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diff --git a/old/63660-0.txt b/old/63660-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b1e95db..0000000 --- a/old/63660-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1146 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Game of Chess, by Kenneth Sawyer Goodman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: The Game of Chess - -Author: Kenneth Sawyer Goodman - -Release Date: November 07, 2020 [EBook #63660] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Adrian Mastronardi, David E. Brown, and the Online - Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This - file was produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAME OF CHESS *** - - - - - STAGE GUILD PLAYS - THE GAME OF CHESS - - - - -THE STAGE GUILD PLAYS & MASQUES - - -_By Kenneth Sawyer Goodman_ - - DUST OF THE ROAD: A Play in One Act. net 35c - - THE GAME OF CHESS: A Play in One Act. net 35c - - -_By Kenneth Sawyer Goodman and Thomas Wood Stevens_ - - THE MASQUE OF QUETZAL’S BOWL. net 25c - - A PAGEANT FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY. net 35c - - THE MASQUE OF MONTEZUMA. net 25c - - THE DAIMIO’S HEAD, MONTEZUMA & QUETZAL’S BOWL together, bound in - cloth, net $1.00 - - RYLAND: A Comedy in One Act. net 25c - - CÆSAR’S GODS: A Byzantine Masque. net 25c - - HOLBEIN IN BLACKFRIARS: An Improbable Comedy. net 25c - - -_By Wallace Rice and Thomas Wood Stevens_ - - THE CHAPLET OF PAN: A Masque. net 35c - - -_The above are to be had of all book-sellers or of THE STAGE GUILD, -Railway Exchange Building, Chicago, and VAUGHAN & GOMME, 2 East -Twenty-ninth Street, New York._ - - - - - THE GAME OF CHESS - - A PLAY IN ONE ACT - - BY - - KENNETH SAWYER GOODMAN - - - [Illustration] - - - NEW YORK - VAUGHAN & GOMME - MCMXIV - - - - - _Copyright 1914 by - Kenneth Sawyer Goodman - All rights reserved_ - - -NOTICE: Application for permission to perform this play in the United -States should be made to The Stage Guild, Railway Exchange Building, -Chicago; and application for permission to perform it elsewhere should -be made to Mr. B. Iden Payne, The Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, England. -No performance of it may take place without consent of the owners of -the acting rights. - - - - -THE GAME OF CHESS was first produced by B. Iden Payne under the -auspices of the Chicago Theatre Society at the Fine Arts Theatre, -November 18th, 1913, with the following caste: - - ALEXIS ALEXANDROVITCH Walter Hampden - BORIS IVANOVITCH SHAMRAYEFF Whitford Kane - CONSTANTINE T. W. Gibson - FOOTMAN Howard Plinge - - - - -THE GAME OF CHESS - - - _The Scene is a wainscoted room in the house of ALEXIS. High - windows at the back left; at the right back is a double door giving - into an ante-room; against the right wall is a couch; in the left - wall near the back is a small door; nearer the audience, on the same - wall a chimney breast with a carved mantel; under the window, at the - back, another couch and several chairs give the room a luxurious - air. ALEXIS and CONSTANTINE are playing chess at a small table in - front of an open fire. There is a large table in the centre of the - stage with fruit, a flagon of wine and glasses._ - -ALEXIS. You seem to have lost your cunning, Constantine. - -CONSTANTINE. Wait! - -ALEXIS. Perhaps the pawn? - -CONSTANTINE. No. [_He moves._] So! - -ALEXIS. Ah, ha! That, eh? Well, well! The cunning is returning, is it? - - [_He strikes a little bell beside him and again scans the board._] - -CONSTANTINE. Is the hour up, your excellency? - -ALEXIS. No, no! We still have ten minutes to play. - -CONSTANTINE. Your excellency tires of the game, perhaps? - -ALEXIS. No, I never tire of the game. When I do that, I shall tire of -life itself. Chess is as much a gauge of a man’s mental development -as love or war or politics or any other game. When I play bad chess, -I shall have ceased to be a competent governor. We patricians do -not justify our lives by the toil of our hands. We should tune the -machinery inside our skulls to its highest effectiveness. We must keep -it tuned and timed and oiled. Ah, yes, it is that way we serve. When -the machine balks or stops we are nothing. - -CONSTANTINE. But your excellency was thinking of other things. - -ALEXIS. Was I so? Well, well! We shall see, we shall see! I was -thinking of other things, eh? [_He makes a move swiftly._] There, match -me that if you can. - -CONSTANTINE. Ah! The one move that could have saved your king! - -ALEXIS. There you have it! I doze, I dream, my mind wanders, and then -it comes in a flash. The one move on the board! It is by such flashes I -know myself. - -CONSTANTINE. Your excellency has inspiration. - -ALEXIS. Perhaps! But behind inspiration, always, the technique of the -game. - - [_A footman enters._] - -FOOTMAN. Your excellency rang? - -ALEXIS. Is the man, Shamrayeff, waiting? - -FOOTMAN. A man, Boris Ivanovitch Shamrayeff, with a letter from your -excellency, is waiting in the secretary’s room. - -ALEXIS. You may bring him here in three minutes. - -FOOTMAN. Pardon, excellency, but the secretary wishes to know if the -orders received from Mr. Constantine are correct. - -ALEXIS. What orders? - -FOOTMAN. That the man, Boris Ivanovitch Shamrayeff, is not to be -searched. - -ALEXIS. There is no occasion to search the man. [_FOOTMAN bows and -withdraws._] - -ALEXIS. [_To CONSTANTINE._] Your move, my dear Constantine. We have -exactly two minutes to finish the game and one minute for questions. -[_He lays his watch beside the chessboard._] - -CONSTANTINE. [_Moves._] So! - -ALEXIS. Ah! One moment! There! What now? [_He moves._] - -CONSTANTINE. This. [_He moves._] - -ALEXIS. And this! [_He moves._] - -CONSTANTINE. Ah ha! I could check-mate your excellency in five more -moves. - -ALEXIS. The two minutes are up. Tell me, you are quite certain that -your agents made no mistake in the matter of this man, Shamrayeff? - -CONSTANTINE. Quite certain, your excellency. I begged you to have him -put under arrest yesterday. There is absolutely no question. The man’s -entire history is in your hands. - -ALEXIS. And, in spite of all this, I have granted him a personal -interview. I have given explicit orders that he is not to be searched. -In short, I must be a fool, eh? - -CONSTANTINE. I cannot question your excellency’s judgment. - -ALEXIS. Ah, you can’t question my judgment, eh? But you think! I saw -something behind your eyes just now when you said you would check-mate -me in five moves. You were thinking, “Alexis Alexandrovitch, for all -his fine talk, is not what he used to be. Something has slipped away -from him.” Do you think I’ve become a coward? - -CONSTANTINE. Your excellency! - -ALEXIS. I sometimes think so, myself; that sometime there will be no -flash, that I shall be check-mated once and for all. That’s why I keep -you here, hour after hour, playing chess with me; that’s why I am -tempted to try another kind of game with this man, Shamrayeff. - -CONSTANTINE. Then you have a definite reason for seeing this man? - -ALEXIS. None that you would understand. - -CONSTANTINE. But, in that case, might I point out to your -excellency--Surely it would be safer-- - -ALEXIS. Don’t speak to me as if you were speaking to a child. I know -what you think: “Alexis Alexandrovitch is not what he was. Things are -slipping past him, he needs watching.” Well, the time is up. You have -your orders. - -CONSTANTINE. Shall I take away the chessmen? - -ALEXIS. No, leave them as they are. We’ll finish the game when I ring -for you. [_CONSTANTINE rises and hesitates._] Well, well, well! You’re -going to say something. You think the game won’t be finished. We’ll -see. We’ll see about that! - -CONSTANTINE. I beg your excellency-- - - [_FOOTMAN enters, followed by SHAMRAYEFF._] - -FOOTMAN. Boris Ivanovitch Shamrayeff. - - [_SHAMRAYEFF wears the clothes of a respectable artisan. He is, - apparently, somewhat younger than ALEXIS, strongly built and has a - rather fine but stolid face. He stands with his cap in his hand._] - -ALEXIS. So, so! You are Boris Ivanovitch Shamrayeff, are you? Well, -well! - -BORIS. Yes, I am Boris Ivanovitch Shamrayeff! - -ALEXIS. You found it hard to get at me, did you? Hard to get an -interview with Alexis Alexandrovitch? - -BORIS. Not so hard as I had expected, your excellency. - -ALEXIS. [_To CONSTANTINE and FOOTMAN._] Well, what are you waiting -for? This man has something important to say to me. He’s bashful. He -can’t speak out before so many people. - -CONSTANTINE. Your excellency, I will wait in the passage. - -ALEXIS. Nonsense, nonsense! Go into the garden and think about your -game of chess! Go! [_CONSTANTINE and FOOTMAN go out._] - -ALEXIS. [_To BORIS._] Sit down in that chair. I want to look at you. -[_BORIS looks around uneasily._] Ah! There is no one watching us. This -room is in a corner of the house--nothing but windows behind you, no -balcony, no hangings. Open the door you came in by--there is no one in -the passage. Turn the key, if you like. - - [_BORIS steps quickly to the main doors, throws them open, looks into - the passage, shuts them again, turns the key in the lock and slips it - into his pocket._] - -You see we won’t be disturbed. Now, sit down and tell me what you want. -[_BORIS sits down but says nothing._] Tongue-tied, eh? You don’t know -how to begin? Embarrassed, eh? - -BORIS. No. I was only wondering. - -ALEXIS. Ha, ha! Wondering, eh? - -BORIS. I was wondering why your excellency chose to give me this -opportunity? - -ALEXIS. This opportunity? - -BORIS. [_Looking up._] This opportunity to kill your excellency. - -ALEXIS. So, so! To kill me? That’s it, is it? Well, well! I thought as -much, but of course, I couldn’t be sure. Well, well! Go on, go on! - -BORIS. [_Simply._] God has delivered you into my hands. - -ALEXIS. Pah! Leave God out of it! Don’t give me any such cant nonsense. -I doubt if God takes any interest in either of us. I have delivered -myself into your hands. That’s the simple fact of the matter. I could -have trapped you so easily, too, but I didn’t even have you searched. -You may as well take the pistol out of your pocket. - -BORIS. Your excellency seems amused. - -ALEXIS. No, no, not amused! I’m only curious to see you handle the -thing--morbid curiosity, if you like. Take it out, man, take it out! - -BORIS. This is a solemn moment for us both, your excellency. - -ALEXIS. Solemn, eh? Well, well! Solemn! Oh, I suppose it is solemn for -you, Boris Ivanovitch. To me it is simply curious grotesque. Well, -well! - -BORIS. [_Takes out pistol._] Keep your hand a little further from that -bell, if you please. - -ALEXIS. I shan’t ring. You would hardly wait for them to answer the -bell, would you? No, no! I’m not such a fool as to think you’d do that? -Well, well! I lift my hand and you shoot. - -BORIS. Yes. - -ALEXIS. Exactly. Well, I won’t lift my hand. - -BORIS. Nothing on earth can save you, Alexis Alexandrovitch. - -ALEXIS. Nor you, my friend, for that matter! You hardly expect to leave -the house, shall we say, unmolested? - -BORIS. I do not expect to leave it alive, excellency. - -ALEXIS. No, that would be asking too much. I was here to let you in. I -won’t be able to let you out again. You will have lost a useful friend, -Boris Ivanovitch. - -BORIS. Your excellency! - -ALEXIS. It is in your hands to end the interview. Come, come, you must -hate me a great deal, my friend, to give your own life for the sake of -taking mine. - -BORIS. I do not hate you. - -ALEXIS. So? How odd! I thought that everyone of your sort hated me. You -might at least flatter me to the extent of showing some emotion. Come, -come, flatter me to that extent. - -BORIS. I do not care to flatter you. - -ALEXIS. Ah, well, well! I shall have to do without it then. - -BORIS. My own feelings have nothing to do with it. I am an instrument -of God. - -ALEXIS. God again! What has God to do with it? Do you happen to play a -good game of chess? - -BORIS. [_Nervously._] Why do you ask me such a thing? - -ALEXIS. Because you interrupted a game here. Constantine threatened me -with check-mate in five more moves. Check-mate in five moves! No, no! -Not so easy as that! - -BORIS. I have had enough of your jestings, excellency. - -ALEXIS. You wont play then? Well, well! I had promised myself to finish -the game. We shall see! We shall see! - -BORIS. Surely your excellency has something you wish to say-- - -ALEXIS. I have told you once, when you tire of the interview it is in -your hands to end it. What are you waiting for? You become tedious! - -BORIS. Have you no desire to pray, excellency? - -ALEXIS. Pray? Pray? Who would listen to me? No, I’d rather chat. - -BORIS. As your excellency likes. - -ALEXIS. Yes, yes, we’ll chat until you gather courage to do what you -came for. - -BORIS. It takes no courage to kill a thing like you. - -ALEXIS. It takes a certain kind of courage to kill--rats. - -BORIS. I have been chosen, excellency. - -ALEXIS. So, so! The lot fell on you, did it? The honor! The -distinction! You look at it in that way, don’t you? Like the rest of -your kind, you have political ideas, eh? - -BORIS. I have no political ideas. - -ALEXIS. No political ideas? Well, well! No personal hatred? Pray -explain yourself, man. - -BORIS. I am a peasant. My father and my father’s father were peasants. -You are a noble. Your line runs back to Tartar princes. It is a matter -of centuries of pain and slavery against centuries of oppression and -violence. I take no account of to-day, only of yesterday and tomorrow. -Your acts have been cruel and harsh, doubtless. I hardly know. I throw -them out of the scale. I throw out my own sufferings. They are not -enough in themselves to tip the balance. You and I are nothing. It is -caste against caste. I gave myself to the revolutionary party, yes! I -am their agent as you say, but I know little of their ideas for Russia. -I care less. I only know that the band to which I belong represents the -struggle which I feel in my own breast. I am their willing tool. I do -their will because the right of vengeance comes down to me in the blood. - -ALEXIS. Yes, yes! A fanatic! - -BORIS. It is my order against yours. - -ALEXIS. Ah, your order against mine, eh? Centuries of pain against -centuries of oppression. Well, well! You set aside to-day, do you? You -throw your own little pains and penalties out of the scale on one -side, and my little tyrannies and floggings and acts of villainy out on -the other? You see yourself only as the avenger of a caste against a -caste. The right of vengeance and the need of it comes down to you in -the blood, does it? You’re exalted by the breath of dead peasants, are -you? It’s because of that and only because of it that you take pride -in the work you have set your hand to. Huh! Grotesque! You strike the -air with a rod of smoke. You’ve stumbled upon the essence of the inane. -You’re about to commit a fantastic mockery of Justice. - -BORIS. I have held my hand too long! - -ALEXIS. Wait! There is still something to be said; something for you to -think of in the moment between the time you take my life and the time -you take your own. You are about to kill the man you might have been -yourself. You are about to--I, and not you, am Boris Ivanovitch. - -BORIS. What rubbish are you talking now? - -ALEXIS. You are Alexis Alexandrovitch! - -BORIS. Why! You are mad! - -ALEXIS. Wait! When you were a child, you had a foster-brother. You ran -with him in the fields. You slept by his side at night. You fought with -him over rough toys and bits of food. When you were seven years old, -a man on horse-back came and took him away. You never knew his true -parentage and your father flogged you when you cried for him. Can you -remember that? - -BORIS. Aye, I can remember that well. - -ALEXIS. Your father deserted your mother the following year. A little -later she died. She told you nothing of the other child. You went -to Kieff, to the house of your uncle, and became apprenticed to a -bootmaker. - -BORIS. Leave off! You can’t mystify me by telling me the story of my -own life. It proves nothing. Your agents have ways of knowing such -things: what I was, what I am, everything. - -ALEXIS. Yes! Leave all that! As you say, it proves nothing. Yet we are -foster-brothers, you and I. - -BORIS. A sign! - -ALEXIS. Our good mother was endowed with a grim sense of humor. She -sent her own boy to be reared as the son of princes, and the little -aristocrat, left with her for safety at the time of the Makaroff -meeting, she sent to--well, you know to what sort of a life she sent -him. - -BORIS. Give me a sign! - -ALEXIS. I have no sign to give you. - -BORIS. Ah, ah! What else? What else have you to tell me? - -ALEXIS. I, and not you, am the son of peasants. Do you see now why I -call your errand grotesque? - -BORIS. Lies! Lies! Lies! What do you expect to gain by telling me such -lies? - -ALEXIS. Nothing. - -BORIS. Do you expect me to believe you? Do you expect me to embrace you -and clap my hat on my head and toss this pistol out the window and tell -you to do what you like with me? - -ALEXIS. I expect nothing. I know that I am one dead man talking to -another. - -BORIS. I can’t fathom you. I know there must be some trick up your -sleeve, but I can’t fathom you. - -ALEXIS. There is no trick. You asked me why I chose to give you this -opportunity to kill me. I’m telling you. That’s all. - -BORIS. Lies! Utterly useless lies! - -ALEXIS. No! Utterly useless truth! Do you think I wish to believe -myself Boris Ivanovitch Shamrayeff, born a peasant? I, who have sat in -high places and given my life to preserving an order of men to which I -do not belong, which my blood ought to cry out against. Do you think -I would have believed it if the belief had not been forced upon me? I -have ways of knowing truth from falsehood, my friend. You are striking -at a man who is dead before you touch him. What I have found out in the -past week, others already know. I have come to the end, I tell you. I -have been a fantastic dupe. I cannot go on. I would have killed myself -to-day, but I have a horror of taking my own life. You have come in -time to save me from that. - -BORIS. Was that your only reason for seeing me? - -ALEXIS. I admit I was curious to see another man who had been as great -a dupe as myself. - -BORIS. Lies! Lies! What else? Have you anything more to say? - -ALEXIS. I only ask you to finish your work. Unless you have a scruple -against killing your-- In which case, go! The door is still open to you. - -BORIS. [_Sneering._] Very pretty! Very touching! Go back, eh? And tell -my comrades that I let Alexis the Red slip through my fingers because -he told me a child’s story of changeling foster-brothers? No, no! [_He -cocks his pistol._] - -ALEXIS. Kill me, then! - - [_BORIS raises the pistol._] - -BORIS. I-- - -ALEXIS. Pull the trigger, man! - -BORIS. I can’t. There’s a chance that what you have said may be true -after all. [_He lays down the pistol._] And yet, I can’t live if it’s -false. And, by God, I can’t live if it’s true! - -ALEXIS. In either case, we must both die. - -BORIS. Aye, you speak the truth there, but I dare not kill you. I tell, -you, I dare not! There must be some way out! Some other way! - -ALEXIS. Are you brave enough to take poison? Yes! Good! Do you see this -ring? I press a spring, so. There is a fine powder under the stone, so! -I drop a few grains into one of these glasses. We draw lots. One of us -drinks the wine and the other still has your pistol to use! It is very -simple after all. - -BORIS. [_Rises._] Yah! Now, by God, I see the trick! Lies! Lies! Every -word of it was lies! I can see through you now. You’re devilishly -cunning with your sleight-of-hand, but I draw no lots for poison with -the like of you. - -ALEXIS. Have it your own way. See, there’s more than enough for both. -Take the glass in your own hands, divide it yourself, pour the wine -yourself, and then, to satisfy you, I’ll drink first. - -BORIS. You carry the bluff to the bitter end, do you? Well, we’ll see. - - [_He mixes the powder and pours the wine and hands one glass to - ALEXIS._] - -ALEXIS. To your easy death, brother. - - [_He lifts the glass and drinks._] - -BORIS. Ah! So you’re a brave man after all! [_He lifts the glass and -pauses._] What if I were to leave you now, eh? - -ALEXIS. My men have orders to seize you the moment you leave the room. - -BORIS. In that case! [_He lifts the glass._] To your final redemption, -brother! - -ALEXIS. Sit down! [_BORIS sits down._] - -BORIS. Have we long to wait? - -ALEXIS. Perhaps five minutes. It’s a Chinese concoction. They call it -the draught of final oblivion. I believe it to be painless. I’m told -that one becomes numb. Do you find yourself becoming drowsy? - -BORIS. No. My senses seem to be becoming more alert. Your voice sounds -very sharp and clear. - -ALEXIS. Lift your hand. - -BORIS. It seems very heavy. Are you afraid of Death, excellency? - -ALEXIS. [_Eyeing him sharply._] No, I am not afraid of Death, brother, -not in the least. - -BORIS. Nor I! - -ALEXIS. Good! Now, move your feet. - -BORIS. I don’t seem to be able to. That’s strange. I can’t feel -anything. - -ALEXIS. Nor I! Can you get out of your chair? - -BORIS. [_Slowly._] I--I can hardly move my hand. I might move by a -supreme effort but I haven’t the will. I--I feel no pain, only a -ringing in my head. - -ALEXIS. So? Well, well! Can you still hear perfectly? - -BORIS. Yes--yes, I can still hear. - -ALEXIS. H’m, h’m. - -BORIS. Tell me, on your hope of redemption, was what you said to me -just now the truth? - -ALEXIS. On my hope of redemption, eh? - -BORIS. If it was, I ask you to forgive me. - -ALEXIS. I have nothing to forgive. - -BORIS. Thanks! - -ALEXIS. On my hope of redemption, Boris Shamrayeff, everything I told -you was lies! Lies! Lies! - - [_BORIS struggles painfully to his feet and lurches toward the table, - where he has laid the pistol. ALEXIS springs to the table, seizes - the pistol and tosses it out of the window. BORIS supports himself - against the edge of table, half sitting, half leaning against it, - his mouth open, his eyes staring. He sways dizzily. ALEXIS stands - before him._] - -ALEXIS. Well, you can still speak, can’t you? - -BORIS. You fiend! You dog! You liar! Ha, ha, ha! At least you can’t -escape! No need for me to strike you! - -ALEXIS. Ha, ha! - -BORIS. Well! Sneer at me if you like. You are feeling the agony too, -Alexis Alexandrovitch. You can’t deny it. - -ALEXIS. I am not dying, Boris Shamrayeff. - -BORIS. But, I know! I saw! I saw you drink! You’re dying, excellency! - -ALEXIS. Yes, we drank together, didn’t we? Well, well! And your eye -wasn’t off me an instant, was it? And you didn’t lift your cup till I’d -drained the last drop of mine, did you? Well, well, well! - -BORIS. I saw you drink what I drank. - -ALEXIS. Yes, I did drink it, Boris Ivanovitch, didn’t I? But what is -sending you down to fry in Hell with the stupid ghosts of your bestial -ancestors is only embarrassing me with the slightest of headaches. [_He -chuckles._] - -BORIS. It--it is not possible! - -ALEXIS. Eh? An oriental trick. A man in constant fear of poison may -accustom himself, little by little, to a dose that would blast the life -of an ordinary man. A fantastic precaution these days, only interesting -to an antiquarian like myself. Well, well, you can hear me, can’t you? -I tell you I could have taken the entire mess; half of it seems to have -been enough for you. - - [_BORIS makes an effort to get at ALEXIS but almost sinks to the - floor._] - -No use, Boris Shamrayeff! I advise you to hold fast to the table. - -BORIS. Why? Why have you done this thing to me? - -ALEXIS. Body of St. Michael! I am of one order, you of another. You are -a terrorist, a Red; the blood of my brother, shot down in the streets -of Kronstadt, the lives of my friends, the preservation of the sacred -empire--are these nothing? Nothing--beside your dirty petitions of -right! Pah! God has delivered you into MY hands. I, and not you, am the -instrument of God to-day! Boris Ivanovitch, can you still hear me? Eh? - -BORIS. Yes! - -ALEXIS. So! So! One thing more! Why did I risk my own life to get -yours? You would like to know that, wouldn’t you? Why did I let you in -here at all? You’d ask that if you could. Ha, ha! Well, it was because -men were thinking that Alexis Alexandrovitch wasn’t what he used to -be; because I was beginning to think so myself. Because I had begun -to doubt my own wits. I had to let myself be brought to bay. I had to -look into the muzzle of your pistol. I had to pit my life against yours -in a struggle where I had no other weapon, no other help, than this. -[_He taps his forehead._] I think it unlikely that Constantine will -check-mate me in five moves to-day! - -BORIS. Fiend! Fiend! Fiend! [_He crumples up and falls to the floor._] - -ALEXIS. So, it’s over, is it? Well, well, well! - - [_He takes a cover from the couch and throws it over BORIS and - stands over him._] - -ALEXIS. [_As if exorcising a ghost._] To the night without stars! To -the mist that never lifts! To the bottom of nothingness! Peace be with -you! - - [_He turns and taps the bell and then seats himself at the - chessboard. The FOOTMAN enters._] - -FOOTMAN. Your excellency rang? - -ALEXIS. Go into the garden and find Mr. Constantine. Tell him I am -ready to finish our game of chess. - - [_The FOOTMAN bows and withdraws._] - -ALEXIS. [_Studying the moves on the chess board._] So! So! The -bishop--the queen! No! Yes, yes! I have it! I have it! Body of St. -Michael, not in five moves, not in five moves tonight! Ah! Ha, ha! So! -So! Well, well, well! - - [_He rubs his hands softly and looks up just as CONSTANTINE enters._] - - -CURTAIN. - - - - -_This first edition of THE GAME OF CHESS, printed from type by The -Lancaster Printing Company, Lancaster Pennsylvania, in April, 1914, -for VAUGHAN & GOMME, New York, consists of one hundred and fifty -copies on Japanese Vellum, of which one hundred only are for sale, and -one thousand and fifty copies on laid paper._ - - - - -_ADVERTISEMENT_ - - -Messrs. VAUGHAN & GOMME take pleasure in announcing that they have -perfected an arrangement whereby, in future, they will act as -publishers for THE STAGE GUILD, Railway Exchange Building, Chicago. -All, or nearly all future plays, masques, etc., produced by THE STAGE -GUILD will be printed and published by Messrs. VAUGHAN & GOMME, and -they will act as agents to the book-trade and to the public for the -distribution of the single plays in paper wrappers, and later in book -form. - -The editorial management of THE STAGE GUILD will, however, continue -with headquarters in the Railway Exchange Building, Chicago, where all -applications for permission to perform the plays and masques, and other -inquiries of a kindred nature, should be addressed, as heretofore. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - -Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - -Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - -Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAME OF CHESS *** - -***** This file should be named 63660-0.txt or 63660-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/6/6/63660/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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