,
+left, is burst open by a crowd of men, some in dress clothes, some in
+uniform, shouting "War!"_
+
+
+TANEY
+
+For God's sake, what's up?
+
+
+AN OFFICER
+
+[_Delightedly._
+
+We're off!
+
+
+GROSVENOR
+
+What d'ye mean?
+
+
+A CIVILIAN
+
+They've declared war!
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_Turning._
+
+Who has?
+
+
+OFFICER
+
+Congress!
+
+
+TANEY
+
+Senator, you're left.
+
+
+HARRADAN
+
+[_With a sob._
+
+God! You buzzard! You buzzard!
+
+[_A band in the distance strikes up the national anthem._ GROSVENOR,
+CONROY, POLLEN, TANEY _and_ MAYNARD _stand._
+HARRADAN _sinks into a chair._
+
+
+MAYNARD
+
+Senator, it's the national anthem. Haven't you got _any_ patriotism?
+
+[GROSVENOR _opens the windows. The notes of the anthem are
+drowned out by shouts and cries and the calls of newsboys._
+
+
+VOICES OF THE CROWD
+
+War! War!
+
+[_The anthem sounds loud and clear, but_ HARRADAN _buries his
+face in his hands. The stage is gradually darkened. The music grows
+fainter as if the band were marching away; and now and then the shouts
+of the crowd make themselves heard above it. These subside, too, into a
+low, muffled roar, sullen and ominous._
+
+
+
+
+SCENE III
+
+
+[_The stage grows light again. In the foreground, a black group of trees
+may be dimly discerned; beyond are indistinct hills and the last glow of
+a bloody sunset. Smoke and dust blacken the scene. Even before the cloud
+breaks to reveal the valley for a moment, the low roar is suddenly
+broken by the rattle of musketry, followed by the booming of artillery
+and the drumming sound of the machine guns. A trumpet sounds the charge.
+The dust cloud breaks. A thickly crowded mass of men is vaguely seen
+through the twilight charging with cries and curses. The rear ranks
+press over the fallen, waver, shout and fall back. The rattle of
+musketry continues. The men return to the charge, are repulsed once more
+with awful slaughter and again return. The dust cloud passes over the
+scene. It is night now. The wounded are tossing on the field, shrieking.
+Ghouls prowl about. A flock of buzzards flies across the moon. In the
+distance is heard a shout of victory, then the national anthem once
+more, played by a trumpeter. A thousand voices seem to rise out of the
+ground, moaning, drowning out the music. Then a woman's voice, clear and
+distinct._
+
+
+
+VOICE
+
+How long, O Lord? How long?
+
+[_Cries and wailings answer the cry. Silence. Again the bugle, drowned
+out by cries, cries, cries._
+
+
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+The following pages contain advertisements of books by the same author,
+and other poetry
+
+
+
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+Faces in the Dawn
+By HERMANN HAGEDORN
+_Cloth, 12mo, $1.35 net_
+
+A great many people already know Mr. Hagedorn through his verse. "Faces
+in the Dawn" will, however, be their introduction to him as a novelist.
+The same qualities that have served to raise his poetry above the common
+level help to distinguish this story of a German village. The theme of
+the book is the transformation that was wrought in the lives of an
+irritable, domineering German pastor and his wife through the influence
+of a young German girl and her American lover. Sentiment, humor, and a
+human feeling, all present in just the right measure, warm the heart and
+contribute to the enjoyment which the reader derives in following the
+experiences of the well-drawn characters.
+
+     "A Christmas story, unusual and welcome.... All the people in the
+     tale are real human beings."--_New York Times._
+
+     "A good substantial story ... written in plain, homely, and
+     convincing prose."--_New York Globe._
+
+Poems and Ballads
+_New Edition. Cloth, 12mo, $1.00 net_
+
+     "We can see from this volume that Mr. Hagedorn is a truly
+     accomplished poet ... the poems are worth writing and are worth
+     reading, because Mr. Hagedorn only writes what he really feels, and
+     this volume will strike in many a reader a responsive
+     chord."--_Poetry Review_ (England).
+
+     "Hermann Hagedorn's work suggests a keynote for all future
+     poetry."--Alfred Noyes.
+
+     " ... contains an unusual amount of pure poetry."--_New York
+     Times._
+
+
+JOHN MASEFIELD'S NEW VOLUME
+Philip the King, and Other Poems
+BY JOHN MASEFIELD
+Author of "The Tragedy of Pompey," "The Everlasting Mercy,"
+"The Daffodil Fields"
+_Cloth, 12mo, $1.25 net_
+
+     "Mr. Masefield's new poetical drama is a piece of work such as only
+     the author of 'Nan' and 'The Tragedy of Pompey' could have written,
+     tense in situation and impressive in its poetry.... In addition to
+     this important play, the volume contains some new and powerful
+     narrative poems of the sea--the men who live on it and their ships.
+     There are also some shorter lyrics as well as an impressive poem on
+     the present war in Europe which expresses, perhaps, better than
+     anything yet written, the true spirit of England in the present
+     struggle."
+
+
+PERCY MACKAYE'S NEW POEMS
+The Present Hour
+By PERCY MACKAYE
+Author of "The Scarecrow," "Sappho and Phaon," etc.
+_Cloth, 12mo, $1.25 net_
+
+     "The Present Hour" is a vital expression of America in themes of
+     war and peace. The first section (War) contains the gripping
+     narrative poem "Fight: The Tale of a Gunner," and a series of
+     powerful poems dealing with the great struggle in Europe. Few
+     war-poems of the many published in this country and England reveal
+     such sincerity, force and imagery, as these of Mr. MacKaye. Among
+     them are "American Neutrality," "Peace," "Wilson," "Louvain,"
+     "Rheims," "The Muffled Drums," "Magna Carta," "France," "A Prayer
+     of the Peoples," etc. The second section (Peace) includes his
+     widely read poems, "Goethals," "Panama Hymn," "School," "The Heart
+     in the Jar," and other representative work. The volume is an
+     important addition to Mr. MacKaye's long list of books and a
+     valuable contribution to the poetry of our time.
+
+
+
+
+RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S NEW DRAMA
+The King of the Dark Chamber
+By
+RABINDRANATH TAGORE
+
+Nobel Prizeman in Literature, 1913; Author of "Gitangali," "The
+Gardener," "The Crescent Moon," "Sadhana," "Chitra," "The Post-Office,"
+etc. Cloth 12mo. $1.25 net.
+
+     "The real poetical imagination of it is unchangeable; the allegory,
+     subtle and profound and yet simple, is cast into the form of a
+     dramatic narrative, which moves with unconventional freedom to a
+     finely impressive climax; and the reader, who began in idle
+     curiosity, finds his intelligence more and more engaged until, when
+     he turns the last page, he has the feeling of one who has been
+     moving in worlds not realized, and communing with great if
+     mysterious presences."
+
+     _The London Globe._
+
+
+
+
+
+_NEW POEMS AND PLAYS_
+
+
+The Congo and Other Poems BY VACHEL LINDSAY. Cloth, 12mo. $1.25
+net.
+
+     In the readings which he has given throughout the country Mr.
+     Lindsay has won the approbation of the critics and of his audiences
+     in general for the new verse form which he is employing. The
+     wonderful effects of sound produced by his lines, their relation to
+     the idea which the author seeks to convey and their marvelous
+     lyrical quality are something, it is maintained, quite out of the
+     ordinary and suggest new possibilities and new meanings in poetry.
+     In this book are presented a number of Mr. Lindsay's most daring
+     experiments, that is to say they _were_ experiments when they were
+     first tried; they have been more than justified by their reception.
+     It is believed that the volume will be one of the most discussed of
+     all the year's output.
+
+
+Borderlands and Thoroughfares
+BY WILFRID WILSON GIBSON,
+Author of "Daily Bread," "Fires,"
+"Womenkind," etc. Cloth, 12mo. $1.25 net.
+
+     With the publication of _Daily Bread_ Mr. Gibson was hailed as a
+     new poet of the people. _Fires_, his later volume, confirmed the
+     impression that here was a man whose writing was close to real
+     life, a man in whom were combined a sympathy and appreciation of
+     humankind with a rare lyrical genius. This present book continues
+     the work which Mr. Gibson can do so well. In it are brought
+     together three plays and a number of short lyrics which reveal
+     again his very decided talent. It is a collection which should
+     indeed gratify those students of modern verse who are looking to
+     such men as Gibson and Masefield for permanent and representative
+     contributions to literature.
+
+
+
+
+Plaster Saints
+BY ISRAEL ZANGWILL. Cloth, 12mo. $1.25 net.
+
+     A new play of deep social significance.
+
+The Melting Pot
+BY ISRAEL ZANGWILL. Revised edition. Cloth, 12mo.
+
+     This is a revised edition of what is perhaps Mr. Zangwill's most
+     popular play. Numerous changes have been made in the text, which
+     has been considerably lengthened thereby. The appeal of the drama
+     to the readers of this country is particularly strong, in that it
+     deals with that great social process by which all nationalities are
+     blended together for the making of the real American.
+
+
+Sword Blades and Poppy Seed
+BY AMY LOWELL, Author of "A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass."
+Boards, 12mo. $1.25 net.
+
+     Of the poets who to-day are doing the interesting and original
+     work, there is no more striking and unique figure than Amy Lowell.
+     The foremost American member of the "Imagists"--a group of poets
+     that includes William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Ford Madox
+     Hueffer--she has won wide recognition for her writing in new and
+     free forms of poetical expression. Miss Lowell's present volume of
+     poems, "Sword Blades and Poppy Seed," is an unusual book. It
+     contains much perhaps that will arouse criticism, but it is a new
+     note in American poetry. Miss Lowell has broken away from academic
+     traditions and written, out of her own time, real singing poetry,
+     free, full of new effects and subtleties.
+
+
+
+
+Earth Triumphant and Other Tales in Verse
+BY CONRAD AIKEN
+_Cloth, 12mo, $1.25 net_
+
+     Conrad Aiken is one of the first American writers to choose to tell
+     his stories in verse. Helston, Masefield, and other Europeans have
+     been doing it with marked success, but hitherto this country has
+     had no notable representative in this line of endeavor. Though Mr.
+     Aiken has been writing for a number of years, _Earth Triumphant and
+     Other Tales in Verse_ is his first published book. In it are
+     contained, in addition to the several narratives of modern life, a
+     number of shorter lyrics. It is a volume distinguished by
+     originality and power.
+
+
+Van Zorn: A Comedy in Three Acts
+BY EDWIN A. ROBINSON
+_Cloth, 12mo, $1.25 net_
+
+     This play makes delightful reading and introduces in the person of
+     its author a playwright of considerable promise. Mr. Robinson tells
+     an interesting story, one which by a clever arrangement of incident
+     and skillful characterization arouses strongly the reader's
+     curiosity and keeps it unsatisfied to the end. The dialogue is
+     bright and the construction of the plot shows the work of one well
+     versed in the technique of the drama.
+
+
+
+
+A LIST OF PLAYS
+
+
++Leonid Andreyev's+ Anathema                               $1.25 net
++Clyde Fitch's+ The Climbers                                 .75 net
+  Girl with the Green Eyes                                  1.25 net
+  Her Own Way                                                .75 net
+  Stubbornness of Geraldine                                  .75 net
+  The Truth                                                  .75 net
++Hermann Hagedorn's+ Makers of Madness                      1.00 net
++Thomas Hardy's+ The Dynasts. 3 Parts. Each                 1.50 net
++Henry Arthur Jones's+
+  Whitewashing of Julia                                      .75 net
+  Saints and Sinners                                         .75 net
+  The Crusaders                                              .75 net
+  Michael and His Lost Angel                                 .75 net
++Jack London's+ Scorn of Women                              1.25 net
+  Theft                                                     1.25 net
++Mackaye's+ Jean D'Arc                                      1.25 net
+  Sappho and Phaon                                          1.25 net
+  Fenris the Wolf                                           1.25 net
+  Mater                                                     1.25 net
+  Canterbury Pilgrims                                       1.25 net
+  The Scarecrow                                             1.25 net
+  A Garland to Sylvia                                       1.25 net
++John Masefield's+ The Tragedy of Pompey                    1.25 net
+  Philip the King                                           1.25 net
++William Vaughn Moody's+
+  The Faith Healer                                          1.25 net
++Stephen Phillip's+ Ulysses                                 1.25 net
+  The Sin of David                                          1.25 net
+  Nero                                                      1.25 net
+  Pietro of Siena                                           1.00 net
++Phillips and Carr.+ Faust                                  1.25 net
++Edward Sheldon's+ The Nigger                               1.25 net
+  Romance                                                   1.25 net
++Katrina Trask's+ In the Vanguard                           1.25 net
++Rabindranath Tagore's+ The Post Office                     1.00 net
+  Chitra                                                    1.00 net
+  The King of the Dark Chamber                              1.25 net
++Edwin A. Robinson's+ Van Zorn                              1.25 net
++Sarah King Wiley's+ Coming of Philibert                    1.25 net
+  Alcestis                                                   .75 net
++Yeats'+ Poems and Plays, Vol. II, Revised Edition          2.00 net
+  Hour Glass (and others)                                   1.25 net
+  The Green Helmet and Other Poems                          1.25 net
++Yeats and Lady Gregory's+ Unicorn from the Stars           1.50 net
++Israel Zangwill's+ The Melting Pot, New Edition            1.25 net
+  The War God                                               1.25 net
+  The Next Religion                                         1.25 net
+  Plaster Saints                                            1.25 net
+
+
+
+THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+Publishers      64-66 Fifth Avenue       New York
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Makers of Madness, by Hermann Hagedorn
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