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Title: Lafitte, a play in prologue and four acts
Author: Cameron, Rhoda, Rutland, Lucile
Language: English
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AND FOUR ACTS ***
LAFITTE
A PLAY
IN PROLOGUE
AND
FOUR ACTS
BY
LUCILE RUTLAND AND RHODA CAMERON
Copyright, 1899, by Lucile Rutland and Lucie Leveque
Ayres, (Rhoda Cameron). All rights reserved
CHARACTERS
JEAN DURAND, afterwards Jean Lafitte.
MARQUIS D’ACOSTA, belonging to the court of Ferdinand VII.
DON MANUEL D’ACOSTA, his son.
MARIANA D’ACOSTA, his niece.
PEDRO D’ACOSTA, Mariana’s brother by adoption.
BELUCHE, a soldier in Napoleon’s army.
DELLONNE, a sentry.
LEON DUVAL, a wealthy Louisianian.
BELLA CARDEZ, his step-daughter.
DARBLEE, proprietor of _l’hotel des Exiles_.
DOMINIQUE YOU, his nephew.
BAPTISTE, his negro servant.
A STRANGER
MOTHER AUGUSTUS, an austere, elderly nun.
LIZBETTE, a voo-doo of Barataria.
FATHER POULARDE, a rubicund, self-confessed optimist.
DOCTOR BORDE, the Pride’s doctor.
FATHER CUTHBERT, the priest of Barataria.
CAPTAIN LOCKYER, of the British navy.
CAPTAIN McWILLIAMS, of the British navy.
GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE, Governor of Louisiana.
CHAIRMAN, on the Committee of War Measures.
SHIP CAPTAIN, of American vessel.
OFFICERS, PASSENGERS, of American vessel.
MATE, of the Creole.
Politicians and legislators, two roysterers, Spanish merchants,
nuns, pirates, hunters, grave-diggers, ladies and gentlemen,
soldiers, servants, guards, and a messenger.
PLACE.
PROLOGUE Bayonne, France.
ACT I. SCENE I. _L’hotel des Exiles_, New Orleans.
” ” ” II. On board ship, bound for France.
ACT II. Vicinity of Lafitte’s home, the Red House, Barataria.
ACT III. SCENE I. Governor Claiborne’s mansion, New Orleans.
” ” ” II. _L’hotel des Exiles._
ACT IV. An approach to New Orleans.
TIME.
PROLOGUE, 1808.
PLAY, 1814-15.
PROLOGUE.
PROLOGUE.
_SCENE. A beautiful garden; rustic tables and chairs; to the right a
castle, massive, elegant, imposing. Don Manuel D’Acosta, standing on the
veranda, absorbed in thought. Enter Marquis D’Acosta._
MARQ. Manuel.—Manuel.
MAN. You called?
MARQ. Of what were you thinking so intently?
MAN. A little plan that I imagine will surprise Napoleon somewhat.
MARQ. He will at least reciprocate. He has prepared a surprise for us.
MAN. How so?
MARQ. I have just heard that we are to be sent to-morrow to the castle of
Valencay.
MAN. The devil!
MARQ. As “guests of France,” our host feels that he must provide better
lodgings for us.
MAN. Safer ones, you mean.
MARQ. I warned you that your zeal for Ferdinand would lead us to prison.
MAN. Long live his Majesty, Ferdinand the VII!
MARQ. And Mariana must share our prison.
MAN. Better that than freedom with others.
MARQ. You talk like a youth. Mariana has French blood in her veins.
MAN. She has Spanish blood in her veins too. She is your niece and my
cousin.
MARQ. She has no sympathy for Ferdinand.
MAN. Because she has been taught to distrust him. Will Captain Durand’s
company remain here or escort us to Valencay.
MARQ. I do not know.
MAN. It is incredible that you let her speak to that man.
MARQ. He is not a lunatic.
MAN. He is worse: he is a _poseur_. You know very well that a girl’s
admiration is always captured by such a tale of heroism as he has been at
pains to have circulated.
MARQ. What heroism?
MAN. An absurd story that Napoleon sent him with a message to the
Empress; that five or six rowdy Spaniards, thinking to make a grand
_coup_, and under the impression that they were military instructions,
waylaid him and demanded the papers upon him.
MARQ. And then?
MAN. Oh, then my gallant proved himself. He switched out his sword and
bade them advance. And the men, not recognizing him as a hero, advanced
and were slain.
MARQ. It was a brave act.
MAN. If one accredit it, as you so generously do.
MARQ. Manuel, I have used, and will use my influence in your favor.
Beyond that I can do nothing.
MAN. Say will do nothing. (_exit._)
MARQ. Poor boy! Poor hot-head! (_enter Mariana._)
MAR. What a beautiful day, uncle!
MARQ. Hedged in as we are, I cannot see it.
MAR. But overhead the way is all ours.
MARQ. You are very light-hearted these days.
MAR. There are so many beauties on beauties, and still out of sight and
hearing, an infinite comfort, as if God had centered the Universe into a
nesting hollow for us.
MARQ. You know, Mariana, that I wish you to marry Manuel.
MAR. Uncle—
MARQ. You know that your father wished it; left you his fortune only upon
that condition.
MAR. Yes, I know.
MARQ. Think of these things. Do not let the caprice of a moment weigh
against the wishes of your dead. (_exit; Mariana sits absorbed in
thought; enter Jean Durand; he has his left arm lightly bandaged; he
comes up behind her, puts his right arm around her._)
MAR. (_starting_) Oh! It is you.
JEAN. I am jealous of those long thoughts of yours.
MAR. Are you?
JEAN. Jealous of all things that claim you; the winds that whisper to you
all day long, the dreams that make you smile or sigh, the moon-beams that
enfold you at night, the thoughts that bid you pay attention.
MAR. I know a magician who converts all those things to his use.
JEAN. I know an enchantress who makes him believe he does.
MAR. He praises my eyes, my lips, my hair, and I lie awake at night
thinking about the happiness and the wonder of their being beautiful to
him.
JEAN. The wonder would be in their being anything else.
MAR. Even for my chance words, he creates meanings of wisdom and wit.
JEAN. Because, like the sun’s rays, they beautify even the smallest
things.
MAR. I am afraid he does not hear me; that he does not see me.
JEAN. He loves you, sweetheart. God has put no appraiser in the world
half so infallible as Love. Do you know why I was jealous of that long
thought of yours?
MAR. No. (_she bends her head and lightly touches with her lips his
wounded arm._)
JEAN. Because it seemed a sad thought.
MAR. It was. I was thinking of Pedro.
JEAN. Your brother?
MAR. Yes. Do you know, Jean, I am glad I cannot have the fortune my
father left.
JEAN. I am glad that I shall be forever in your debt for the privilege of
making you another.
MAR. Even if I had not met you, I could never have married Manuel, and,
in that case, the fortune would have reverted to the Church.
JEAN. In that case it would have been your brother’s happiness and
privilege to have shared his with you.
MAR. My brother was not even mentioned in the will. That is why I am glad
I cannot have the money.
JEAN. What was his offense?
MAR. Nothing, that we know of. He is not really my brother, you know;
only an adopted brother.
JEAN. French?
MAR. No, Spanish; adopted by my parents before my birth, when they had
despaired of having a child of their own.
JEAN. Then he is older than you?
MAR. Ten years.
JEAN. Where is he now?
MAR. We do not know. Five years ago, (when we left France to go to Spain,
after my father’s death) he ceased answering my letters. I begged him to
write to me—to love me, but—
JEAN. He is an ingrate.
MAR. Oh, he is not. He is hurt and humiliated by father’s will. He had
been treated as a son during his life-time; he must have supposed he
would still be treated as a son when father died. My heart aches for poor
Pedro.
JEAN. He ought to be a happy man.
MAR. Happy?
JEAN. You pray for him—long for him—love him.
MAR. I pray for others.
JEAN. For me?
MAR. My best prayers.
JEAN. And long for me sometimes?
MAR. Always—when you give me a chance.
JEAN. If I were forced to give you a long chance?
MAR. Jean—
JEAN. Let me speak to your uncle, sweetheart.
MAR. It would be useless.
JEAN. He is kind to you; he loves you.
MAR. He loves Manuel better. He is determined on the marriage.
JEAN. But if he saw your happiness is at stake?
MAR. He would call it caprice. You see my father’s will makes it easy for
him to think desire, duty.
JEAN. Then marry me, sweetheart. Give me the right to make your peace
secure. All that you have dreamed of me I will try to be; all that you
have hoped for me I will work to achieve; all that you believe of me I
will die to prove. Marry me, sweetheart. Say the yes that is in your eyes.
MAR. (_closing them_) My eyes are tell-tales which should be punished.
JEAN. (_kissing them_) Your eyes are altar lamps to Truth. Say the
yes that is in your heart. (_Mariana throws her arms around him_) My
sweetheart! To-night?
MAR. Oh, Jean—
JEAN. This is our last day here.
MAR. Last!
JEAN. To-morrow Ferdinand and his Court will be removed to the castle of
Valencay.
MAR. And you? Do you accompany us?
JEAN. I do not know. I have not yet received my orders.
MAR. You will not leave me, Jean?
JEAN. Does one leave the light, air, warmth, life? I shall come to you
this afternoon.
MAR. My uncle is calling—
JEAN. _Au revoir_, sweetheart. (_kisses her; exit Mariana; Beluche enters
R. U._)
BEL. (_to sentry at back_) Is Captain Durand here?
JEAN. (_overhearing him, and turning up stage from L. I. E._) Ah, Beluche!
BEL. You seem very happy. Are you not yet tired of your Spanish watch?
JEAN. Tired? I wish it might last forever.
BEL. We shall have you Spanishized next; praising the senors; adoring the
senoritas.
JEAN. The senoritas—
BEL. Thank heaven, I can hear your rhapsodies seldom.
JEAN. You’ll force me to think soon, Beluche, that some fair senorita has
jilted you heartlessly.
BEL. Would the thought suggest any caution?
JEAN. You admit?
BEL. I admit that to deserve is better than to possess.
JEAN. Well parried!
BEL. And, as against polite Spaniards, I admit to a preference for honest
cannibals.
JEAN. (_laughing_) And the New World?
BEL. And the New World. I have heard tales of it to make the heart beat
and the eye lighten.
JEAN. Fairy tales.
BEL. Matters of fact; of wonderful fortune-making, of breathless daring.
JEAN. Accomplished by whom?
BEL. The Carthagenians (_fiercely_) against the Spanish.
JEAN. Oh—the Caribbean sea exploits? Pirates.
BEL. I beg your pardon. Privateers.
JEAN. I believe you _are_ in earnest.
BEL. I am going there.
JEAN. To the New World?
BEL. To the New World. Will you go with me?
JEAN. My dear Beluche, impossible.
BEL. Then good-by. I must hurry back. (_exit_)
JEAN. Wait a moment. Beluche—What an eccentric! (_looking towards
Mariana’s window_) But he does not know that I have found a new world
already. (_exit; enter Pedro R, U. E.; he sees Jean exiting; looks after
him gloomily_)
PED. Captain Durand! More officious than ever I presume, since the
Emperor has been pleased to praise him. Confound the luck! To have
to break off in the midst of my furlough for cursed gambling debts
and threatened disgrace. However, my young Captain, you’ve been a
sufficient thorn in my side; you won’t have a chance to step in my shoes
yet awhile.—I must see Manuel. Re-enforced as he will be by Mariana’s
fortune, his friendship appeals to me. (_enter Manuel_) How goes the
world with my brother-in-law elect?
MAN. Pedro! It is ages since we have heard from you. Mariana has been in
much sorrow about it.
PED. I hope then to give her added joy on her wedding day.
MAN. Her wedding day?
PED. The earliest time fixed by her father for her marriage is at hand. I
assume your eagerness to profit by it.
MAN. You assume hers too?
PED. Why not?
MAN. For the most potent of all reasons. She does not love me.
PED. She says so. Women are fond of entreaty.
MAN. I have entreated.
PED. They are fond of mastery. You are faint-hearted, despondent.
MAN. I am reasonable.
PED. You speak your defeat. There is no other man, is there?
MAN. Curse him!
PED. What sort of man?
MAN. Oh, a young swashbuckler, lately promoted to a Captaincy by
Napoleon,—Jean Durand, by name.
PED. That man!
MAN. What of him?
PED. She must not marry him. One thing more: do you love her?
MAN. Pedro d’Acosta!
PED. Your pardon. I had not thought of the fortune. Your own is
sufficient guarantee against financial motives.
MAN. I love her, certainly.
PED. Then—I shall be able to help you.
MAN. She will not listen to you.
PED. I shall not ask her to do so. Do not let her know that I am in
Bayonne.
MAN. You wear a French Colonel’s uniform. She will hear of you through
Captain Durand.
PED. She will hear only of his Colonel, whose name is Tolosa.
MAN. But you?
PED. I am Colonel Tolosa. Five years ago I dropped the name of my adopted
parents, and assumed that of the little Spanish town in which I was born.
MAN. You joined the French army!
PED. For which you shall be thankful. To return to Mariana: there is no
use arguing with a woman in love. We must pit our wits against Durand’s,
letting her know nothing of our interference. Go to her. Press your suit,
besiege her with entreaty. Determine to win and you shall.
MAN. If you speak truth—
PED. There is no if but in yourself. Sweep aside all denial, rush her
along the current of your will; make her breathless, powerless. When she
recovers, she will admire, love you.
MAN. Pedro—
PED. No thanks, I’ll help you, if you will help yourself.
MAN. When shall I see you again?
PED. Leave that to me. _Au revoir._ (_exit_)
MAN. (_enthusiastically_) If Pedro be right!—(_enter Mariana with a
basket for gathering flowers_)
MAR. Uncle has been seeking you, Manuel.
MAN. (_advancing towards her_) And you?
MAR. (_purposely misunderstanding_) He did not need me.
MAN. Have _you_ been seeking me?
MAR. Why should I?
MAN. Why, indeed! You know that my love needs no bidding; that it is—
MAR. That it is very unbidden.
MAN. That it is the sum of my existence; that it has ruined my life for
all things save worship of one idea—you; longing for one good—you; hatred
for one opposition—yours.
MAR. I must gather my flowers.
MAN. (_savagely_) You are in a cutting mood. Allow me to hold your basket
for you.
MAR. It will do as well on the ground, (_she lets it fall to the ground;
Manuel picks it up._) I prefer it on the ground.
MAN. I prefer to hold it.
MAR. But as the basket is mine—(_goes to take it._)
MAN. (_retaining it_) And you are mine—
MAR. You know my answer to that.
MAN. My dearest, in the days when our great, great uncle was a corsair—
MAR. Spare me the recital of his feats.
MAN. He would have made short shrift of your little sins of hesitancy and
doubt.
MAR. Hesitancy!
MAN. He would have seized you, body and soul. He would have understood no
denial. He would have seen no sense in it.
MAR. A corsair you called him. Another name for thief.
MAN. For poetry, freedom, reckless bravery!
MAR. For underhandedness and skulking cowardice. I abhor his very name.
MAN. That is impossible. It is also mine.
MAR. Your boast of it does you no credit.
MAN. Mariana, my best beloved, do not drive me to desperation. I am
patient.
MAR. I am not, especially when you seek to overawe me by telling me what
a notorious pirate would do in your place.
MAN. But I—
MAR. Please give me my basket.
MAN. You are not so severe on all adventurers; Captain Durand, for
instance.
MAR. Captain Durand!
MAN. Yes. Do you suppose I do not see how he has hoodwinked you into
admiration, love perhaps, by his tales of valor and gallantry.
MAR. Please give me my basket.
MAN. You shall not put me aside in this manner. You shall realize that I
love you and that you shall love me.
MAR. Why such vehemence since you are confident?
MAN. Because you are cruel; because day by day you torture me.
MAR. I have never given you any hope.
MAN. You give me none now?
MAR. I give you none now.
MAN. Ha! ha! “Sweep aside all denial; rush her along the current of your
will. When she recovers, she will admire, love you.”
MAR. What?
MAN. There is your basket. (_exit_)
MAR. What did he mean? I wonder—Oh, I wish Jean would come. (_enter
Jean_) Well?
JEAN. Bad news. Col. Tolosa has returned.
MAR. He orders you—?
JEAN. To remain here.
MAR. Oh!
JEAN. He must have divined, you see, that I wanted to go.
MAR. Despicable!
JEAN. But he cannot divine the glory and happiness that will be mine in
remaining, since you will remain with me.
MAR. You don’t think, Jean, that there would be any hope of gaining
uncle’s consent?
JEAN. There would be scant time in which to gain it. (_enter Pedro and
Manuel at back_)
MAN. Manuel, too—You have no idea how insistent Manuel has become, almost
to the point of threats.
JEAN. Ah, put an end to such unpleasant possibilities, sweetheart. Let us
be married to-night. Father Cuthbert is here—has just arrived.
MAR. Father John Cuthbert?
JEAN. The same. Do you know him?
MAR. He was our parish priest in the old days in France. Pedro and I used
to walk with him often.
JEAN. He is one of my best friends.
MAR. Will he be here long?
JEAN. Unfortunately, no. He is only going through—will be leaving in the
early morning for America. But are you not glad, sweetheart, that he is
here to marry us?
MAR. Yes.
JEAN. I had almost forgotten. I must get a ring.
MAR. (_touching the ring on his left hand_) This will do.
JEAN. (_taking it off_) What! This little silver thing? It is all
battered.
MAR. (_taking it from him_) But more precious so than if chased by the
finest workers of France; bent, and nearly broken, and stained with
blood, it is an earnest of my lover’s valor; of the fearless worth that
won him his Emperor’s commendation. (_she kisses the ring, and slips it
on her finger_)
JEAN. Did I not tell you, sweetheart, that your thoughts, like the sun’s
rays, beautify even the smallest things? Now listen. To-night, whenever
my best opportunity offers, I shall come to you. I shall make my presence
known by softly singing the refrain of “_Mon Coeur a Toi_.” If all be
well, come down to me in the garden.
MAR. Oh, Jean, there is a great white tempest in my soul! It awes me.
JEAN. There is a greater one it seems to me in mine, but it does not
awe me. It builds me—up to heaven. For the last time, my precious one,
good-by.
MAR. Good-by.
JEAN. To-night. (_he kisses her; exeunt Jean and Mariana_)
MAN. (_advancing_) You see the result of “sweeping aside all denial.” It
has hurried her into marriage.
PED. It has done nothing of the sort. They were bound to find some
excuses for marrying.
MAN. They shall not marry. I’ll warn my father—lock her in—
PED. And ruin your chances forever.
MAN. I have no chances.
PED. If you will give me Mariana’s fortune for my good offices, I’ll
ensure you the defeat of your rival.
MAN. Mariana’s fortune!
PED. What I shall do requires care and planning, and is not unaccompanied
by risk. You have an ample fortune of your own. I have, thanks to my
father’s kindness, nothing—less than nothing, since I am deeply in debt
and in danger of disgrace, even dismissal from the army.
MAN. But Mariana’s fortune—
PED. Will be yours.
MAN. I cannot promise that.
PED. Then I cannot risk what I had thought of.
MAN. It would be useless. I have no chance.
PED. Certainly Durand seems to have left you none.
MAN. Damn him!
PED. He was not even ruffled by Mariana’s confession of your desperate
wooing.
MAN. I’ll kill him!
PED. (_amused_) As for your threats, he did not consider them.
MAN. (_turning fiercely upon him_) Stop that!
PED. (_coolly and indifferently_) Good-by. (_going_)
MAN. Pedro! Will you not see the folks and use your influence with
Mariana? She might listen to you.
PED. I think it very unlikely.
MAN. Wait a moment. What if your plan should fail?
PED. What plan?
MAN. About Durand.
PED. It would not fail.
MAN. Mariana, of course, would know nothing of our agreement?
PED. Certainly nothing.
MAN. Very well then. I do not believe it possible for me to win her, but
it will be a satisfaction to have outwitted Durand.
PED. (_handing him a pencil and paper upon which he has been writing._)
Will you sign this?
MAN. My word is sufficient.
PED. Certainly. Yet as a matter of business, I prefer to have your
signature.
MAN. I do not believe anything will come of it. (_signs_)
PED. Your marriage will come of it. But there is no time to lose. Come
with me. (_exeunt; night has come on, the moon is rising; enter Jean_)
JEAN. Dellonne is on watch. I’ll—Why, Beluche! (_enter Beluche_)
BEL. I could not leave without asking you once more to come with me.
JEAN. How leave? Have you resigned from the army?
BEL. I have. I am disgusted with Napoleon’s manner of treating the
Spaniards; sick of inaction. Come with me.
JEAN. (_laughs_) My dear Beluche, will the fair senorita allow your
departure?
BEL. What senorita?
JEAN. The creator of this restlessness, this love-hate.
BEL. Do I look like a fool?
JEAN. Heaven forbid!
BEL. Heaven has nothing to do with it. I am a fool.
JEAN. My dear Beluche—
BEL. I bear on my shoulders a convict’s brand—not a regular mark, but
the scars of lashings. I am a young man no longer because seven of my
years have been spent in prison—a prison to which my fair senorita and
her Spanish hypocrites sent me. And it is still a daily humiliation to me
that she has a miniature of me to show her friends; the fool whose face
she placed upon a serpent’s head—a fitting locket truly. Probably Antonio
Cardez dangles it at his watch chain now—the fat, insentient beast!—the
very kind of man sure to exhibit jewelry on his expansive front.
JEAN. My dear Beluche, I had no idea—
BEL. You have none now—about Spaniards. Are you not under command of a
Spanish colonel?
JEAN. He must be French at heart since he is a commanding officer in
Napoleon’s army. Do you know him?
BEL. No, I have never seen him.
JEAN. I will confess to you that without reason—simply on instinct—the
best support for your plea lies in my intuition about that one Spaniard.
BEL. Ah!
JEAN. But the fact remains. I have no cause to hate the Spanish. If I
should ever have, and if my chances of avenging myself should be forever
lost to me in the Old World, then I will go with you to the New.
BEL. Then! To-morrow and her dupes! Good by. Remember that I liked you.
(_exit_)
JEAN. Poor Beluche! (_sentry passes at back_). Dellonne—(_sentry
salutes_). I’ll relieve you of duty for awhile. Hold yourself in
readiness to return at a signal from me. (_Sentry salutes and exit; Jean
looks after him, turns to Mariana’s window and is advancing towards it,
when Manuel appears._)
MAN. Good evening, Captain.
JEAN. Good evening.
MAN. (_descending into the garden_) Do you go with us to-morrow?
JEAN. I do not.
MAN. Have a cigar? (_offering him a cigar_)
JEAN. Thanks. I have just had one.
MAN. Not with me. Try one. (_Jean takes a cigar_)
JEAN. Thanks. (_Manuel offers him a light, then lights his own cigar_)
MAN. I suppose there is no telling when we shall see you again?
JEAN. We may meet.
MAN. In case we don’t, will you remember that I am much indebted to you?
JEAN. For what?
MAN. Oh, a thousand things. You do not, I see, estimate rightly the
appreciation you provoke.
JEAN. I—
MAN. Shall we walk? (_Jean stands dazed_) Are you ill?
JEAN. Nothing.... A little dizziness.... (_staggers to bench near
table, sits and sinks face downward upon the table; Manuel watches him,
then beckons to a servant who enters, bearing a bottle of liquor; exit
servant; Manuel drinks from the bottle, then empties the remainder of
the contents upon the ground and places the bottle on the table by Jean.
He then exchanges his hat and cloak for those of Jean, goes to Mariana’s
window and softly sings Mon Coeur a Toi. After a moment, her door opens
and Mariana comes down to him with extended hands. Manuel hastily wraps
her cloak around her and leads her down the garden path. Exeunt Manuel
and Mariana. Then from the distance, comes a cry of fear and horror._)
MAR. (_without_) Jean! Jean! (_Jean starts up at the cry, but falls dazed
and helpless, back into a troubled sleep. A short silence; then a sudden
alarm sounds. Lights flash. A cry behind the scenes: “The prisoners have
escaped!” and a group of soldiers, led by Colonel Tolosa, rushes on the
scene._)
PED. Who is on watch?
DELL. Captain Durand. He relieved me half an hour ago. (_they see Jean
asleep; Pedro goes up to him; picks up the bottle at his side and lets it
fall to the ground. Jean raises his head; struggles to his feet._)
PED. Captain Durand, you are drunk. You were sleeping at your post; you
have allowed your prisoners to escape. What have you to say in your own
defense?
JEAN. (_staggering semi-conscious to centre._) Mariana.... (_falls._)
PED. (_looking him over coldly._) Remove his sword and order a summons
prepared for a court-martial.
CURTAIN.
ACT I.
ACT I.
_SCENE I. Six years later. L’Hotel des Exiles; New Orleans. A large,
dark-paneled, low-ceilinged room. Enter Leon Duval and Pedro._
DUV. You resided in Spain until within the last few years, did you not?
PED. Yes; our family belonged to Ferdinand’s Court, but when His Majesty
was overthrown, our fortunes all suffering in the downfall, my uncle
removed to New Orleans.
DUV. Where your own overthrow was completed by Cupid. To be frank with
you, you are perfectly eligible to my daughter’s hand;—I like you—but
owing to her youth and the great wealth that will be hers, (she is my
sole heir) I am constrained to caution. Personally, the weight of my
authority will be in your favor, but in the meantime we must wait until
you have money enough to raise you in worldly minds above the suspicion
of fortune hunting.
PED. For your frankness, even though it wound me, I thank you. My only
protest arises from suspense lest in the interim Bella should prefer
another; even that she may prefer another now.
DUV. I have never had any trouble with women, no matter who the woman.
All that is necessary is to coax them in the proper way, so as to make
them think they are yielding through grace and not necessity.
PED. A rare art.
DUV. An easy one. I pledge you my word that Bella will wed as I dictate.
(_enter several legislators and politicians._)
1st POL. It is plain to see that the British have designs on this city.
1st LEG. They won’t amount to anything. (_enter Beluche._)
DUV. They will amount to ruin, unless Lafitte be checked in time.
2nd POL. Confound it all, he must be.
DUV. He is not only a terror to the State, a growing paralysis upon its
commerce, but a menace to the entire country; uncatchable, unrestrainable.
PED. The country’s trade with Spain has been well nigh ruined.
1st LEG. Yes and her neutrality laws put at naught.
DUV. Worse still; the entire respectability of the State is being
debauched underhandedly into complicity with this Emperor of Barataria
under penalty of being ruined.
2nd LEG. The Governor must be urged to act.
1st POL. He cannot remain unheedful of the petition we will send him.
DUV. To business! (_exeunt_.)
BEL. Ha! ha! Petition away, my gallants! The man who from public
disgrace has been able to build himself into a power, a whole country
fears because it cannot subdue, need have no apprehension arising from
petitions. Jean Durand of the French army was a very different man from
Jean Lafitte, Emperor of Barataria. “If he should ever have cause to hate
the Spanish!” he promised me. The cause must have been grievous—a woman,
of course—the cause is always a woman, though Jean has said nothing
to me about it. However, she has made him a good hater. For that much
I am beholden to her.—But I must see Lafitte about the Creole. I have
suspicions about that ship. He has been away so many months, the men are
becoming unruly. I had thought to find him here looking up old Darblee
about his _protege_, Dominique. (_enter Baptiste._) Has Master Dominique
returned, Baptiste?
BAP. No sah, not jess ’zactly. I’ze lookin’ into dis week fo’ ’im.
BEL. Still got that little habit of looking into things?
BAP. Yes sah, an’ dat minds me. Does you know, marser, if dem bloodhounds
bite hard?
BEL. Pretty hard.
BAP. Is dey any chance fo’ a man to git ’way fum em?
BEL. They have been known to swim a stream and find the scent on the
other side. Don’t be foolhardy, Baptiste.
BAP. Who me? _I_ ain’t got no idee o’ runnin’ ’way. Naw, sah. I jess want
to fin’ out fo’ a fren o’ mine.
BEL. Isn’t Mr Darblee a kind master?
BAP. Dey ain no better. Ef dat daid man dint hanker roun’ ’ere so
continuous—
BEL. What man?
BAP. Yo see dat mask over de door? Dat man’s sperrit dogs me all de
time;—won’t even let anything stay whar I puts it. Dis very mornin’, I
had done put marser Darblee’s slippers in de sun to air an’ wen I went to
look fo’ ’em dey uz done gone. (_wipes his forehead._)
BEL. A thief, perhaps.
BAP. Naw sah. Dey ain no body kin git in de co’t widout me seein’ ’em.
BEL. Mr. Darblee may not ask for the slippers. (_exeunt; enter Darblee
and Dominique._)
DOM. And here is the old home again!
DAR. And the old uncle to give you welcome.
DOM. Spain is a pretty far way off, eh uncle?
DAR. But with Lafitte!—You know, Dominique, I have served Lafitte for
years and yet have never seen him.
DOM. You have no idea the wonderful man he is!
DAR. Yes?
DOM. Oh, a man to admire, copy, love; a man to spend your life with,
if it were not for Bella. How is Bella? Have you seen her? Is she
well?—(_notices a bulge in Darblee’s pockets._) What on earth have you
in your pockets?
DAR. (_pulling out a pair of slippers._) I bought them for you and wore
them once to see if they were comfortable. This morning I found them in
the broiling sun, put there to air by Baptiste. Fortunately I was in time
to save the coloring.
DOM. Baptiste would seem to have opinions of your feet. Thank you, uncle.
They are beautiful.
DAR. Have you had any _ecrevisse_ gumbo since you left home?
DOM. No indeed; nothing so good. (_he puts the slippers on a chair and
walks to the right of mask door to take a look at the old place._)
DAR. I wonder whether Baptiste has ordered those _ecrevisses_? (_exit L;
enter Baptiste dusting Darblee’s hat; he sees the slippers; puts the hat
down and takes the slippers up._) Baptiste.
BAP. Lordy! I done forgot ’bout dem _ecrevisses_!
DAR. (_without._) Baptiste!
BAP. Yes sah. (_Dominique re-enters just as Baptiste hides the slippers
in some out of the way place; Baptiste exits._)
DOM. It seems safest to follow uncle’s example if I would have my
slippers. (_puts them in his pockets; deep sailor pockets, that make no
bulges; enter Darblee._)
DAR. Tell me about that shipwreck.
DOM. It was purely imaginary.
DAR. What!
DOM. I dared not say I had not been shipwrecked when Lizbette said I had.
Bella would have had no further faith in me.
DAR. Nonsense.
DOM. Of course.
DAR. You don’t mean—
DOM. Yes I do—every time I think of the day I chanced to speak of that
old voo-doo to Bella.—How about Baptiste? Is he still as much troubled by
ghosts as ever?
DAR. I suppose so. He’s flightier than ever. (_enter Bella._)
DOM. (_catching both her hands._) At last!
BELLA. I received your note just in time. (_exit Darblee._) I told father
I wished to go to confession, so he accompanied me to the Church. I must
get back before he returns. And oh, what do you think?
DOM. I love you.
BELLA. A most delightful thing has happened.
DOM. You love me.
BELLA. Be serious. Our love seems more hopeless than ever.
DOM. What!
BELLA. I said seems. There is a suitor for my hand whom father insists
that I shall marry and father himself is more inveterate than ever
against the men he calls pirates.
DOM. But you?
BELLA. Oh, I am glad that the suitor has come because otherwise I would
never have been easy in my mind. I would always have been expecting
trouble.
DOM. Bella,—
BELLA. Lizbette _said_ there would be an obstacle more serious than all
the others—even than the shipwreck.
DOM. Lizbette be—
BELLA. Dominique!
DOM. But I protest—
BELLA. Now listen. Didn’t you yourself tell me about Lizbette’s wonderful
prediction long ago?
DOM. A coincidence.
BELLA. (_reprovingly._) Ah!
DOM. And I furthermore declare that I never was shipwrecked.
BELLA. (_claps her hands._) Ha, ha! Lizbette _said_ you would tell
stories and get others to tell stories in order to shake my faith in her!
DOM. What is this suitor’s name?
BELLA. I can’t tell you.
DOM. I shall see your father.
BELLA. I won’t have it. Why, father might kill you, he is so wrought up
over the doings of the pirates.
DOM. Bah!—That’s a singular locket you have on.
BELLA. Yes, isn’t it? A serpent’s head.
DOM. (_examining it._) Containing the miniature of a young man. This is
the reason of your quiescence. Will you let me have this locket?
BELLA. No, I will not.
DOM. And you will not tell me your suitor’s name. Very well. I swear to
you that I will find the man whose picture you wear.
BELLA. (_laughs._) You cannot. You can only trust me.
DOM. I never thought you cruel before. (_turns from her._)
BELLA. I am not. (_Dominique keeps away._) Dominique—Nick—
DOM. (_coming to her._) Bella—(_enter Darblee._)
DAR. I have just discovered that Mr. Duval is in the next room. (_exit._)
BELLA. I must go.
DOM. I will accompany you.
BELLA. No, you mustn’t.
DOM. I may at least follow you with my eyes till you enter the Church.
(_exeunt; enter Baptiste; he goes to the place in which he had stowed
his slippers; looks; finds them gone; exit quickly and apprehensively;
enter Dominique._) I have never seen my prospective father-in-law, so
I’ll try to get a glimpse of him. (_listens to some one approaching_)
Baptiste,—“hanted,” as usual, I’ll bet. (_he takes up Darblee’s hat, puts
it on the mask head and goes himself into the niche; Baptiste enters._)
BAP. I _mus’_ a made a mistake ’bout dem slippers, (_goes to places;
looks; falls more and more into bewilderment and consternation._)
DAR. (_calling without._) Baptiste.
BAP. Yes sah.
DAR. Bring me my hat.
BAP. Yes sah. (_turns to get the hat; gone! his hand goes to his
forehead._)
DAR. (_angrily._) Baptiste!
BAP. Yes sah. (_begins a nervous, fumbling search._)
DOM. (_behind the mask, in a hollow voice._) Baptiste—(_Baptiste looks up
and as he does so, the hat flies out to him; he yells and exits running;
enter Darblee, angry, just as Dominique comes forth laughing._)
DAR. Where is he?
DOM. Don’t be angry, uncle. It’s my fault that he didn’t obey you. You
haven’t any time for anger any way. Isn’t Bella pretty?
DAR. Very. Tell me about Lafitte.
DOM. Eyes like stormy skies. A word, a question, and all along the cloud
of eye-lashes, a lightning flash of challenge!
DAR. So intolerant?
DOM. So right.
DAR. But still—
DOM. She has a right to resent suspicion.
DAR. She! I speak of Lafitte.
DOM. Your pardon. I spoke of Bella.
DAR. (_coaxingly._) Lafitte—
DOM. (_lapsing into seriousness._) I’ll tell you an impression I received
more clearly than ever during this last voyage. I think Lafitte is
looking for somebody—that he has some implacable purpose—and that when he
finds the person or persons he seeks, there will be a relentless day of
reckoning for all.
DAR. You think so?
DOM. (_nods his head._) All along the coasts of Spain and France he would
take his dog and be gone for days together.
DAR. But that—
DOM. May mean nothing. I think differently. (_looking at his watch._)
Heavens! I shall not be able to see my future father-in-law to-day. I
must rejoin my ship.
DAR. You will be back to dinner?
DOM. Yes. _Au revoir._ (_exeunt; Bella enters just as Duval, Pedro and
the others enter._)
DUV. (_in high feather._) Well, that’s done!
1st LEG. And well done. The petition cannot fail to carry weight.
DUV. Five hundred dollars reward for Lafitte’s head should bring about
results.
BELLA. (_advancing timidly._) It is blood money.
DUV. What of it?
BELLA. Pirates are men.
PED. (_smilingly and yet on the alert._) Does Miss Bella know any of them?
DUV. (_angrily, to Bella._) I will tell you this much: that if ever the
nosing Britishers get into New Orleans, it will be by the aid of the
pirates. This is no time to compromise with banditti.
PED. (_indulgently, protectingly and probingly._) Miss Bella spoke in
ignorance. She can have no sympathy for pirates. (_Duval and others
discuss in pantomime at back._)
BELLA. (_impulsively._) She can have—
PED. (_in Bella’s pause; watchfully._) A lover. (_bows._)
BELLA. (_recovering herself; trivially._) A lover! I promised myself many
before I left school. Have you ever been in love, Mr. d’Acosta?
PED. Cruel one!
BELLA. Have you any woman relative whom you remember and love?
PED. Yes. I have an only sister whom I love and who is very devoted to me.
BELLA. Here?
PED. Yes: but immediately upon the arrival of our family here, she
entered a convent and is now on the point of taking the veil.
BELLA. Oh, why?
PED. An obstacle in love.
BELLA. Did you try to help her?
PED. I did all I could towards forwarding her marriage.
BELLA. I’d like to know her.
PED. I fear you cannot. She will only see her uncle and myself.
BELLA. Poor girl!—Father is going. (_exeunt; enter Manuel._)
MAN. (_looking after Pedro angrily._) Confound it! Unconcerned about me
now altogether,—has richer prospects in view.—I knew she wouldn’t get
tired of it. Instead she’s going to take the veil. Curse me for a fool!
Fortune played in my hands directly six years ago and I was soft-hearted
and squeamish enough to be melted by a pair of pleading eyes and a half
promise of yes, if Ferdinand should succeed. (_rings bell._) I’ll have
the Marquis, at all events, safely out of the way. (_enter Darblee._)
DAR. Good morning, Don Manuel.
MAN. Good morning. I wish to engage a room for a business meeting between
Lafitte and the Spanish merchants.
DAR. (_eagerly; curiously._) You know?—
MAN. (_sternly._) To-day, at two o’clock.
DAR. (_relapsing into business._) The best?
MAN. Certainly.
DAR. It shall be ready. (_exit._)
MAN. The Spanish merchants lost no time in instructing me to engage a
room when they received word that Lafitte would see them at last, and
listen to their plea for compromise. It doesn’t matter that I sent the
message. And the Marquis, who isn’t a merchant, is as excited as any
of them, because of his friends. He’ll attend the meeting, no fear, and
I shall have put that much more time between him and any message from
the convent.—Confound it all, why doesn’t that fellow come? (_enter a
stranger._) Ah, I was just beginning to think you late.
STRAN. I could only get this. (_showing a rusty priest’s robe._)
MAN. So much the better. You’ll look more genuine in rusty clothes. A
priest should be economical. Now you understand that you are to ask for
Miss d’Acosta; that you are sent to bring her to the bed-side of her
dying uncle.
STRAN. I understand all.
MAN. Once out of the convent, you will drive to the little green cottage
immediately above the city, near the Jesuit plantation, where I will meet
you.
STRAN. Very well.
MAN. Be about _it_ now. (_exeunt severally; almost immediately, re-enter
Stranger._)
STRAN. It’s very well and good to say be about it, but I need a few
drinks to brace me up. (_rings bell; enter Darblee._)
DAR. Good-morning.
STRAN. Let me have a good drink of whiskey. (_Darblee pours out a drink;
Stranger drains it; experiments with his spine to see if he’s braced;
looks gloomy._) Let me have a good drink of whiskey.
DAR. You’ve just had one.
STRAN. Let me have a good drink of whiskey.
DAR. When you’ve paid for the first.
STRAN. Paid! Don Manuel d’Acosta authorizes my demand. (_Darblee shakes
his head._) What’s more, I’m a priest.—Don’t you believe me? (_enter
two roysterers._) Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Here’s a state of affairs.
I call upon you to compel this _bourgeois_ to respect the credit of
gentlemen,—to serve us drinks and as many as we want!
1st ROY. Drinks!
2nd ROY. Come, host. Drinks!
DAR. I do not dispense them for the pleasure of beholding inebriates.
1st ROY. What!
2nd ROY. Inebriates!
STRAN. Down with him! (_they set upon Darblee and throw him._)
1st ROY. We’ll show you who’s an inebriate. Hold him! (_1st Roysterer
seizes a bottle; Stranger and 2nd Roysterer fasten themselves on
Darblee’s arms; 1st Roysterer puts bottle to Darblee’s face._)
DAR. By heaven, he’ll punch my eye out!
1st ROY. (_wavering in drunkenness._) It’s what I think myself. I can’t
find his damned mouth!
STRAN. Unstop the bottle! (_1st Roysterer unstops the bottle; pours
contents into Darblee’s face, aiming all the time for his mouth. Darblee
kicks, sputters and squirms._)
DAR. Help! (_enter Lafitte; he knocks the Stranger aside, scatters the
Roysterers and laughingly picks up Darblee._)
LAF. (_laughing._) What is it? A secret society function?
DAR. High noon robbery and assault. That’s what it is;—a demand for
drinks without pay. (_wipes his face._)
2nd ROY. (_to Lafitte._) Who are you?
STRAN. You think because you take us unaware—
LAF. How about now? (_draws; exeunt Roysterers._)
DAR. (_pointing to Stranger and laying a cautious hand on Lafitte’s
arm._) He’s a priest.
LAF. Then he should be attending to his business rather than brawling
about drinks. (_Stranger turns off swaggeringly and exits, singing Mon
Coeur a Toi; Lafitte starts; turns to Darblee._) A priest, did you
say?—Then he’d some excuse for wanting drinks. He has no love to keep his
heart warm, no hate to make it hot. I’ll pay for the drinks. (_goes to
door; calls._) Friend! (_signs to Stranger to return; enter Stranger._)
It is a chilly day. Will you have a drink with us? (_Stranger bows
awkwardly._) Come host, your best. (_laying money on table._) Is it long
since you joined the priesthood? (_they drink._)
STRAN. (_nervously; gloomily._) Not very. (_holding out his glass._) Let
me have a good drink of whiskey. (_Lafitte lays money on table; Darblee
pours out a drink._)
LAF. Have you far to go to-day?
STRAN. (_tipsily_.) To the little green cottage immediately above the
city. Let me have a good drink of whiskey. (_Lafitte lays money on table;
Darblee pours out drink and exits._) I must be going.
LAF. Do you walk?
STRAN. No, sir! Drive. Come (_hic_) with me?
LAF. (_laughing._) To the little green cottage?
STRAN. Near the Jesuit plantation. I (_hic_) remember.
LAF. I congratulate you. Good luck.
STRAN. (_going._) To the little green Jesuit (_hic_) immediately above
the plantation city. (_exit; enter Darblee._)
DAR. (_bustling about._) Deplorable that I have such scant time in which
to prepare. (_confidentially and gleefully._) A great man is to be here
in a little while—Jean Lafitte!
LAF. You don’t mean it!
DAR. I do and I can show you no greater appreciation of the service you
rendered me than to ask you to stay and catch a glimpse of him.
LAF. Thanks.
DAR. I’ll wager you any money that the attacks on American vessels will
cease now.
LAF. Why?
DAR. Because Lafitte has come home; because none of them is brave enough
to cope against him; no, nor all of them put together.
LAF. _You_ are a follower of Lafitte?
DAR. (_startled into consciousness._) I? You little know me. Powerful as
Lafitte is and great and flattering as have been the advances he has made
to me, I yet withstand him, humble though I seem.
LAF. Splendid!
DAR. And here are these royal Spanish merchants. For years they have
been striving to at least compromise with him, and now to-day, mad with
delight because they have at last received word from him that he will see
them!
LAF. (_starts._) Has he sent them that word?
DAR. Don Manuel d’Acosta has just a while ago engaged a room for the
meeting.
LAF. Don Manuel d’Acosta! (_aside_) And I looking for them in Spain!
DAR. (_anxiously._) You don’t think Lafitte will disappoint them?
LAF. (_grimly._) No. I don’t think Lafitte will disappoint them. When do
they expect him?
DAR. To-day at two o’clock. Don Manuel—
LAF. Do you know whether the Marquis d’Acosta live in New Orleans?
DAR. Yes, he does. A beautiful niece of his—
LAF. Ah!
DAR. Came here with him once long ago.
LAF. Here?
DAR. Right here, in this room.
LAF. Do you know where the Marquis lives?
DAR. (_reflectively._) No—I don’t know the number.
LAF. Do you know the street?
DAR. (_more reflectively._) No, I don’t, but I believe it must be
somewhere in the Latin quarter.
LAF. Thanks. Good-by. (_exit._)
DAR. A singular man, but not sharp enough to catch me napping. (_enter
several Spanish merchants._)
1st MER. It is long before the hour. (_looks at his watch._)
2nd MER. What of it? There are many things to discuss. (_enter Marquis
d’Acosta and several merchants._)
MARQ. What, here already!
3d MER. Your watch is slow.
MARQ. (_he and all look at their watches._) Half past one.
2nd MER. Twenty-five to two.
1st MER. We Spanish merchants have been so particularly warred upon that
I had despaired of our ever getting at this man.
3d MER. My dear fellow, never despair. Show us the way, Darblee.
(_exeunt; led by Darblee; enter Mariana and several nuns._)
MOTHER AUGUSTUS. Is this the place?
MAR. Yes. (_Mother Augustus motions to a man who rings the bell._)
M. AUG. (_to Mariana._) You should give up that silver ring, Mariana,
which seems to be so associated with worldly souvenirs.
MAR. This ring! Never. It is an amulet. At sight of it all faith is
imperative, all beauty understood, all despondency a sin. (_aside._) What
is death? He loves me still. (_enter Baptiste._)
M. AUG. Is the Marquis d’Acosta here?
BAP. Yes ma’am.
M. AUG. Say to him that Miss d’Acosta is here and wishes to see him.
BAP. Yes ma’am. (_bows and exit._)
MAR. (_to 1st Nun._) Will the preliminary of my taking the veil be at all
binding?
1st NUN. No.
MAR. (_earnestly and candidly._) I wish to remain with you, but my heart
is not and can never be indifferent to the joys and hopes that made life
dearest.
1st NUN. It need not be.
M. AUG. She should strive to make it so.
1st NUN. She is going to France, mother, where her young girlhood was
spent. (_Mother Augustus turns away._)
2d NUN. What a singular mask over that door!
MAR. I know all about that mask. I can’t explain the uncontrollable
impulse that made me beg to know all about it and its hiding-place. Mr.
Darblee finally, out of sheer courtesy, told me the secret, though up
to that time no one but he and a nephew of his knew that there was a
hiding-place connected with the mask at all.
1st NUN. How is it?
MAR. It seems very simple. The door beneath the mask is a sham one, the
floor in the passage-way is high enough to permit one to look through the
mask standing and a touch on a certain part of it opens a secret slide
in the wall; an otherwise undiscoverable, impregnable hiding-place. It’s
delightfully tricky! See. (_she goes laughingly by a side door to the
back of a door beneath the mask and looks through it._)
M. AUG. Mariana! Come down. (_enter Mariana._) You should be ashamed of
yourself to be such a child.
MAR. I can tell you the story of the mask. It is the mask of a dead
pirate’s head. He was killed long ago for some atrocity or other and
his mask placed in this room by the Governor’s order as a warning to
the pirates who were in the habit of congregating in this place. The
superstition obtained that when any of the pirates are in danger the
spirit of the murdered man sends some human ear into his mask to baffle
the plotters.
3d NUN. Is that believed now?
MAR. Yes, by many. A generation or two ago, however, the house passed
into the hands of Mr. Darblee’s father, who of course, made it orderly
and respectable. He had an addition built and being possessed by love of
the mysterious and unexpected, had the secret slide put in the wall.
2d NUN. It sounds like some of the stories about Lafitte?
MAR. (_shuddering._) Ah, not that name! I have a dread of that man.
1st NUN. They say that he is terrible, but that he has always the honor
of his word.
MAR. (_with sweeping contempt._) The honor of his word! A thief
honorable! A leader in lawlessness, cruelty, shamelessness!
3d NUN. I hope we may be spared.
2d NUN. Oh, the pirates! There are no safeguards against the dangers that
beset an ocean voyage.
M. AUG. There is one safeguard all sufficient,—the Almighty. (_enter
Marquis._)
MARQ. Mariana,—your pardon, ladies, for having kept you waiting, but the
occasion admitted of no neglect.
M. AUG. We have just come from your house where they told us you were
here. We have been notified that our ship sails almost immediately.
Mariana will barely have time to take the veil.
MARQ. As trustee of her fortune, I have decided to see it safely with her
in France,—the two chests; one of gold and one of jewels.
MAR. Oh, thank you, uncle for coming with us! Is Pedro here?
MARQ. No, he is not.
MAR. I so wished to tell him good-by. (_enter Manuel, baffled, enraged,
desperate._)
MAN. Mariana!
MAR. Mother Augustus, my cousin, Don d’Acosta. (_Manuel bows._)
MAN. How happens it that you are leaving so soon?
MAR. That the Captain knows better than I do.
MAN. There has been no sudden good wind that he should thus hasten the
time for sailing by twenty-four hours. (_breaking from his angry sense
of defeat into wild pleading._) And you?... Don’t go Mariana. Is there
nothing I can say?
MAR. Yes. Tell me about Pedro.
MAN. I have no time for Pedro,—for anyone but yourself and myself.
(_enter Pedro._)
MAR. There he is now! Pedro. (_goes to him._)
PED. (_suave; affectionate; regretful._) Well,—is it good-by?
MAR. You’ll come to see me sometime.
PED. When I acquire means enough to travel on.
MAR. Oh, I wish—
M. AUG. We must be leaving.
MAR. Come to the Church, Pedro,—just across the way—and see me take the
veil.
PED. I’ll be there. _Au revoir._ (_the Marquis, the nuns and Mariana
exeunt; Pedro looks at Manuel who has sunk desperately into a chair goes
up to him and slaps him on the back._) Brace up, old man!
MAN. (_intolerably; shaking Pedro’s hand off._) Ah!
PED. If you were not so huffy, I’d tell you a secret.
MAN. You are married, I suppose.
PED. Far from it,—and cannot be without your services.
MAN. Tell me the secret.
PED. I have a plan by which I can get command of a pirate ship at a
moment’s notice. There is one now, the Creole, lying at anchor, ready to
sail at a word of command. (_they look at each other, then Pedro offers
his hand; Manuel takes it._)
MAN. (_rings bell._) I’ll join you immediately. (_exit Pedro; enter
Darblee._) Has Lafitte come yet?
DAR. He has not.
MAN. I’ll be back in a moment.
DAR. Very well. (_exeunt severally; enter Lafitte._)
LAF. No trace of the house. (_re-enter Darblee._) Is Don Manuel d’Acosta
here?
DAR. He has gone, but he will be back immediately. (_music heard; Lafitte
walks about._)
LAF. What is that music?
DAR. Some ceremony in the Church, I suppose. (_Lafitte walks to window as
a little band of black-robed nuns file out silently from the Church; they
disappear and music ceases._)
LAF. I am going into the smoking-room. Notify me so soon as Don Manuel
returns.
DAR. Very well. (_exeunt; enter Baptiste, followed by Lizbette._)
BAP. (_pointing to the mask._) Dar tis. Cyarnt yo conjure de sperrit o’
dat daid man ’let me ’lone? _I_ cyarn warn no pirates. I dunno wat t’warn
’em ’bout. En ef I did, who dat gwine b’lieve a old nigger like me anyway?
LIZ. (_contemptuously._) Yo skeert. Yo know sperrits need ’sistance
z’well ez people.
BAP. Lordy!
LIZ. Ee’s in de bricks dar, bodaciously confined, en das wy ee callin’.
Ee’s cole; likely got de ague.
BAP. Lordy!
LIZ. Might be a little hot red pepper tea ud ease ’im immejite.
BAP. But I cyarn get a cup o tea troo dat dar solid brick on iron. Dey
ain no place dar whar ee _could_ be.
LIZ. (_stolidly._) Dey’s a place. Gimme a long straw. (_Baptiste gets one
from a broom; Lizbette makes passes over the wall with her eyes shut and
her body swaying; finally in sliding her hand over the wall, stops with
her finger on a spot; opens her eyes and inserts the straw._) Yo see dat?
(_throwing the straw._) Am it broke? (_pulls out the straw unbroken._)
BAP. Lordy!
LIZ. Tell _me_ dey ain no place dar.
BAP. But cyarn get a cup o tea troo dat pin-point of a hole.
LIZ. Yo cyarn _inject_ it troo dar, cyarn yo?
BAP. Lordy!
LIZ. Ee kin catch it. (_she puts her eye to the hole; sways her arms._)
Yes sah.... I’ze gwine leave yo in good charge.... (_sways more and
more._) Yes sah.... Ee’s ’ere.... (_almost collapsing._) Comin’, sah!
(_straightens herself._) Git dar, Baptiste.
BAP. (_horror stricken._) Who me?
LIZ. Ee wants yo.
BAP. Lordy!
LIZ. (_contemptuously._) Ah! (_bolstering him up._) Put yo eye to dat
hole.
BAP. Stay by me.
LIZ. Go ’head. (_Baptiste puts his eye to the hole._)
BAP. I doan see nuttin.
LIZ. Yo better look out!
DAR. (_without._) Baptiste.
LIZ. What I tell yo! (_Baptiste struggles to get away; Lizbette holds him
tightly._) Keep firm, man! (_enter Darblee._)
DAR. Baptiste! (_Baptiste falls to the floor._) Lizbette! I won’t have
you turning that crazy man of mine crazier. Get out, both of you!
(_exeunt Lizbette and Baptiste; enter Lafitte._) I’m afraid you may be
disappointed in seeing Lafitte. (_looking at his watch._) He’s late.
LAF. And Don Manuel?
DAR. Has not yet returned.—I suppose Lafitte will be here though. I never
could understand that long absence of his. It must have due to a love
affair.
LAF. You’d better keep a quiet tongue. Lafitte is not a man to endure
prying into his private affairs.
DAR. (_laughs._) One would think I need instructions. (_enter Baptiste._)
LAF. Do you know Lafitte?
DAR. Intimately. Many a time he has begged me to go with him. “Darblee,”
he would, “I need you.”
LAF. You would make my dog blush.
DAR. Many a time, in this very room, with tears in his eyes, he has
upbraided me for my obduracy.
BAP. Dat ee have, sah!
DAR. _I_ am not afraid of Lafitte. I will tell him to his face that he
can’t overawe me.
BAP. ’Deed ee cyarnt. Pesky what trash! (_enter Beluche._)
BEL. Lafitte—
DAR. (_In consternation._) What!
BAP. (_staggered._) Lordy!
BEL. I have a suspicion that the Creole is going to attack the American
vessel which sailed a little while ago.
LAF. Where is the Creole?
BEL. She’s just cleared the wharf. (_Darblee ostentatiously brings a
chair up behind Lafitte._)
LAF. (_looking at his watch._) How much start have they on us?
BEL. Enough to count very seriously. There is a storm coming, too. The
wind will shift in less than three hours. (_Baptiste is bringing a chair
for Beluche when Darblee intercepts him, takes the chair from him, kicks
him._)
DAR. Get out! (_looking after him angrily._) Son of Satan! (_exit
Baptiste; Darblee ostentatiously brings chair up behind Beluche._)
LAF. There is no time to lose. Come.
BEL. It is a question whether the chances justify pursuit.
LAF. What!
BEL. The Pride is at Barataria.
LAF. What of it? Is not an American vessel in danger? Shall I not accept
a challenge from my own men? (_exit, followed by Beluche._)
DAR. (_center._) Whew! (_falls into chair; enter Baptiste._) Let me have
a good drink of whisky!
CURTAIN.
_SCENE II. Saloon of the American vessel. Laughter at rise of curtain.
Mariana, Mother Augustus, the nuns, Father Poularde, lady and gentlemen
passengers, discovered._
1st L. P. (_to a man passenger; laughing._) You said you never were
sea-sick.
FATH. P. (_a short, rubicund priest._) He is not now. Sea-sickness is all
imagination. I have never been sea-sick.
1st M. P. (_sea-sick._) You never sailed such a deadly level sea.
1st L. P. That’s the delightful part of it.
1st M. P. Ugh! (_enter Marquis._)
MARQ. They say there’s a storm coming.
FATH. P. (_laughing to sea-sick passenger._) Now you’ll be all right.
2d L. P. Oh, I _am_ afraid of storms!
FATH. P. You should have no patience with fear.
2d L. P. (_whimsically_) I haven’t.
FATH. P. God is all powerful, He will provide.
MAR. How dark it’s getting! (_faint thunder._)
M. AUG. (_to Mariana and nuns._) Will you come? (_exeunt Mariana, Mother
Augustus and nuns._)
3d L. P. Ugh! Feel those swells!
1st L. P. Don’t! (_lightning._)
FATH. P. What do you mean? _Feel_ those swells!
1st M. P. Ugh! (_exit; lightning and thunder._)
1st L. P. Oh,—(_starts toward door_.)
3d L. P. Where are you going, dear?
1st L. P. To—get my book.
3d L. P. I’ll go with you. (_exeunt 1st and 3d lady passengers; lightning
and thunder._)
2d M. P. (_to Father Poularde who is leaving._)
FATH. P. I’ll be back in a moment. (_exit._)
2d L. P. Oh, if I were only like Father Poularde!—fearless and never
sea-sick! I—
2nd M. P. Allow me to assist you. (_exeunt; terrible thunder and
lightning; enter Father Poularde; he peeps around to see if anybody is in
sight; has a good many qualms; enter the Captain._)
FATH. P. Captain, are we in any danger?
CAPT. Not in the least. It’s only a cross sea. (_thunder and lightning._)
FATH. P. But—
CAPT. (_Taking Father Poularde up to a hatchway leading below._) Put your
ear here. (_Father Poularde puts his ear to the hatchway._) What do you
hear?
FATH. P. Nothing—but swearing.
CAPT. Just so. Those men are old sailors. Would they be swearing if there
were any danger?
FATH. P. (_grasping Captain’s hand._) Thank you. (_exeunt; enter two
ship’s officers, meeting each other._)
1st OFF. Have you noticed that craft off to Westward?
2nd OFF. No. What of her?
1st OFF. Come and See. (_exeunt; thunder and lightning; enter Father
Poularde, very unsteady on his legs and very sick; he looks around
cautiously; creeps up to the hatchway and listens intently; then falls
back relieved._)
FATH. P. Thank God, they’re swearing yet. (_enter Captain and officers._)
1st OFF. She’s simply lying by.
2d OFF. Not in distress,—she doesn’t signal.
CAPT. A pirate, waiting till the blow is over. (_exit Father Poularde
expeditiously and horrifiedly._)
1st OFF. Shall the passengers be warned?
CAPT. Not until our suspicions are confirmed. (_enter wildly and
excitedly the passengers._)
1st L. P. Is there a pirate ship coming?
2d L. P. Can it catch us?
3d L. P. (_hysterically_) Let’s get the life preservers!
CAPT. Be quiet, ladies. (_exeunt Captain and 2d Officer._)
MARQ. (_determinedly, to 1st Officer._) What can we do?
FATH. P. (_hysterically._) Put on more sail!
1st OFF. We are using all we dare now. (_exit._)
1st NUN. I knew we wouldn’t be spared.
MAR. (_in awe._) Oh hush, sister.
M. AUG. We are in God’s hands. (_noises and excited voices heard
without._)
FATH P. What’s that? (_enter 2d Officer._)
2d OFF. Prepare yourselves. They are here. (_Marquis goes to Mariana;
leads her away; exeunt nuns and lady passengers; the men draw their
swords and exeunt to the defense, except father Poularde, who follows the
ladies; fighting; the clash of swords heard without; enter Pedro, forcing
his way in in a hand fight; he has blood on his face, which has trickled
down from a cut on his head; he is followed by Manuel and the Creole’s
crew; exit Manuel in search of Mariana._)
PED. (_after felling the Captain._) Mate.
MATE. Ay, ay, sir.
PED. See that two chests, one of gold and one of jewels, marked
“d’Acosta” be placed on board the Creole.
MATE. Ay, ay, sir.
PED. They go to New Orleans. The balance of the booty will belong to the
crew of the Creole.
MATE. To the crew of the Creole.
PED. Who are to take her to Barataria immediately after the landing in
New Orleans.
MATE. Ay, ay, sir.
CAPT. (_rising._) Not while I have life left to defend the property
entrusted to my care! (_gives Pedro a sword thrust._)
PED. (_knocks the sword from the Captain’s hand and kills him._) I’ll
send you where you won’t need property, curse you! (_to the men._)
Scuttle this ship. (_he bandages his arm._) And put troublesome
passengers out of the way.—Now, I’ll look up those chests. (_exit; enter
Manuel pursuing a nun._)
MAN. Ah, lift your veil. (_tries to raise a corner of it._) I love you.
Do you not realize that your youth, your beauty—
M. AUG. (_suddenly tearing aside her vail._) Sir! (_Manuel reels;
recovers himself and rushes away; Mother Augustus veils herself and
exits; enter Mariana veiled leaning upon the Marquis._)
MARQ. Have courage, Mariana. (_enter pirates._)
1st PIR. (_perceiving Mariana._) Ah,—won’t you give me that little silver
ring, lady?—as a souvenir.
MAR. (_covering the ring with her other hand._) Not that.
1st PIR. (_laughs._) Even nuns, it seems, have their little bits of
sentiment.
MAR. I will give you this jeweled cross.
1st PIR. Will you put it on my neck? (_he bends his head and Mariana with
trembling hands is about to put the chain around his neck when a tipsy
fellow, with a glass in his hand, interferes._)
2d PIR. (_pushing first pirate aside._) Let’s have impartiality. If I
cannot have a jewel, I may have a look at her face. I’ll bet you it’s a
pretty face. If I win, I get a kiss; if you win, you get my share of the
booty.
PIRATES. Done.
MARQ. Gentlemen! I beseech you.
2d PIR. Oh, have done.
MARQ. You have heard of religion,—chivalry—
2d PIR. Throw the old clam overboard.
MARQ. You will find that he can still fight. (_drawing._)
1st PIR. What!
3d PIR. Give him a bath! (_they overpower the Marquis and take him up to
exit with him._)
MAR. Uncle!—Oh, sirs, be merciful!
2d PIR. Troublesome passengers must be put out of the way. (_exeunt with
Marquis; enter Manuel._)
MAR. (_distractedly._) Manuel! Uncle!—he has been thrown into sea!—save
him!
MAN. We will hope that he can swim to safety, dear.
MAR. (_stupified_). What!
MAN. I dare not interfere. I discovered that the pirates intended
attacking the vessel and in order to save you, took a false oath and
joined them. Any rebellion would cost me my life. But life or no life, I
will interfere in your behalf.
MAR. (_distractedly._) Uncle,—
MAN. Listen to me, Mariana. Your uncle must take his chances. But you—You
have no chance of death. You will be taken to Barataria, there to become
a drudge when your attractions as toy shall have palled. Let me try to
save you. Marry me, I beseech you.
MAR. Why can you not save me without marrying me?
MAN. (_doggedly._) Because I have not the incentive; because I will not
love you longer without reward.
MAR. I scorn your help. Any pirate would do as much.
MAN. Without marrying you.
MAR. I will appeal to them; they cannot be utterly heartless.
MAN. They seemed so about the Marquis. Ah, Mariana, listen to reason.
Just now when you taunted me, I was angry. But I will tell you now why
I cannot save you without marrying you. Because I have not the right to
protect you from them; because now you belong as much to them as to me.
(_enter several tipsy pirates._)
1st PIR. I tell you that part of the booty belongs to me.
2d PIR. I don’t care a straw about that. The booty I want is her money.
(_exeunt pirates._)
MAN. You hear? Mariana, my darling, you have always been too honorable
to choose dishonor now. I will wait for your love; have I not waited
all these years? (_several pirates pass through singing and laughing
boisterously._)
1st PIR. (_perceiving Mariana_,) There she is! (_Mariana goes to Manuel
as first pirate advances_,)
MAN. (_moving forward to meet him._) She went that way just a minute
ago. (_exeunt pirates_,) Quick! (_to Mariana_,) Decide. (_Mariana bows
her head in hopeless consent; Manuel seizes her hand; kisses it._) My
darling! (_turns to look for a priest just as Father Poularde appears
trembling and white in the doorway._) Father. (_Father Poularde enters._)
Marry us immediately.
FATH. P. (_looking fearfully around._) You are—
MAN. One of the pirates. Make haste.
FATH. P. (_drops his book which he has taken out of his pocket; picks it
up and opens it shakily; reads at random._) Be merciful, O Lord, and hear
our prayers. From the shades of death, where the light of Thy countenance
shineth not—
MAN. (_knocking the book up._) You must be excellent for funerals. The
marriage service, if you please.
FATH. P. (_picking up his book._) Yes, yes. (_enter several pirates._)
1st PIR. (_to a pirate coming from the opposite direction._) You’d better
hurry.
2d PIR. There aren’t many minutes in which to leave this ship. She’s
settling fast.
FATH. P. (_going._) There is no time to lose.
MAN. (_threateningly._) There will be less for you, if you do not perform
this marriage ceremony.
FATH. P. (_fumbling for the place._) Do you take this woman for better,
for worse, till death do you part?
MAN. I do.
FATH. P. Do you take this man for better, for worse, till death do you
part?
MAR. No.
MAN. What!
MAR. No. Come death, come dishonor, I will not be the first to dishonor
myself.
MAN. (_seizing her shoulders in frenzy_) You shall be my mistress
then!—do you hear?—my mistress! (_a great tumult without; enter an
excited crowd._)
CROWD. The Pride! Lafitte! (_Mariana puts out her hands to Father
Poularde and falls fainting in his arms, her veil as she does so,
drifting over her face._)
MAN. (_to Father Poularde._) Give her to me. (_Father Poularde too
terror-stricken to hear, puts Mariana hastily on the floor and exits;
Manuel is stooping to lift her when Lafitte enters._) Jean Durand! (_he
slinks away._)
LAF. Beluche.
BEL. Here.
LAF. See that the commander of the Creole be found, put in chains and
brought on the Creole to Barataria, you to command her.
BEL. Very well. (_exit._)
LAF. (_to his men._) Attend to the passengers. (_the men salute and
exeunt; Lafitte sees the unconscious nun, goes to her and stoops
to pick her up._) She must have air. (_he puts her veil aside._)
Mariana!—(_kissing her hands._) Not dead, thank God! Narbonne! (_to
one of his men._) Tell Doctor Borde to come here instantly. (_exit
Narbonne._) Sweetheart ... (_kissing her hands._) little sweetheart....
(_enter Dr. Borde; he comes to Mariana’s side; kneels; feels her pulse;
listens to her heart._)
DR. B. She must be kept perfectly quiet and, in the event of her
regaining consciousness, it will be best for her to see no one but the
nuns who were with her.
LAF. Is she in danger?
DR. B. Impossible to say. Shock. I will— (_stooping as if to lift
Mariana._)
LAF. (_putting him aside._) Order the best room in the Pride gotten ready
immediately. (_exit Dr. Borde; Lafitte gently lifts Mariana: kisses her
face tenderly and is carrying her out when the curtain falls._)
CURTAIN.
ACT II.
ACT II.
_Barataria; vicinity of Lafitte’s home, the Red House; the Bay of
Barataria at back; luxuriant foliage and flowers. Enter Lafitte; he has
flowers in his hand and is followed by a dog._
LAF. (_sorrowfully and perplexedly._) Dressed as a nun ... Mariana,
dressed as a nun!... (_joyfully._) But alive! (_looking at the flowers
in his hand._) Fairer than the fairest of you,—and alive! I shall see
her maybe,—tell her all that she could not hear when I knelt beside her
unconscious sweetness. (_exeunt Lafitte and dog; voices, good-naturedly
boisterous, heard without._)
1st V. How many yards?
2nd V. Two hundred, if one. (_cries of “Ah!” and laughter; enter a
hunting party returning from the woods; two of the men carry a deer._)
1st H. He would have us believe that he can shoot as well as the Emperor!
3d H. (_in good humored raillery._) Oh, he can do everything,—sail a
ship, too. But he didn’t give himself the chance of being caught on the
Creole. (_laughter._)
2d H. Anyone might think I had had intentions of going on the Creole to
hear you talk.
3rd H. My boy, no. You know the Emperor is prescient; at least that his
marvelous skill and intuition made him seem so.
2d H. I know that the Emperor is our man, long life to him!
ALL. Bravo!
2d H. That he is as just as he is powerful and as kind-hearted as he is
strong! (_enter Lizbette, sorting some herbs and singing in a moaning low
voice._)
ALL. Bravo!
2d H. (_pointing to Lizbette._) Who but the Emperor would allow a witch
like that to roam the Island at liberty.
ALL. Three cheers for the Emperor! (_exeunt hunters; Lizbette looks after
them angrily._)
LIZ. Yo’ze sorry kase Marser Lafitte done change me fum a slave to a free
ooman. Ne mine. I knows how to sarve ’im yit. I done fund out how to get
p’mission to hep nuss dat purty young leddy,—to hep save her life. Good
ting fe’ me, Fader Cuthbert uz done gone, kase ee woon’t a let me do it.
(_enter Baptiste._)
BAP. Good-day to you, Aun’ Lizbette.
LIZ. How yo gettin’ on?
BAP. Mizzable, tank yo.
LIZ. De sperrit?
BAP. Ont leave anyting whar I puts it. (_pulls out a madras handkerchief
to wipe his face, and in doing so drops money on the ground; Lizbette
picks it up and appropriates it unperceived._)
LIZ. De powers done signify as how yo likely steal dem tings wat
disappear.
BAP. (_dumbfounded_) Who me?
LIZ. (_nods her head impressively._) Wat yo come fo’?
BAP. (_dazedly._) Lordy!—Miss Bella wan t’know wat to do in a case o
jealousy?—supposin’ like a lover’s jealousy?
LIZ. Nuttin’. Keep still. Things will come right troo a disguise.
BAP. An’ dis—(_takes out the serpent-head locket._) I dunno who dat sen’
it, but de owner wan t’know ef her lover gwine be true to her? (_Lizbette
takes the locket._) I done got some money here wat Miss Bella sont yo...,
(_looks for the money; finds none; Lizbette shakes her head._)
LIZ. Wat use try to fool de powers?
BAP. (_distracted._) But Aun’ Lizbette ... (_Lizbette shakes her head._)
Lordy! I’ll give you de las’ cent I got, Aun’ Lizbette—all de money I kin
make so you woan gimme dat rep’tation. Dat sperrit jes sot on chasin’ me
to dem blood-houn’s.
LIZ. Wy ont yo try to hep dat sperrit? Ef yo could see ’im onst—
BAP. I doan wan t’see ’im!
LIZ. (_contemptuously._) Yo skeert.
BAP. Yo ain bin hanted.
LIZ. Kase I ain skeert an’ I’ze frenly to ’em. (_exeunt; enter Lafitte
and his dog. Lafitte sits; lets his hand fall on his dog._)
LAF. Beppo, dear little friend, she has been very ill; she hasn’t even
known that we live. She doesn’t know it now.—But she is better, Bep, old
boy ... better! Weak and very nervous, they say, but quite conscious. It
was the shock— (_getting up and calling._) Narbonne. (_enter Narbonne._)
Order the false commander of the Creole brought before me. (_Narbonne
bows and exits; Lafitte walks about; enter Pedro in chains and escorted
by pirates; Lafitte faces about as they enter; both start._) What! (_to
the man._) Is this the man who commanded the Creole?
1st PIR. This is the man.
LAF. Colonel Tolosa, what have you to say in your own defense? (_Pedro
is silent._) Perhaps you know the whereabouts of that ally of yours, Don
Manuel d’Acosta?
PED. I can—
LAF. Silence! I will not send you to your reckoning with an added
villainy. I can find Don Manuel myself.
PED. You—
LAF. For your plunder of an American vessel in the name of Lafitte. I
order you shot. (_exit. Pedro is conducted to the back of the stage, near
the Bay, where two men set about digging his grave._)
1st GRAVE-DIGGER. I have often cautioned the men never to trust anyone
no matter what his guarantees, without asking for the pass-word. I’ll
bet you this fellow couldn’t have answered. “To-morrow,” I say and if
the other fellow answers “and her dupes,” all right, I’ll believe him.
(_enter Beluche; he goes to Pedro and searches him._)
2d G-D. You shouldn’t speak the pass-word except upon necessity.
(_Beluche throws unimportant things found on Pedro to the ground._)
1st G-D. (_looks at Pedro; laughs_) Ha! Dead men tell no tales. (_Beluche
finds a small picture; looks at it studiously._)
BEL. (_aside._) There is something familiar about this face. Ahbah!
(_throws picture aside; pirates nearer the front have been drawing lots
with dice._)
1st PIR. (_to a comrade._) You, one. (_they throw again._)
ALL. Two! (_two of the men stand apart; balance throw again._) Three!
(_the three appointed by lot go to back of stage; Beluche measures off
the distance; they place themselves on line._)
BEL. One, (_they raise their guns._) two. (_enter Father Cuthbert._)
FATH. C. Pedro!—Stop! (_to the men._) Would you send a soul into eternity
without preparation? Leave us. I will be responsible for the prisoner.
BEL. He may escape.
FATH. C. He is bound. I will call you when he shall have confessed.
BEL. (_motions the men away; to Father Cuthbert, reluctantly._) Ten
minutes. (_the men stack their guns against a tree and exeunt._)
FATH. C. (_turning to Pedro._) Quickly. What have you done?
PED. I was tempted and fell. I got command of a pirate ship and attacked
and sank an American vessel.
FATH. C. (_overwhelmed._) Miserable man!
PED. There is no hope, you see.
FATH. C. No. Lafitte himself, could not have one rule for his men and
another for outsiders. But you—Mariana’s brother!
PED. He does not know that I am Mariana’s brother. Once, in Bayonne,
unperceived by him, I saw my sister’s lover, but I had no idea that
Lafitte was the long-mourned-for man.
FATH. C. He does not know that you are Mariana’s brother!
PED. No. In view of my coming execution I have spared him the knowledge.
FATH. C. (_walking about_) It must not be. It would be an eternal barrier
between them. Yet—how? How useless to appeal for extra time to the men.
PED. I could make some amends by sending you word of Mariana.
FATH. C. Yes.—I must risk it. (_looks off to see that he is unwatched;
goes to the three guns, unloads them, still leaving them powder-charged
and returns them to their places; speaks to Pedro._) You will feign death
upon being fired at. (_Pedro nods._) And now, my poor boy, a prayer.
(_Pedro bows his head._) Merciful Lord of death and life, (_pirates
return; take up their guns._) help us now in this supreme hour. (_Beluche
re-measures the distance._) Save him, God, dear Father! (_men station
themselves._) Save him, forgive him, God, dear Mother!
BEL. One! (_men raise their guns; Father Cuthbert blesses Pedro
silently._) Two! (_enter Mariana; she wears a long, trailing white
dress and her hair is loosely twisted._) Three! (_men fire; at the same
moment Mariana recognizes Pedro, screams and runs to him as he falls
face-downward; enter Lizbette; Father Cuthbert lifts Mariana from Pedro’s
body and motions to Lizbette to take her._)
LIZ. (_with her arms around Mariana; leading her away._) Come ’long,
honey;—come ’long wid yo po’ ole Lizbette.... (_exeunt Lizbette and
Mariana, the latter sobbing._)
FATH. C. Gentlemen, I beg a great favor of you;—that the prisoner’s body
be left in my charge.
BEL. His head should be stuck up on a pole for buzzards to pick at!
(_knocks the body contemptuously with his gun; Father Cuthbert puts out
his hand deprecatingly._)
PIRATES. Ah!
FATH. C. I knew this man long ago,—and the law is now satisfied.
BEL. (_reluctantly._) Well,—out of respect for you.
FATH. C. Thank you. (_bows; kneels beside the body; the men turn to exit
and Beluche in going picks up the little picture he had found on Pedro
and thrown aside; he puts it in his coat pocket; exeunt men and Beluche;
Father Cuthbert looks to see that they have all gone, takes from the
ground a long, hooded overcoat which he had carried over his arm when
he entered; touches Pedro who rises._) Put this on, (_Pedro puts on
overcoat._) and make the most of your chances. (_Father Cuthbert pulls
the hood over Pedro’s face._) Fortunately it is a new coat they have
never seen.
PED. You have saved my life.
FATH. C. Go. Don’t forget about Mariana. (_Pedro nods; exit._) God help
him! (_he goes to the grave, takes up a spade and fills in the grave
quickly; enter Beluche._)
BEL. (_suspiciously._) You’ve made short work of it. Why didn’t you call
in one of the men to help you?
FATH. C. (_fixing the earth._) Sentiment, I suppose.
BEL. (_poking the newly broken ground with his stick._) The earth is very
sweet and clean for such as this.
FATH. C. (_puts out his hand deprecatingly._) My friend—(_enter
Lizbette._) How is the young lady, Lizbette?
LIZ. Tollable easy, sah.
FATH. C. (_sternly._) You haven’t been practicing your voo-doo arts on
her?
LIZ. Naw, sah.
FATH. C. Very well. See that you don’t. (_exeunt Father Cuthbert and
Beluche._)
LIZ. (_looking after them._) Huh! I dunno who dat gwine hep ’er, me, if
tain Lizbette I done bin ’bliged t’give ’er sometin’ to make ’er sleep.
She war plum crazy. En dose white leddies dunno nuttin. Ne mine. Lizbette
know. She done put ’er t’sleep ez peaceful z’a lamb, en wen she wake up,
she ont remember. (_takes an opaque white bottle out of her pocket._)
Dish hyar remedy fo, blues ... I knows it, kase iss marked “Cordial” on
de bottle an’ issa white bottle. (_buries the bottle up to its stopper on
one end of the grave._) People say it heps ’em lots. (_takes out a black
bottle from her pocket._) An’ dish hyar rank pison might z’well season
some, too. (_enter unperceived by Lizbette, Father Cuthbert; she buries
the black bottle up to the stopper in the other end of the grave and
exits._)
FATH. C. Up to her same old tricks. (_goes to grave; finds the last
bottle Lizbette buried; looks for and finds the first; reads._)
“Cordial.” I’ll do a little voo-doo work myself. (_takes from his pocket
an empty flask; pours the contents of the cordial bottle into his
flask._) Harmless enough remedies; but her influence becomes dangerous.
(_pours the poison from the black bottle into the cordial bottle and
the blues remedy from his flask into the black bottle; he re-buries the
bottles as he found them._) A good thing to nonplus her occasionally
in her practices. (_exit; re-enter Lizbette with Bella’s locket in her
hand._)
LIZ. Snake head got pow’ful signification. (_enter unperceived,
Dominique; Lizbette goes to grave; holds locket high over it; shuts her
eyes and sways; speaks in ghostly monotone._) Wat you know....
DOM. (_looks up; starts._) What are you doing with that locket? Where did
you get it?
LIZ. I dunno, sah, whar it come fum. It uz sent to me an’ll be sont fo’
agin.
DOM. Why?
LIZ. Fo’ advisement; to fin’ out ef de lady’s lover am true to ’er.
DOM. Give me that locket instantly. (_Lizbette hands it to him._) No.
(_hands it back to Lizbette gloomily; aside_) She wouldn’t let me have it
herself. (_Lizbette holds the locket aloft once more shuts her eyes and
sways; Dominique walks about excitedly with his eyes on the ground; enter
unperceived, Beluche._)
LIZ. (_in ghostly monotone_). Wat yo know.... (_Beluche who had advanced
snatches the locket from her, flings it violently on the ground and puts
his foot on it._)
DOM. (_in amazed indignation; angrily._) If you please!—
BEL. (_becoming conscious of Dominique._) Ah, yes. (_stoops; picks up the
locket and straightens it out._) Your pardon. (_suavely._) Snakes always
throw me into uncontrollable temper. (_hands the locket to Dominique_)
May I inquire whose it is?
DOM. (_curtly._) No, you may not.
BEL. (_intensely._) Then I will tell you one thing. You had better be on
your greatest guard against a certain fat man. Beware of him!—let your
sweetheart beware of him! Otherwise when you will think your love and
happiness most secure, they will be ravished from you with utter cruelty.
DOM. Are you crazy?
BEL. Yes,—sixteen years crazy. But you—You have neither great wealth nor
grand name. I am sorry for your youth. I warn you. (_exit._)
DOM. Beluche—Well, of all.... (_night sets in; enter Pedro, cloaked
and hooded; he looks on the ground for the little picture he had seen
Beluche throw aside; he is not seen by Lizbette and Dominique._) Here.
(_Dominique gives the locket to Lizbette; Pedro looks up; recognises
Bella’s locket; Dominique speaks recklessly, moodily._) While you have
your hand in, you may as well tell me whether I have a rival or no.
(_Pedro hears; understands Bella’s defense of pirates; exits without
having been observed; Lizbette once more holds the locket aloft; shuts
her eyes and sways._)
LIZ. (_in ghostly monotone._) I seen a gemman ... dressed like de
bridegroom ... ee fat, but ee not t’all stiff-jinted, dough; an’ ee do
make love rapchewrous!
DOM. (_intolerantly._) Ah! (_aside._) I’ll look for the man in the
locket. (_exit._)
LIZ. Dis snake head pow’ful significant. (_the moon rises, Lizbette puts
locket in her bosom; takes her bottles from the grave and exits. Enter
Lafitte; he walks across stage; sits absent-mindedly; rests his elbows on
his knees and his head in his hands. Enter Mariana. “Her eyes are open,
but their sense is shut.” She wears a long, filmy, trailing white dress;
her hair falls over her shoulders; she has her back turned to Lafitte;
she touches the tall flowers lightly going from one to another—_)
MAR. (_in a low, soft voice to a flower._) I am jealous of these
long thoughts of yours. (_encircling the flower-stalk with her arms,
she puts her cheek against the flowers; smiles tenderly; then starts
apprehensively._) Did you hear that?... (_calmly._) The wind. I know a
secret about the wind. It blows and blows till the world is full of a
great white tempest that builds us—up to heaven!... (_fearfully._) Hush!
What was that? (_Lafitte looks up; sees Mariana; starts; rises._)
LAF. Mariana! (_she starts; trembles, but does not turn; Lafitte
advances; holds out his arms._) Mariana!
MAR. (_waking._) Ah! (_she turns; throws herself in his arms._) I am so
glad you are come!
LAF. (_overcome with emotion; passing his hand gently again and again
over her bowed head._) My sweetheart—
MAR. My heart is so full.... It has been such a long while since you went
away....
LAF. Such a long while, sweetheart. But now—
MAR. You won’t leave me?
LAF. I won’t leave you, even though—
MAR. What?
LAF. Tell me. I have been tortured. You—are a nun?
MAR. No: only a novice, free to leave at any time.
LAF. Thank God!
MAR. He would not let me be a nun, Jean. He brought me here to you.
(_Lafitte takes his hat off, lets the hand holding it fall to his side
and with his other arm around Mariana; lifts his head to heaven._) Jean—
LAF. Yes?
MAR. I.... (_passes her hand across her forehead in bewildered anguish._)
Oh, I have had such horrible dreams!... They were dreams?
LAF. (_soothingly._) Dreams, sweetheart.
MAR. My uncle ... my brother ... I dreamed they were killed!
LAF. (_lovingly._) Did you not think sometimes _I_ was dead?
MAR. Yes.
LAF. Death cannot claim those you love.
MAR. Your voice is so comforting.
LAF. How could it be otherwise in this beautiful hour? Come, sweetheart,
let us walk by the shore. The great, calm heart of Nature will strengthen
you. (_they walk up stage._) See how the little waves, like baby hands,
pat the Earth’s breast all night long. (_exeunt. Enter as they disappear,
Manuel; he is dressed in pirate clothes._)
MAN. (_looking after them._) Curse the luck! It isn’t enough that I must
thrust myself into a dead pirate’s clothes in order to save my head
on that Creole expedition, but I must find myself checkmated at last
in spite of everything! (_enter Mariana; her step is light and she is
singing softly and blithely._) Mariana—(_kneels._)
MAR. (_startled._) Ah!
MAN. I beg your forgiveness for my words and conduct on the ship. I was
beside myself—wild with fear lest you should be taken from me—taken to
worse than death. I risked my life—I risk it now to save you.
MAR. (_with transcendent happiness._) There is no need. Jean is here.
Jean loves me.
MAN. (_rising._) Jean is a pirate!
MAR. (_turning away in slighting reproval._) Ah!
MAN. Not in make-believe as I was, but in hard, vicious reality.
MAR. (_turning upon him._) Take care.
MAN. His name is not Jean Durand, but Jean Lafitte! (_Mariana recoils._)
He it is who has robbed you; who intends dishonor towards you.
MAR. Silence!
MAN. Who is responsible for the sinking of the American vessel, the
death of your uncle, the killing of your brother!
MAR. (_remembering the execution._) Ah!—Cowardly liar!
MAN. I can prove the truth of my assertions.
MAR. Do it, on your life! (_exit, followed by Manuel; enter several
pirates._)
1st PIR. (_points to a boat coming up the bay._) That’s a strange boat
coming up the Bay. (_enter Lafitte and Father Cuthbert._)
2d PIR. An English boat, isn’t it?
LAF. Bearing a flag of truce. (_to his men._) Bring torches, and see that
the hospitality of the Island is practiced. (_exeunt several men; the
boat lands; Captains McWilliams and Lockyer and several other Englishmen
disembark._)
CAP. L. (_to Lafitte._) Have I the honor of addressing the Commander
of Barataria? (_Lafitte bows; enter pirates with pine torches_) I beg
to present him this letter from Colonel Nicholls of the British navy.
(_hands Lafitte a letter._)
LAF. (_reading._)—“I invite you, with your brave followers, to enter into
the service of Great Britain—”
PIRATES. (_threateningly._) What!
LAF. (_makes a peremptorily quieting gesture; reads._)—“You shall have
the grade of Captain—”
C. McW. Your property shall be guaranteed to you and your persons
protected. (_enter pirates carrying dining table and chairs._)
CAPT. L. And here (_handing Lafitte another paper._) are instructions to
me by Sir W. H. Percy, Captain of the Hermes, senior officer in the Gulf
of Mexico. (_pirates dress the table with viands and wine._)
LAF. (_reads._)—“lands will at the conclusion of the war be alloted to
them in His Majesty’s colonies in America”—
CAPT. L. And in addition, as you will see, thirty thousand dollars
conferred upon you, payable at your option in Pensacola or New Orleans.
C. McW. You surely cannot let slip such an opportunity of acquiring
fortune and consideration.
LAF. In a day or two—
CAPT. L. No reflection should be necessary. As a Frenchman, you are now
of course, a friend of Great Britain.
LAF. And as an American?
CAPT. L. You are outlawed the American Government and exposed, if taken,
to infamy and death.
C. McW. Whereas in the British service you would have respect, an
enviable prospect of promotion,—
LAF. (_leading the way to the table._) Let us sit.
C. McW. (_they seat themselves._) And proper appreciation.
CAPT. L. Your services would be immensely important in carrying out
the operations which the British government has planned against lower
Louisiana.
LAF. How so?
CAPT. L. Your knowledge of the country would serve us unerringly, (_enter
at back Manuel, who beckons cautiously; enter Mariana._) Then, so soon
as possession of Louisiana is obtained, the army will penetrate into the
upper country and act in concert with the forces in Canada. Everything is
prepared for carrying on the war in that quarter with the utmost vigor.
LAF. You are confident of success?
C. McW. We are sure of it. The French and Spanish population of Louisiana
will support us.
LAF. (_reflectively._) The negroes, too.
CAPT. L. Will render us great assistance, because we will incite them to
insurrection by offering them their liberty.
C. McW. Come. What do you say?
LAF. (_rising, glass in hand._) I drink—
CAPT. L. Lafitte forever! He drinks to His Majesty, King George the Third!
LAF. I drink to—Success!
ALL. Hear! (_all drink: Father Cuthbert puts down his glass sadly,
without tasting the wine_.)
MAR. (_in choked surprise and horror._) Lafitte! (_exit Manuel_)
FATH. C. (_rising_) Mariana.
MAR. Do not speak to me! (_all rise._)
LAF. (_advancing a step or two._) Mariana.
MAR. (_recoiling and speaking with headlong passion._)
Hypocrite!—traitor!—murderer! (_exit, following Manuel_.)
CURTAIN.
ACT III.
ACT III.
SCENE I. _Governor Claiborne’s mansion. Ball room just off the scene;
music; guests in evening dress move about; enter Duval and legislators
and politicians of Act I.; exeunt other guests._
1st POL. I have it from the Governor that an expedition has been fitted
out,—has been in readiness for days to start against Lafitte and his
followers.
DUV. (_impatiently._) Then why doesn’t it start?
1st POL. Because there has been treachery,—because at the last moment it
was discovered that the pilot was a spy.
DUV. Ah!
1st POL. It is an enforced delay. The way is dangerous.
1st LEG. (_to Duval._) You forget that already one expedition against
Barataria has failed and come to grief. (_exeunt Duval, legislators and
politicians; enter Lizbette, dressed as a serving-woman; enter Baptiste._)
BAP. Lordy, Aun’ Lizbette, yo’ hyar!
LIZ. Ne mine ’bout dat. Lizbette got frens. Yo hole yo mouf shut ’bout
me, dass all. I wan t’ see yo.
BAP. Lordy! Dey shorely’ll come bad luck to me fo’ dis night.
LIZ. De folks all dancin’ de gran’ quadrille now. Who dat gwine see yo?
BAP. (_submissively._) Yes ma’am.
LIZ. Is yo see dat young leddy wat come to de hotel dat day wid de nuns?
BAP. Lordy, Aun Lizbette, how yo know dat?
LIZ. Ne mine. Is yo see her?
BAP. Norm, I—
LIZ. (_severely._) Pay ’tention wat you say.
BAP. (_looks at her dazedly; finally fumbles in his pockets_) I done got
a little money hyar, Aun’ Lizbette, to hep make up wat de sperrit took
’way dat day.
LIZ. (_turning the money over in her hand dissatisfiedly._) Huh!—Is yo
see her? (_Baptiste shakes his head._) Den go. (_Baptiste bows and turns
to go._) But yo better look out.
BAP. (_stopping and turning around._) Ma’am?
LIZ. (_moving bric-a-brac about energetically._) I dunno wat dat gwine
save yo.
BAP. (_trembling._) Who me?
LIZ. ’Ceptin’ yo gits spunky.—Go ’long.
BAP. Home?
LIZ. Ef yo doan hear fum me in fifteen minutes.
BAP. Lordy! (_exeunt Baptiste and Lizbette; enter hurriedly Mariana,
followed by Manuel; both in evening dress._)
MAN. Won’t you let me know your purpose?—Won’t you let me share with you
your hopes and fears?
MAR. (_quietly and firmly._) No.
MAN. Ah, you have not forgiven me; you still remember the conduct of
which I will be ashamed to the end of my life.
MAR. (_evenly and unemotionally._) You are mistaken. I remember also
the love which constituted itself a protective force to return me to my
uncle’s house six years ago.
MAN. (_eagerly._) You—
MAR. (_very self-reliant and aloof._) But now,—I can take care of myself.
MAN. (_with sudden vehemence._) You want to see Lafitte again! You still
love him! (_Mariana remains unmoved; Manuel walks about._) Very well.
(_aside._) He must be gotten rid of. (_dissembling his rage, he returns
to Mariana._) I forgot to tell you, Mariana, that Father Cuthbert is in
the city and wishes to see you. I shall be leaving in a little while and
will take any message you like to send. (_hands her paper and pencil._)
MAR. Thank you. (_sits; writes a brief note; hands it to Manuel._) If you
will give him this, I shall be much obliged to you.
MAN. (_bows._) Good-night.
MAR. Good-night. (_exit Manuel; enter Governor Claiborne._)
GOV. C. (_soliloquizing._) Impatience does no good....
MAR. (_advances; bows._) Governor Claiborne.
GOV. C. I beg your pardon, but—
MAR. Don’t you remember me? At the convent—
GOV. C. So I do. Miss d’Acosta.
MAR. Yes, Mariana d’Acosta, come to ask you a great favor.
GOV. C. Anything in my power.
MAR. I have heard of the delayed expedition against Barataria. I will
myself, if you will allow me, lead it.
GOV. C. Miss d’Acosta!
MAR. No one is so well qualified for the work as I. I have lived there,
days that have been years. I have seen them rob, destroy life and
property; kill my nearest and dearest. Oh!—
GOV. C. My poor child!
MAR. I will lead the expedition. I know the way. (_Governor Claiborne
shakes his head; walks back and forth._) I have seen the British in
consultation with those pirates; seen them seated at the same table in
feasting and good fellowship!
GOV. C. (_starts._) Can you be sure?
MAR. I heard them discussing the capture of Louisiana; I heard and saw
them drink to Success!
GOV. C. (_walks about._) If it were not for your youth—your sex—
MAR. Ah, let me go. I have most cause to go.
GOV. C. You were on the ship—
MAR. Yes. Let me go.
GOV. C. Your brother—
MAR. Ah, there is no time to lose. Action is imperative. Write the order.
GOV. C. Pray heaven, I do not wrong you in doing so. (_writes; Mariana
takes the order._)
MAR. The nation will bless you for this act. (_exeunt; Mariana hurriedly,
Governor Claiborne slowly and much perturbed in spirit; enter from
opposite direction, Pedro; enter Manuel._)
MAN. (_starts._) You! Why, I thought—Does Mariana know you are alive?
PED. Probably not.
MAN. (_with sudden change of thought; hurriedly, eagerly._) Would you
like to earn the five hundred dollars reward for Lafitte’s head?
PED. I would.
MAN. Very well. (_takes Mariana’s note out of his pocket._) Here’s an
easy way.
PED. (_reads._) “Dear Father:—I beg your pardon for my words and actions
at Barataria. I shall be at _l’hotel des Exiles_ at 4 o’clock on the 7th.
May I see you then? Humbly and in sorrow, Mariana.”—(_slaps Manuel on the
back._) My boy, love is improving you.
MAN. Have you an eraser?
PED. (_takes one out of his pocket._) Always prudent to carry one.
(_Manuel spreads Mariana’s note on a table; erases heading._) I think
I can capture Emperor Lafitte at the time and place mentioned and make
beside quite a handsome sum off the Spanish merchants for the capture.
MAN. By whom can we send this?
PED. (_examining the note._) It must go immediately. The appointment is
only two days off and Lafitte cannot be trusted to be found at the last
moment. He is said to be frequently away from Barataria for days.
MAN. How about that nigger of Darblee? He is thought to be very much _en
rapport_ with Lizbette, the old witch of the island, who is Lafitte’s
staunch friend.
PED. Just the man! Frighten him sufficiently with portents and he would
as soon think of dying as of proving faithless. (_enter Baptiste at
back._)
MAN. Isn’t that he?
PED. Baptiste. (_Baptiste starts; comes forward bowing._) You are in
great danger.
BAP. Yes, sah.
PED. It behooves you to be careful.—Do you know Lizbette?
BAP. Naw, sah, I ain’t—
PED. That will do. Do you know Lizbette?
BAP. (_in distressed irresolution._) I done had some ’quaintance wid ’er,
but—
PED. Here is a paper that you will give to Lizbette for Lafitte. Now
listen. If it reach him safely and in time, you will have a big reward.
If not—
BAP. Lordy!
PED. If not, you will be haunted to a most torturing death; a death you
will not be able to escape. You are in great danger. I put the paper here
on this table. (_lays paper down; Baptiste approaches._) Don’t touch it,
till you have seen me disappear. I’m going. (_moves toward exit._) Be
careful. Watch the paper. Watch me. Your safety is at stake. (_raises his
hand impressively; exeunt Manuel and Pedro; Baptiste in his eagerness to
watch Pedro, goes a little up stage, away from the table; enter by a side
entrance, Lizbette._)
LIZ. (_passing by table and swooping up paper._) I dunno who dat scatter
all dis litter ’bout. (_throws paper in fire and exits without having
been seen by Baptiste._)
BAP. (_comes to table; finds note gone! falls on his knees._) Lordy!
Lordy! (_crawls around table on his knees looking for paper; enter
Bella._)
BELLA. Why, Baptiste! You’d better hurry home before Mr. Darblee
discovers your absence.
BAP. Good-by, Miss Bella.
BELLA. Good-by, Baptiste. (_exit Baptiste._) Poor fellow! He looks as I
feel. Oh, I am so glad Dominique has not come. If he and Pedro d’Acosta
meet ... I believe that man to be a sinister and deadly.—I hate State
balls! (_enter Dominique._)
DOM. Alone?
BELLA. (_half coquettishly._) I was hoping to be.
DOM. You were waiting for me,—wondering why I hadn’t come. Now, confess.
BELLA. (_seriously._) I was prayerfully glad you hadn’t come.
DOM. What!—Let me tell you something:—you haven’t kissed me once.
BELLA. What kept you? (_enter unperceived, Manuel._)
DOM. I see. You want me to kiss you first. (_kisses her in spite of
Bella’s attempted defense; Manuel coughs; Dominique turns; Manuel exits._)
BELLA. Now, you see.
DOM. A very disagreeable fellow. Is he the suitor?
BELLA. No.
DOM. Who is the suitor, Bella? What’s his abominable name? (_Bella is
silent._) Is he here? (_Bella starts._) He is. Then I’ll find him.
(_going._)
BELLA. (_alarmed._) Dominique! I’ll tell you one thing about him.
He’s—stout.
DOM. What! Ah, you are joking. I give you warning. I am going to disguise
myself and catch a glimpse of that man.
BELLA. Why disguise yourself?
DOM. Because I believe you’d warn him away if you knew I were coming.
BELLA. Pshaw! (_laughs._) I’d know you under any disguise. Oh!—I have an
idea. “Things will come right through a disguise!”
DOM. Eh?
BELLA. You must assume a disguise and try it on your uncle.
DOM. My uncle!
BELLA. Don’t you see, if the impression produced by it be favorable, you
can try it on my father and lay your case before him. Then in an adverse
event, you’ll still be unknown.
DOM. (_doubtfully, scratching his chin._) Ye—es; but I’d like to catch a
glimpse of Mr. Duval to-night.
BELLA. He has already gone home. Now listen, Dominique. Don’t be seen
with me any more to-night. We’ll only jeopardize our chances.
DOM. (_kicks a flower lying on the floor._) Allow me to conduct you to
your friends. (_Bella takes his arms and as they turn to move away, Pedro
enters and sees them; exeunt Bella and Dominique._)
PED. (_savagely, yet calculatingly._) There is a way ... it may not be
worth much, but then again it may. (_re-enter Dominique alone; as he is
passing, Pedro goes up to him; raises his hand._) “TO-MORROW—”
DOM. “AND HER DUPES.”
PED. (_offers Dominique his hand; gives him a hearty shake._) At eleven
o’clock on the morning of the 7th, you are to go to the _Cafe Marin_ for
an important paper containing news of urgent import for Lafitte. At three
o’clock of the same day, you are to bring the documents to Lafitte at
_l’hotel des Exiles_.
DOM. At three o’clock.
PED. I am understood?
DOM. Perfectly. _Au revoir._ (_exit; enter Manuel._)
MAN. Just a word. You’d better make yourself secure with your lady-love.
Otherwise, you may find that even with one fortune, you will be unable to
get the other.
PED. What do you mean?
MAN. I noticed a very ardent young man with her a while ago, and I
noticed that he kissed her quite possessingly.
PED. (_grimly._) I have the young man under _surveillance_. (_enter
unperceived, Lizbette; she straightens a rug; Dominique repasses at back
with a few ladies._) Is that the man? (_Manuel and Lizbette look up
stage._)
MAN. That’s the man.
PED. My stay in Barataria wasn’t profitless after all. I learned the
pirate pass-word. (_Lizbette, who had been on the point of going, stops;
listens._)
MAN. Not much gain in that, I should say.
PED. Well, I used it a while ago as an experiment upon that ardent young
man and the trap succeeded beautifully. He answered immediately.
MAN. Why didn’t you have him arrested?
PED. I had no witnesses. But I have instructed him to get and bring
certain papers to Lafitte at Darblee’s at 3 o’clock on the afternoon
of the 7th. I shall have a body of armed men on the spot and if the
government fail to catch and convict the fellow with those papers on him,
I shall be much deceived. (_exeunt Pedro and Manuel._)
LIZ. (_advances; shakes her fist after them._) Catch Marser Dominique,
would you? Not wid de powers ’gainst yo. _I_ kin warn Marser Dominique.
(_going._) Stop! Ee plum discontempchus o’ me. Ef I tell ’im, ee’ll go
shore. Ne mine Marser Lafitte sot heap o store on dat young man. I gwine
save ’im anyhow. Marser Lafitte de man! _Ee_’ll know how to deal wid ’em.
(_unties her apron; exit; enter Lafitte; he is exquisitely attired in
evening dress; enter from opposite direction a man servant._)
LAF. Is Miss d’Acosta here?
SER. Naw, sah.
LAF. Be careful. She has been here.
SER. (_scratching his temple._) Miss d’Acosta?—Oh, yes sah; I ’members.
LAF. Is she here now.
SER. Less’n she done gone, sah. She was hyar a minit ago. (_Lafitte exits
eagerly followed by servant; enter Governor Claiborne and the Chairman on
the Committee of War Measures._)
GOV. C. I was very reluctant to let her go.
CHAIR. If Lafitte be in league with the British, it is a league
formidable beyond computation.
GOV. C. Exactly. No time can be lost. I ordered the expedition off with
all speed. Lafitte must be captured. Since the five hundred dollars
reward be of no avail, we’ll try fire.
CHAIR. It is like the British to league themselves with those hellish
pirates. (_exeunt; enter Lafitte._)
LAF. She is not here and I can find no clue as to where she has gone.
(_leans against mantel; enter several ladies and gentlemen._)
1st LADY. She must have reconsidered her determination to become a nun.
2d LADY. No wonder! I think Don Manuel d’Acosta (_Lafitte starts_) is the
most perfectly fascinating man I ever met.
1st GEN. Oh, now. A little quarter!
1st LADY. He seemed so tender to her—so protecting and gallant! (_exeunt
ladies and gentlemen._)
LAF. I must find her, or she will be duped, trapped, as she was trapped
into a belief that I could be a traitor! (_enter Governor Claiborne and
the Chairman; Lafitte goes up to them._) Governor Claiborne, allow me to
present to you—Jean Lafitte. (_bows._)
GOV. C. What!—Do you know that there is a five hundred dollar reward for
your head posted over this city?
LAF. I have been a little more flattering. (_bows._) I have offered five
thousand dollars for yours.
GOV. C. (_enraged._) You dare! (_to the Chairman_.) The guard.
CHAIR. (_summoning at back quickly._) The guard! (_enter soldiers._)
GOV. C. I order you to—(_points to Lafitte; Lafitte takes from his breast
a white paper; holds it commandingly aloft; the Governor pauses; waives
the soldiers off._) Await further orders. (_exeunt soldiers._) Well?
It is questionable honor in me to respect even a flag of truce in your
hands.—Proceed.
LAF. The British are preparing to attack New Orleans by way of Barataria.
GOV. C. Well sir? You are ready to give them assistance.
LAF. I come to offer my services to the American forces.
CHAIR. A trick.
LAF. For no pay whatever;—to enter the lists merely as a private.
CHAIR. A ruse, sir; a crafty ruse by which to obtain money or honors
from the American government. (_Lafitte hands the paper to Governor
Claiborne._)
GOV C. (_reads._)—“Captain!... thirty thousand dollars!” ... (_hands the
paper to the Chairman._)
LAF. If you will not accept my services, I shall instantly leave the
country. I will not suffer the imputation of having co-operated towards
an invasion from Barataria which cannot fail to take place. (_Governor
Claiborne walks about._)
CHAIR. (_doubtfully still._) The Speaker of the House and the President
of the Senate are here—
GOV. C. It would do no harm to see them and find out whether they think
it fit to submit the matter to the Legislature and to General Jackson.
LAF. I can only give you ten minutes in which to decide.
GOV. C. (_resentfully._) You are autocratic.
LAF. I must be. A matter dearer life, country, heaven, claims my
attention and cannot wait. I will await your early return here. (_exeunt
Governor Claiborne and the Chairman; Lafitte becomes impatient; looks
at his watch; finally sits near the fire and absent-mindedly picks up a
charred remnant of Mariana’s note which had fallen on the hearth._) A
love note, probably.... (_he holds it up; throws it into the fire; then,
looking upon the flame, he softly and unconsciously whistles Mon Coeur a
Toi._)
CURTAIN.
_SCENE II. L’hotel des Exiles; the mask room. Enter Baptiste._
BAP. (_has the black bottle in his hands._) Nuttin ax wid me same zit
ought to. I got dish ere rat pison fum Aun’ Lizbette kase she say she
done season it on a new made grave an’ de rats hep dem sperrits to
make noises ’bout my room, an’ I done see dem critters eatin’ de bread
I soak in dat pison. An’ dey comes up peert z’ever. (_shakes his head
dolefully._) Dey’s bad time comin’ shore. (_exit; enter Bella and Duval._)
DUV. (_coaxingly._) Now, if he have the fortune in a week, you’ll marry
him?
BELLA. We’ll wait until he have the fortune.
DUV. (_puts his arm around Bella; enter unperceived, Dominique._) Come,
let us sit here.
DOM. (_starts._) The stout man! (_aside._)
DUV. (_draws Bella to the arm of his chair; Bella pouts._) Now, be my
sweet little girl; won’t you? (_kisses Bella’s cheek; she breaks away;
Duval runs after her._) Ah, (_laughing_) you can’t escape me so! (_as
Duval gets opposite the niche door, Dominique rushes up behind him,
shoves him up the step and claps him into the niche; re-enter Dominique._)
DOM. (_furiously_) So, Miss—
BELLA. (_in a frightened undertone._) It is my father, Leon Duval, that
you have shut up there! (_kicking and calling by Duval._)
DOM. What! I’ll go to the rescue. (_starting_)
BELLA. (_detaining him_) You’ll do nothing of the kind. We’ll ask Mr.
Darblee to come. (_exeunt; enter Baptiste; Duval raps; calls; Baptiste
starts._)
BAP. Lordy! (_Duval raps again; Baptiste jumps; suddenly has an idea._)
Yes, sah! (_exit on a run; returns immediately holding a big syringe._)
Comin’ sah. Lordy!... (_he puts the syringe to the crevice in the wall
and applies his remedy; redoubled, furious stamping and swearing by
Duval; enter Darblee and Bella._)
DAR. Baptiste. (_Baptiste falls back in a state of collapse; exit
Darblee; re-enter immediately Darblee, conducting Duval whose face and
hair are soaked._) My dear sir, I am all amazement and indignation!
DUV. (_pointing to Baptiste._) That son of Satan must have put me in
there.
BAP. Naw sah, Marser Duval. De mask sperrit put yo in dyar, sah, to save
some pirate fum despair an’ death.
DAR. Nonsense.
BAP. Who dat put Marser Duval in dyar den? I dint know dey uz a place in
dyar big ’nough fo’ anyting ’ceptin’ a sperrit.
BELLA. (_nervously._) I just caught a glimpse of a man with a full
beard;—oh, a horrible red beard! Then I ran out for assistance and met
Mr. Darblee.
DUV. A plague of old pirate houses! They’re always full of traps.
DAR. (_to Baptiste._) Get out! (_to Duval._) I’ll have him severely
punished for this.
DUV. I’ll wash my face and comb my hair. (_exit._)
BELLA. Baptiste—
DAR. Oh, of course, he won’t be punished.
BELLA. (_dejectedly._) I’m afraid our chances will be smaller than ever
now.
DAR. I hear there are some extra fine terrapin in the market, just sent
in from _Bayou Teche_. I’ll go see if there be any left. A few of them
will restore your father’s good humor. (_bows; exit; enter Duval._)
DUV. Scoundrel!—Come. (_exeunt Duval and Bella; enter Mariana._)
MAR. (_exultant; nervous; wretched; looks around._) No one here. (_looks
at her watch._) Long before the time. So much the better. I need a little
rest.—If only he had not escaped!... I wonder (_looking scornfully at
mask._) if you are still busy? Did you send some human ear into your mask
to warn your fellow pirates of the burning of Barataria? (_mockingly._)
I will listen now. Perhaps you wish me to save them. (_exit to back of
mask; looks through it; enter Duval and Pedro, the latter out of sight of
the mask eyes._)
MAN. (_excitedly._) You had my father murdered!
PED. (_sneeringly._) Did he favor your suit so much that you regret him?
(_Mariana starts; noise in the niche._)
MAN. What was that?—(_irritably._) Your interference in my behalf has
been too costly.
PED. (_contemptuously and intolerantly._) Did I not take my own medicine?
Was I not very nearly killed in Barataria by Lafitte’s order? Would I not
have been killed but for the fact that Father Cuthbert unloaded the guns?
MAN. A likely story! You knew from the beginning that Lafitte was Jean
Durand. You depended upon that fact in case of emergency.
PED. Have a care. No man shall accuse me of being a coward with impunity.
MAN. I challenge you to deny that you told Lafitte you are Mariana’s
brother.
PED. Certainly, I deny it. Lafitte saw in me only the Colonel Tolosa
who had had him drugged and court-martialed from Napoleon’s army six
years ago. Not that I would not have availed myself of the chance to
escape, if there had been one; but there is no escape in pirate law for
insubordinators. And you may thank your lucky star that Lafitte did not
happen on the execution ground when Mariana did. It would have been all
up with you if he had.
MAN. (_with feverish apprehension._) If she should discover our plot!
PED. She is safe never to know it. The men have orders not to let her
in:—small-pox in the house.
MAN. Lafitte’s arrest will be made without her knowledge. But you—She
will hear of you through the reward.
PED. What of it? I cheerfully forego all privileges to her society. So
that she does not hear of your complicity—
MAN. It is prudent to burn that agreement about her fortune. It will make
no difference to you. The chests are in Barataria and so soon as Lafitte
is disposed of, you can go for them. (_Pedro takes a paper from his
pocket and hands it to Manuel; Manuel opens it; starts._) What!
PED. What’s the matter?
MAN. Oh, despicable.
PED. (_tears the paper out of Manuel’s hand; stamps his foot._) Fool!
Fool!
MAN. Traitor! British spy! And to think that I told you of the British
Commission’s offer to Lafitte!
PED. Damn it all!
MAN. And here (_shaking his hand at the paper._) I discover that you have
offered to show them the way into New Orleans and earn the British money
at the same time that you are pretending to serve the American Government
by capturing Lafitte.
PED. Ah, have done. I admit that I drew them a careful map of the
country. You have seen the written guarantee of payment from Captain
Lockyer of the British navy in case the chart be found correct.
MAN. (_accusingly._) You!
PED. That was the paper I had intended to be found on the ardent young
man. As to Lafitte, I see no reason why I should not combine pleasure
with business.
MAN. As to Lafitte, all right. He ought to be killed—curse him!—will be,
if he come, but your treachery to the government is intolerable.
PED. (_cruelly and deliberately._) Do you threaten, or are you merely
patriotic? (_Manuel walks about._) Because in the former case, I will see
to it that you do not get Mariana, unless—
MAN. (_turning on him angrily._) There are two sides to that! Suppose I
inform the Governor that the attack upon and scuttling of the American
vessel, the killing of her captain, my father and many passengers, the
delivery of her crew into piratical hands were your work? That you forged
an order from Lafitte in order to get command of one of his ships?
Suppose I inform him that the work of rescue was really done by Lafitte?
PED. (_quietly._) Would you not be implicating yourself? Would you not be
doing Lafitte a good turn?—We had best stand by our old bargain: the girl
for you, the money for me.
MAN. (_after a pause._) Let me have that agreement.
PED. I haven’t it.
MAN. What!
PED. I made a mistake; left that paper instead of this. (_rapping paper
in his hand._)
MAN. What! That man has.... If Mariana should ever see it....
PED. I can remedy that blunder yet.
MAN. But if for all this, she will not—
PED. Then she must be made to.
MAN. (_fretfully._) Why she should have chosen a house with entrances on
three streets.... We cannot watch all three.
PED. Lafitte is not on his guard. I’ll watch the North side, you the
South and the men the West. (_walks apart absorbed in thought._)
MAN. (_excitedly; restlessly._) At what time did her note tell Father
Cuthbert she would see him? (_takes out a note-book; opens it._) 4
o’clock. Emperor Lafitte is not yet due for a long while. (_walks
about._) That was a good idea to have her write that note in pencil ...
and a cleverer one to erase the “dear father” and send it to Lafitte....
(_enter Dominique disguised; he wears a very red, full beard._)
DOM. (_aside on perceiving Pedro._) The very man! I’ll try him. (_going
up to Pedro; bows._) Do you know if Mr. Darblee be in? (_Pedro shrugs his
shoulders surlily and turns off; Dominique turns to Manuel._) Rheumatic?
(_Manuel shrugs his shoulders._) Do _you_ know if Mr. Darblee be in?
MAN. (_curtly._) I do not. (_exeunt Pedro and Manuel._)
DOM. (_cheerfully._) Must be a good disguise. The very man who gave me
the order to be here didn’t recognize me. I’ll try uncle Darblee. (_exit;
enter from mask niche, Mariana._)
MAR. (_looks around desperately; rings bell._) I have no time in which
to do anything myself.—He may come at any moment ... (_writes hastily;
enter Baptiste._) Here. (_gives Baptiste money._) Take this note to the
Governor. (_gives him note._) Use all the speed you can in getting there.
Go! (_half pushes Baptiste out of the room._) I will beg his life of the
governor later, but now—I must save Jean.... May be Mr. Darblee would
help me. (_exit; enter one of Pedro’s guard; he beckons to others who
enter._)
1st G. (_significantly._) The Captain left orders that any man answering
the description he gave us should be searched.
2d G. Yes and any papers found on him brought _unopened_ to him at _Mme.
Fantine’s_.
3d G. That’s singular. A prisoner’s papers are generally opened before
him.
1st G. That’s not our affair.
2d G. No. The only thing we’ve got to be careful about is not to make a
mistake in the man.
1st G. (_significantly._) Ah!
3d G. He isn’t expected to arrive before 3 o’clock. (_looks at his
watch._) Twenty minutes from now.
1st G. He’s here now.
2d G. Ah, no.
3d G. He couldn’t be.
1st G. Did you notice a youngish looking man, with a straight nose and a
yellow cravat?
2d G. Why, he had a beard!
1st G. Yes,—and may be it’s his and maybe it isn’t. He didn’t handle it
as if it were.
3d G. You think?—
1st G. We’ve simply let him escape. (_enter Dominique._)
2d G. Here he is!
DOM. (_bows._) At your service.
1st G. Take off that beard.
DOM. What?
3d G. British spy!
DOM. Come, come.
2d G. Your airs of complacency won’t deceive us.
DOM. What the devil are you talking about?
1st G. Surrender!
DOM. (_angrily._) I _am_ disguised, (_switching off his beard._) but not
a British spy. (_draws his sword._) Now,—what do you want?
ALL. You.
1st G. And a paper you have on you.
DOM. (_starts._) I have a paper on me, but you shall not have it.
1st G. Seize him!
ALL. Kill him! (_they fight; Dominique wounds 2d guard._)
1st G. (_to 3d guard._) Pin him to the wall. (_enter Lafitte; he knocks
1st guard’s sword up just in time to save Dominique; they fight, 3d guard
engaging Dominique and 1st guard, Lafitte; Lafitte’s sword breaks._) Now,
(_to Lafitte._) Curse you, die! (_as 1st guard lunges at him, Lafitte
grapples with him and clinches; 1st guard calls to 2d and 3d guards._)
Shall you let him escape, you two! Kill him! (_2d guard resumes his
sword; rushes at Dominique; 1st guard speaks while struggling to get at
Lafitte._) Kill him! (_Lafitte by a supreme effort, throws 1st guard from
him, causing him to drop his sword. Lafitte picks it up; wounds 2d guard
and knocks the sword out of the hand of the 3d guard._)
LAF. I command you in the name of Governor Claiborne to desist.
(_1st guard picks himself up from the floor; 2d and 3d guards stand
irresolute._) Upon what charge do you seek to arrest this man?
1st G. As a British spy.
LAF. Search him. I pledge my word for him.
DOM. (_waving them aside; to Lafitte._) The paper is for you. (_Lafitte
shakes his head._) I insist.
LAF. Let them have it. (_1st guard searches Dominique; finds paper;
motions to his men; they station themselves besides Dominique; 1st guard
moves toward the door._) Friend! If you be honest you will read that
paper before the prisoner. (_1st guard hesitates; beckons to his men;
they go to him; Lafitte speaks hurriedly to Dominique._) Back to back.
There’s been treason.
3d G. It’s nothing but fair.
1st G. And may be safer, since we have been charged not to make a mistake.
2d G. We can say the seal got broken in the tussle. (_they return and the
1st guard opens the paper._)
1st. G. (_looks sheepishly at his comrades_;) A love affair. (_he returns
the paper to Dominique; exeunt guards._)
LAF. (_with a puzzled face, takes paper; he opens it, starts terribly;
crumples the paper into a thousand pieces in his clenched fist; walks
about in violent agitation._) Oh, not to save twenty countries! not to
save my soul from everlasting disgrace, will I stop in my search now! Go!
(_to Dominique._) Fight indomitably. General Jackson will tell you where.
Here is your commission as Captain.
DOM. (_takes commission and in doing so, kisses Lafitte’s hand._) Can I
not help you?
LAF. Yes. Fight for us both! (_exit Dominique by West entrance just as
Mariana enters._)
MAR. (_she sees Lafitte; speaks in a horrified, low voice._) Jean ...
LAF. Mariana! (_he holds her in his arms silently; his cheek on her hair;
then holds her from him._) You are well? (_Mariana nods._) Ah, (_folding
her in his arms again._) I have been seeking you night and day; I must
have left Barataria almost in the hour you did; I have not been there
since. I have lived in terror. Even death has frightened me, since it
might claim me before I found you.
MAR. (_starts_) Oh, Jean—
LAF. (_soothing her._) All is well, sweetheart. My life belongs to you.
That is why it is a charmed life. Only a little while ago, I escaped
from the British. I was journeying along on foot. Beppo kept me company.
Suddenly, I heard the tramp of horses. Intuitively I felt that they
carried British soldiers. I watched. A turn in the road showed me I
was right. I heard Captain McWilliams’ voice, I crouched in the thick
undergrowth bordering the road, I tried to quiet Beppo. He barked. I—I
was obliged to kill him in order to prevent him from betraying me.... Not
for the value of my own life, but to save the country’s. (_Mariana put
her arms around his neck_) Then, so soon as they had gone by, I borrowed
a horse and came on. I have sent word to General Jackson. There is no
time to spare. Now that I have found you and can put you in secure care,
I must go. The British are approaching. They are within nine miles of the
city.
MAR. And you?
LAF. (_tenderly._) I, sweetheart, am Captain once more. Captain Jean
Lafitte, of the American army. Ah, there is so much in my heart!—so much
that I want to tell you about my hatred for the Spanish; my feint to the
British Commission. You don’t understand. I have never sailed under any
flag but that of the republic of Carthagena. My vessels are perfectly
regular in that respect. Carthagena is at war with Spain. I capture and
sink Spanish vessels and take possession of their cargoes. That is the
sum total of my offending. When I shall have told you what we owe to
Spaniards,—how hopeless I was—
MAR. (_brokenly._) I know—
LAF. (_compassionatingly._) Sweetheart! (_kisses her._) Now, let us find
Darblee. He will care for you until my return.
MAR. (_detaining him._) Not now.
LAF. I must go, sweetheart.
MAR. (_half-sobbing._) I want to see you.... I haven’t seen you for so
long....
LAF. (_passing his hand over her hair._) Sweetheart—
MAR. Did you get my note asking you to come here?
LAF. (_surprised._) No.
MAR. Then _why_ did you come?
LAF. To save Dominique. I was barely in time. (_leading her towards the
door._)
MAR. (_suddenly placing her back on the shut door._) No!—You cannot go!
LAF. (_in gentle remonstrance._) Sweetheart—
MAR. You cannot go. The house is guarded!
LAF. (_dazed at first; then comprehending._) And you?... You wrote to me
to come here?
MAR. The note was for Father Cuthbert. I had no idea ... then I overheard
Manuel and Pedro....
LAF. Manuel! Is he coming? At last! (_walks center; enter Beluche._)
BEL. Lafitte, General Jackson fears that the British are preparing to
attack by way of Barataria. He commands me to caution you about the
defense of that point.
LAF. Oh, I am perfectly confident of the fidelity of my men.
BEL. (_grimly._) They have had provocation.
LAF. (_indignantly._) Provocation! At a time like this, to speak of
provocation!
BEL. (_doggedly._) Yes. Now, they urge, is the time to retaliate for all
the persecution they have endured at the hands of the Americans. Now.
While the opportunity offers. All hail to the Emperor of Barataria!
LAF. (_goes up quietly to Beluche and puts his hands on his shoulders._)
Beluche,—we are first of all Americans. Who will follow me must follow
now not the Emperor of Barataria, but the American soldier. Re-iterate my
orders to the men of Barataria. (_Beluche, humbled, bows; in turning he
sees Mariana; he starts and his face is instantly hard._)
BEL. It is well the men of Barataria don’t see you with this woman, or
they would refuse to obey your orders. (_exit._)
LAF. (_turns in bewilderment to Mariana._) What did he mean?
MAR. (_looks at him desperately; Lafitte waits; finally she puts out her
hands in dumb, piteous supplication._) I thought my brother had been
killed ... and my uncle ... all those helpless people....
LAF. Your brother? Where?
MAR. At Barataria ... shot ... by a band of pirates....
LAF. That man! The false commander of the Creole?
MAR. Yes.
LAF. (_takes her by the shoulders._) You are dreaming! That man was
Colonel Tolosa; the man responsible for my court-martial from Napoleon’s
army; the man who came near separating us forever. That was the man I
ordered shot at Barataria.
MAR. And that—was Pedro;—the man who has trapped you here now.
LAF. Impossible. He was buried at Barataria.
MAR. (_shakes her head._) He was saved by Father Cuthbert.
LAF. (_with sudden oppressive intuition._) And you? What did you do.
MAR. (_puts out her hands blindly._) I thought Pedro had been killed ...
and I did not know him then ... I loved him with all my heart ... and I
believed you cruel as well as wicked....
LAF. Quick! What did you do?
MAR. I led an expedition against Barataria ... had the entire Island
burned and sacked and many of the pirates killed and taken prisoners....
LAF. Merciful heaven! I understand Beluche’s warning and the peril of New
Orleans! (_indistinct noises of voices heard without._)
MAR. Pedro and the guard! Ah, let me try to save you! (_falls on her
knees._) On my knees, Jean!—for the love you bore me—(_Jean lifts her
from the floor._) For the love you bear your imperiled country.
LAF. Yes. Speak to Darblee if you can. He is one of my men and will come
to the rescue.
MAR. Yes, yes. (_she pushes Lafitte into the mask niche, following him
out of the room; Pedro, Manuel and the guard enter._)
PED. An empty room! There has been treachery somewhere. (_noise in the
niche._) What was that? (_he rushes to the door beneath the mask; tries
to open it; to burst it._)
MAN. That door is built against a wall; an annex made to the house after
it was completed.
PED. (_to the guard._) Knock the lock off. (_they knock it off; the door
is swung open and reveals a solid brick wall._)
MAN. Just as I told you.
PED. Search the house. (_enter Mariana._)
MAR. (_in feigned joyful surprise, to Pedro._) Pedro! (_going to him_)
Alive!
PED. (_catching her arm; roughly._) Where is Lafitte? Come, now. I’ll
stand no fooling.
MAR. (_quietly._) I am in no mood for fooling either. I have not seen
Lafitte. (_softening._) But you—
PED. The men swear they saw him enter.
MAR. I know he is not in the house, because he would have asked for me. I
was coming into this room just now, when I overheard Manuel speaking of
the use to which he had put my note.
PED. (_brutally._) What else did you overhear?
MAR. (_looking at him calmly and unflinchingly._) Nothing. I was on the
point of entering, thinking that Father Cuthbert might be here, when
I heard Manuel speak. Then I decided to wait and see what came of my
note before going to the Governor. (_to Manuel._) There was no need of
concealment. I would have helped you if I had known.
MAN. You would?
MAR. Have I not wrongs? I wrote to Lafitte, which must be the reason of
his non-appearance now, when as ill-luck would have it, he escaped from
the burning of Barataria. Yes, that was my business the night of the
ball; to beg the Governor’s permission to lead the delayed expedition
against Barataria.
MAN. Why didn’t you let me know?
MAR. Because I wanted to do it all myself.
1st G. A woman _did_ lead that expedition.
MAR. A woman did. She failed of her purpose then, but please God, she’ll
not fail now. I am on my way to inform the Governor that Lafitte is to
meet me a half hour hence at the hotel _St. Philippe_. He will come,
because he will believe me to be repentant.
MAN. (_suspiciously._) You still believe that he loves you?
MAR. Do not profane the word. I still believe that Jean Lafitte is not a
man to relinquish any purpose lightly.
PED. (_to 1st guard._) Order eight of your best men to watch this hotel.
(_exit 1st guard; to Mariana._) We will go with you my dear.
MAR. I will meet you at _St. Philippe_. I wish to see Mr. Darblee about
my room first. (_moving towards door._)
PED. (_agreeably._) We can wait. Shall I conduct you to Mr. Darblee?
MAR. (_baffled; speaks sweetly._) Thank you. (_takes Pedro’s arm, clock
strikes 4._) Oh, I haven’t time. I must go to the Governor immediately.
PED. (_pleasantly._) There is no need. A sufficient force will be on
hand. I have engaged to myself to capture Lafitte. We will all go to _St.
Philippe_; all—except the eight who are to watch this hotel.
MAR. I’ll get my hat. (_Pedro crosses to door; holds it open for her._)
The Governor (_aside_) will have received my message and sent succor
before they discover—(_exeunt Mariana and Pedro; enter 1st guard and
three others._)
MAN. (_to 1st guard._) All right? (_1st guard bows; enter Mariana and
Pedro; Manuel advances; takes Mariana’s cloak from Pedro; folds it
lovingly about Mariana._) Happy cloak, to enfold you so warmly! to feel
the sweet, soft pulsing of your heart!
PED. Ready? (_enter Lafitte._)
LAF. Stop!
MAN. (_starts._) Lafitte!
MAR. (_starts._) Ah!
PED. (_to the guard._) Seize him! (_the six guards rush upon Lafitte;
fasten his arms down._)
LAF. I give you warning! I belong to the American army. You will pay
dearly.
PED. (_savagely._) _You_ won’t be the bill-maker, Emperor Lafitte. (_to
the men._) Remove his sword. (_they remove it; Pedro takes it; breaks it
across his knee and throws the pieces aside; exit 1st guard._)
MAN. (_turning upon Mariana in a fury of jealousy._) So, Miss! You still
love this fellow! Well, American or not, he will be put out of the way!
Pedro and I have some scores to settle with him. And as for you, my
beauty—(_goes to Mariana; she slaps his face._) We’ll see! (_takes her
forcibly in his arms._) call upon your determined lover now! (_kisses
her; Lafitte suddenly breaks the shackles that bind his arms; snatches a
small dagger from his belt and fells Manuel with a blow; then he turns
upon the crowd; re-enter 1st guard and eight armed men._)
LAF. (_with his dagger in hand_.) Advance, cowards!
PED. His head, dead or alive. Fire! (_the eight men raise their guns;
Mariana screams; runs in front of Lafitte, clinging to him; at the same
moment a commotion is heard at the opposite door and a file of soldiers
with raised guns appears._)
1st SOL. Hold!
PED. Fire!
1st SOL. The first man who fires will be shot! (_the eight men lower
their guns._) Arrest these men. (_pointing to Pedro and Manuel; the
soldiers handcuff them._)
PED. Upon whose order and on what charge?
1st SOL. Governor Claiborne’s order, on charge of being a British spy.
(_to his men._) Search them. (_Pedro and Manuel are searched; the paper
from Captain Lockyer is found on Pedro and handed to 1st soldier._)
MAN. (_he is assisted to his feet; speaks with the borrowed strength of
rage._) Do you know that it is _Lafitte_ whom you have saved?
1st SOL. (_to his men._) Lead them away. (_Pedro and Manuel are marched
off; exeunt guards and soldiers; 1st soldier goes up to Lafitte._)
You had best use all dispatch in joining your command. Every moment’s
delay now is dangerous. (_bows; exit._)
LAF. Mariana.... (_he gently takes her arm from his neck and raises her
head; she is dazed almost insensible._) Sweetheart....
MAR. (_violently._) No!—I cannot let you go! (_Lafitte kisses her;
smooths her hair; leads her to the door._)
LAF. Good-by, sweetheart ... good-by.
MAR. (_quietly; leaning against the door._) Good-by....
CURTAIN.
ACT IV.
ACT IV.
_Morning of January 8th, 1815. Early dawn; an approach to New Orleans,
swamp land; cypress trees, draped in Spanish moss; Batteries 3 and 4—the
pirates of Barataria—stationed about in the distance; enter Beluche._
BEL. (_to two or three of his men._) Remember: Wellington’s soldiers are
to be dealt with; twelve thousand to five. Relieve the forward watch.
(_men salute and exeunt; Beluche looks after them; sighs; walks a few
steps with bowed head; takes out the little picture he had found on Pedro
in Barataria; looks at it long and intently, enter agitatedly, Bella._)
BELLA. (_timidly, yet desperately._) Can you tell me if Dominique You be
here?
BEL. (_looks up; starts; looks at his picture; looks at Bella; puts the
picture in his pocket._) He is.
BELLA. May I see him?
BEL. (_coldly._) No—
BELLA. Just a moment—
BEL. (_brusquely._) Is not your name Cardez?
BELLA. Yes.
BEL. Ha!
BELLA. Do you know Captain You?
BEL. (_grimly._) I do and I can tell you that you need expect no success
in the practice of your wiles upon him, because I know too, that you have
another lover.
BELLA. (_starts._) Who are you?
BEL. (_turning to leave her._) All women are alike in their infamous
cruelty.
BELLA. (_runs after him._) Please ... I must see him. He may be killed.
BEL. Very probably.
BELLA. I want to ask his forgiveness for my foolish words—
BEL. Whose picture does that locket contain? (_pointing to serpent-head
locket on Bella’s neck._)
BELLA. Promise to send Dominique to me and I will tell you.
BEL. May be.
BELLA. It is the picture of a man my mother loved.
BEL. Tell me the story.
BELLA. It was over in Spain. He was a Frenchman, but it seems he had
been intrusted by the Spanish government with important papers with
instructions not to let them leave his hands except to the proper
authority. My mother with a girl’s caprice, begged to take them; was
refused; begged, pouted and finally had them read to her. She had been
outspoken in her love for this man, though my grand-parents had betrothed
her to my father. They must have overheard the reading of the papers, for
a few hours later my mother’s lover was arrested and thrown into prison
and his life saved only on condition of mother’s immediate marriage to my
father.
BEL. (_starts._) What!
BELLA. So you see, he must have believed—this man whom my mother
loved—that she betrayed him. (_Beluche bows his head._) And she, knowing
that all hope was over, and knowing too, his merciless, just nature did
not dare to try to undeceive him. Then my grand-parents died and when I
was still a young baby, my father died, leaving mother penniless. But
the world was bright for her once more, because for the first time in
two years, she had hope. She tried to find the man she loved. She prayed
to be able to tell him why she had seemed to forsake him; to be able to
beg his forgiveness for all the misery she had entailed by her foolish
insistence. But when at last she came to a place where they had heard of
him, she was told that he was dead. And so, to lift me out of the stress
of dire poverty, she finally yielded and married Leon Duval. They came to
America and he made her a good husband to the end.
BEL. (_in a choked voice._) She is dead.
BELLA. Yes—Poor mother!—Don’t you think it a fine face? (_showing Beluche
the locket._)
BEL. No—an idiotic face.
BELLA. (_warmly._) It is not so. Mother could never have loved other than
a fine man.
BEL. Did she ever tell you his name?
BELLA. No.—Sometimes I think they may have made a mistake about his being
dead;—don’t you think so?
BEL. No,—he is dead. (_turns to go._)
BELLA. (_puts her hand on his arm._) You will send Dominique to me?
BEL. Yes.
BELLA. Thank you.—I do like you. (_exeunt severally Bella and Beluche;
distant sounds of battle; enter several pirates; they look surly,
scowling._)
1st PIR. Do you hear that firing?
2d PIR. I’m not deaf. (_shivers; draws his coat about him._)
1st PIR. _I_ don’t believe in Lafitte’s co-operation; I don’t believe he
advised our being stationed here.
3d PIR. (_savagely._) If I thought we had been imposed upon—
1st PIR. Are we sheep that we are to be led to the slaughter in this
manner?
3d PIR. What can we do?
1st PIR. It’s our turn to relieve the watch next, isn’t it?
2d PIR. Yes.
1st PIR. Very well then. Wait in seeming acquiescence until the British
come—
3d PIR. And then? (_hoof-beats are heard approaching._)
1st PIR. Wave a flag of truce and let Captains Beluche and You take the
consequences. (_enter a mounted messenger._)
MESS. Captain Lafitte—
1st PIR. Is not here.
MESS. General Jackson orders him to take Battery 3 to the re-enforcement
of Coffee’s line. Captain Beluche—
1st PIR. Over there. (_pointing; exit messenger, the men following him;
distant sounds of battle; enter Dominique._)
DOM. (_worried and anxious._) the idea of exposing herself in this
manner!—must be more of Lizbette’s counsel. (_stops; whistles._) I’ll bet
that disguise was insisted upon at Lizbette’s dictation. I’ve a great
mind to try the prescription on Bella herself. (_puts on disguise._) She
said she’d recognize me under any disguise. (_enter Bella; Dominique goes
up to her; holds out both hands._)
BELLA. (_starts._) Who are you?
DOM. Your heart must tell you.
BELLA. Sir—
DOM. Do not speak hastily. I know I have seemed to do so, but I could not
help it. We may be interrupted at any moment.
BELLA. You have no right—
DOM. The best I love you.
BELLA. You do not know me.
DOM. (_humoring the situation, but wholly in earnest._) You are talking
nonsense. It is you who do not know me. My heart is full of you. My soul
seeks you even in sleep. I love you.
BELLA. You are insolent.
DOM. No. I am truthful. Why will you mistake? Do you not feel that I
have loved you for months: prayed for all chances to meet you—to kiss
you—(_attempts to kiss her._)
BELLA. (_screams._) Help! (_enter Duval._)
DUV. (_aside._) The red beard! (_whips out his sword_;) Draw, sir.
(_Bella runs aside._)
DOM. I refuse to draw.
DUV. Do you wish to be murdered?
DOM. (_coolly._) I shall not be.
DUV. Take this!—(_he makes a pass at Dominique who dodges the sword and
trips him._)
BELLA. Brute! (_she makes a dash for Dominique’s face; catches his
whiskers; pulls off his disguise; screams; Duval is up again and on the
point of resuming the attack._) Don’t! (_to her father; throws her arms
around Dominique’s neck._) It is Dominique. I love him. (_enter Beluche._)
DUV. And who the devil may Dominique be? A pirate, I’ll bet. One of a
band of sneaking robbers, too cowardly ever to fight squarely and above
board. (_enter men of Battery 4._)
BEL. (_with cutting contempt._) But brave enough to _fight_, no matter
what the circumstances, when the country needs them. (_the pirates settle
about; play cards and throw dice._)
DUV. None of your insinuations. I would be fighting now, if it were not
for this girl.
BEL. (_to Dominique, aside._) You’d better see to your men. They are
becoming moody. Lafitte’s absence pre-occupies them.
DOM. You think?—
BEL. (_gravely._) Keep a close watch. I am taking battery 3 to the
re-enforcement of Coffee’s line. (_exit; Dominique turns to exit._)
DUV. (_to Dominique._) Stop! (_Dominique stops; to Bella_,) With whom did
you come?
BELLA. Baptiste.
DUV. Then go home with him.
BELLA. (_kisses her father._) Good-by. (_holds her hand out to
Dominique._) Good-by. (_he comes to her; takes her hand; kisses it; exit
Bella._)
DUV. (_to Dominique._) Now, sir!—I have no time to join the fighting
forces near New Orleans. I will follow you and settle my personal
differences with you later.
DOM. (_bows; turns; makes a few steps toward exit, followed by Duval;
stops; starts._) By heavens!—the British! The men have let them pass
without a shot! (_to his men._) Forward! (_men remain seated; continue
playing._) In the name of Lafitte! (_all rise._)
1st PIR. In the name of lies! Lafitte is not here.
DOM. He would be here if he could.
2d PIR. He could be here if he would.
DUV. The British are advancing! (_to the men._) In the name of the
country!
1st PIR. And of the legislators who offered rewards for pirate heads!
2d PIR. Who had us shot like dogs!
3d PIR. Burned out of house and home!
4th PIR. Thrown into dungeons!
5th PIR. And liberated only in order that we might defend them!
ALL. (_in rage, making a lunge at Duval._) Ah!
DOM. (_darting in front of Duval._) Back, cowards! Respectable odds await
you! (_the British open fire; pirates stand irresolute._)
1st PIR. (_to the men._) Come.
DOM. (_jumps on a knoll; levels his gun._) I’ll shoot the first man who
retreats. (_men face about irresolutely; firing continues; one man is
wounded._)
WOUNDED P. (_in a rage of defiance._) Ah! (_switches out a large white
handkerchief; strings it to the barrel of his gun; advances towards the
British._) We won’t retreat! (_pirates cheer and rally marching around
wounded pirate; firing ceases; Dominique shoots down the flag of truce;
the men in rage close upon Duval and Dominique; another flag of truce is
raised and the march towards the British re-begun; meanwhile, above the
sound of their frenzy; are heard approaching cheers and hoof-beats by the
hundred; enter Lafitte followed by scores of his men._)
LAF. Men of Barataria to the front! (_snatches down the flag of truce._)
Death to Wellington’s soldiers! (_exit; firing begins._)
ALL. Lafitte forever! (_exeunt; furious firing, becoming momentarily more
remote; enter Bella, Mariana and Baptiste._)
BAP. (_cataleptic with fear._) Lordy! Lordy!
BELLA. Oh hush, Baptiste, you give me the shivers. (_to Mariana._) I’m
glad I brought my cordial bottle, in case we get too nervous.
BAP. Oh, Miss Bella, yo plumb rash to fly so in de face o’ Providence!
Lordy, (_kneels._) please make ’em change dey mine, seein’ I cyarn do
nuttin, an’ ef not, pertec dis po’ ole nigger who done pray to you an’
who bin yo good an’ faithful sarvent.... Yes, Lord, I trus yo full an’
free.... (_a stray shot sounds close and loud; Bella starts, dropping her
cordial bottle; Baptiste jumps up._) Gawd A’mighty, das dang’ous! (_exit
running._)
BELLA. Oh, I think we had better go, too. (_takes Mariana’s arm; half
pulls her off; enter Pedro._)
PED. (_scantily clad._) I made up my mind to escape. I’ve done it.
Hungry—chilled to the bone—with blood hounds on my track—But if every
other purpose I ever had in life fail, I will accomplish that of my hate
for Lafitte. (_reaches for his pistol; holds his hand out; looks at
it._) Curse this cold! I can scarcely hold my pistol. (_sees the cordial
bottle; picks it up._) Ah! (_takes a drink; slaps the stopper back on and
throws the bottle down; makes a wry face._) That’s queer tasting stuff.
(_the firing has ceased; enter Lafitte._)
LAF. (_anxiously._) Surely she could not have been so imprudent—(_Pedro
sees him; creeps up behind him; aims waveringly._)
PED. (_in choking rage._) Damn— (_falls; dies; Lafitte turns; sees Pedro;
enter Mariana._)
MAR. Jean! (_Lafitte starts; throws his cloak over Pedro’s body._) You
are not hurt?
LAF. Not hurt, sweetheart.
MAR. And the victory?
LAF. Is ours. I have just sent word to General Jackson. The British have
been routed with fearful loss.
MAR. And we?—Oh—(_seeing the covered form._) Who is it?
LAF. (_solemnly._) A man to whom I owe much knowledge. (_Mariana takes a
flower from her breast, goes up to the body and places it upon his._)
LAF. (_to some of his men who have come on._) Take this body to New
Orleans for interment. (_the men carry it away; enter Dominique and Bella
at back._) My sweetheart this place—
MAR. Ah, I am so proud of you! (_enter Duval and Beluche._)
BEL. (_earnestly to Duval._) Your broken word would be a lesser matter to
you than your daughter’s broken heart.
BELLA. Oh, here’s my cordial bottle! (_picks it up._)
DUV. (_to Lafitte._) I desire, sir, to congratulate you. (_shakes hands;
Bella goes to Mariana; Beluche and Dominique are grouped together._)
BELLA. (_to Mariana, showing her cordial bottle._) Shall we take a
swallow,—just to settle our nerves? (_Mariana smiles; takes the bottle;
raises it._)
LAF. (_comes behind her as she is about to drink, takes the bottle from
her and throws it aside; happily._) You need no cordial on such a day as
this.
BELLA. All, my tonic is all wasted! (_enter a messenger on horseback._)
MESS. (_dismounts; bows._) General Jackson presents his thanks to
Captain Jean Lafitte for his efficient and loyal services; also thanks
to Captains Beluche and You, together with a promise to grant Captain
Lafitte any pardons he may ask.
LAF. (_bows._) My profound acknowledgement and most respectful homage to
General Jackson. Do you know whether the two men arrested at the _hotel
des Exiles_ have been executed? (_Mariana goes to Lafitte’s side._)
MESS. They have not. One of them escaped; is being traced now. The other
will be executed in an hour. (_Mariana starts; puts her hand on Lafitte’s
arm._)
LAF. (_placing his hand over hers._) Which one escaped.
MESS. Pedro d’Acosta. (_Mariana buries her face in her hand._)
DUV. (_starts._) Pedro d’Acosta arrested?
MESS. As a British spy.
LAF. I shall be very much in your debt if you will use all possible speed
in seeing the Governor and in begging him, in my name, to spare Don
Manuel d’Acosta’s life—and that of Pedro d’Acosta, if he be caught.
MESS. I shall do so. (_bows; exit._)
MAR. (_to Lafitte._) Do you think he will be in time?
LAF. Yes.
DUV. (_to Bella._) Well, I will give my consent.
BEL. On one condition: that she give up her faith in Lizbette and her
practices.
BELLA. Dominique told you about that, but—I promise. (_exeunt Bella,
Dominique, Duval and Beluche._)
MAR. Do you think Pedro will be caught?
LAF. (_lovingly._) It would not matter if he were.
MAR. But do you think he’ll be caught?
LAF. (_kisses her._) No, sweetheart. (_passes his hand gently over her
hair._) I don’t think he’ll be caught.
CURTAIN.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Lafitte, a play in prologue and four acts" ***
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