LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN POEMS. 2 vols. Cloth, $2.50 net. Photogravure portrait. Half-morocco, $8.00 net. Postage, 20 cents. NEW POEMS. Cloth, $1.50 net. Half- morocco, $5.00 net. Postage, 12 cents. SELECTED POEMS. This volume has been issued in lieu of "The Collected Poems," now out of print. It is compiled from the foregoing volumes. Cloth, $1.25 net. Postage, 8 cents. WILLIAM WATSON THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A PLAY IN EIGHT SCENES BY WILLIAM WATSON NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXII COPYRIGHT, 1912 BY JOHN LANE COMPANY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. TO MY WIFE, but for whom it would not have been written, I dedicate this play. w. w. Nenu York Feb. io y DRAMATIS PERSONS MEN CLOTAIRE King of Ideonia PRINCE HESPERUS The King's Son POLITIAN PARMENIO Ministers of State ERMINIUS VOLMAR Commander of the Army HILDERIC One of Volmar's Captains PETRUS A Judge BRASIDAS A Leader of the People ABBO OF THE WOODS .... A Hunter and Trapper GARLIC PUNCHEON WOMEN QUEEN ADALIND VENORA ZORAYA Guards, soldiers, attendants, ushers, and others. SCENE: AT FIRST THE BORDERS OF IDEONIA; AFTERWARDS, PHANTASMOPOL, THE CAPITOL. TIME: THE MORROW OF ANTIQUITY. THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A PLAY IN EIGHT SCENES SCENE I Volmar^s camp among the woods on the borders of Ideonia. Night-time. Beside a stream, Volmar's tent. VOLMAR. HILDERIC. A sentinel. Further off, soldiers sleeping on the ground. VOLMAR To-day six months ago, good Hilderic, We camped at this same place on the outward march, And had our first brush with the enemy. It seemed as if each tuft of waving grass, And every bramble and whin-bush, hid a foe. Where are they now? HILDERIC We left them to the kite And warhawk, and the grey wolf of the wood. ii THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN VO LM A R This stream, that looks so humble a rillet, marks The boundary 'twixt their country and our own. Here is our native soil, our fatherland, There, Hilderic, the Kingdom we have conquered. HILDERIC This brook ran red that night thou speakest of. v o L M A R Ay, it did so! But Nature soon enough Washes her hands of us and all we do. To-night the stream runs clear as hermit's spring, And when I drank of it this afternoon It had no taste of slaughter. Thou hast now Three hours for sleep, and then at dawn we march. HILDERIC For home! VO LM A R For home! Goodnight. HILDERIC Goodnight, my lord. (Exit HILDERIC. VOLMAR goes into his tent, lies down and falls asleep. Enter, stealthily, from a thicket on the further side of the stream, ABBO of the Woods. The sentinel leans against a ledge of rock, nods and dozes.} 12 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A B B O So this is how their lordly one is guarded The sentry drowsed and nodding at his post! I Ve slipped past all the others, and unseen Have threaded these dark woodlands, where I know Each tree and stone, and every cleft and cave. Now in his tent the general is asleep. I do not doubt but that he sleeps as well As if he had not on his soul one sin: The wicked sleep as soundly as the good. Yea, it is not the Wronger, but the Wronged, That lies awake with raging thoughts, as I So oft have done. If I can reach him now One stroke and I shall be avenged upon him, And the next moment, in another world, He 's cringing for God's mercy. Then what then ? If I should fall alive into their hands? They '11 cut and carve me out of human shape, And laugh as they look on. I '11 hazard it. (ABBO moves forward to cross the stream. A loose stone slips from under his foot with a loud noise. The sentinel looks up. Other soldiers start from their sleep on the ground. VOLMAR raises his head and listens. ABBO, unper- ceived, draws back into the thicket.) SCENE II A street. On ike left, the King's palace, ap- proached by a flight of steps. On the right, at a little distance, a fortress-prison. BRASIDAS. PUNCHEON. GARLIC. Numerous citizens of various grade. A cripple. A beggar. BRASIDAS This will I say: the war, that now hath clanged And thundered to its end, I loved not greatly; But its rich fruits, whether indeed they do us Much honour in the harvesting or no, Will fill the royal treasury to o'erflowing, And leave small pretext for those cruel exactions Whereby your substance is so taxed away. FIRST CITIZEN They tax our corn, oil, timber, metals, wool They tax our wine PUNCHEON Ay, there 's a grievous impost A duty on good-fellowship, wit, and joy. THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN FIRST CITIZEN How if the soldiers bring more glory home Than booty? BRASIDAS There'll be waggon-loads of both, In endless train choking the frantic streets, Hour by mad hour. SECOND CITIZEN May all be well! Yet somehow There's nothing prancing in men's hearts. CRIPPLE Last night A star fell like a torch through the lit sky. THIRD CITIZEN They say that from his bedchamber the King Saw it, and fearing much what it might bode Could sleep no more. BRASIDAS Uneasy consciences Take fright at lesser things than falling stars. FOURTH CITIZEN Bold words, in such a place! If we had said them, Yon bastille were our lodging. 15 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN BRASIDAS Well, God knows, Its black and hungry mouth may soon enough Gape for me too. SECOND CITIZEN Nay, Brasidas in prison Would as a martyr be more formidable Than Brasidas free, and therein lies thy safety. FIRST ARTISAN Make way there for the lord Parmenio. (Enter PARMENIO, going towards the palace steps.} FIRST ARTISAN My lord, what of the bread-tax? SECOND ARTISAN And the salt-tax? THIRD ARTISAN Ay, and the poll-tax? FOURTH ARTISAN And the hearth-tax? 16 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN FIRST ARTISAN Are These to be done away with? or the burden A little better suited to the back? PUNCHEON What of those crushing wine-duties, my lord? BEGGAR We 've heard that doles and bounties are to be Given to the poor. GARLIC And the deserving idle. FIRST ARTISAN Silence, thou simpleton. SECOND ARTISAN Is it true our debts Are to be blotted out? BEGGAR Are prisoned folk To have their liberty? GARLIC And old offenders To be rewarded? '7 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN THIRD ARTISAN Fool, tie up thy tongue. FOURTH ARTISAN Shall we have cheaper food? FIRST ARTISAN And cheaper justice? (PARMENIO, having ascended the palace steps, pauses at the threshold and faces his inter- rogators.') PARMENIO Good people, is it seemly, at the King's Own door, to pelt me with your questions thus? I go to him even now, that I may learn From his own mouth his full and fixed intent Touching the things you speak of, and to-morrow Yourselves shall learn it too. FIRST CITIZEN Give us to-day At least an inkling of it. We all know That you live close to the King's mind. 18 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN PARMENIO A King's Mind is so sentinelled and guarded, one May live hard by it and ne'er have seen within. Yet, as I would not you should go away Famished for news, such knowledge as is mine I will impart. 'T is known to you already That any day, and almost any hour, May witness the return of glorious Volmar, Our greatest soldier, and perfect flower of war, From conquest of the hereditary foe, Bringing his captives with him, and his spoil, Trophies, and treasure. Now the King intends That this same treasure, which is rumoured vast. Shall be applied to the easing of that burden, That hard load of taxation, borne by you Not without murmur, and upon you laid With most reluctant hand. And furthermore, From the proud hour of Volmar's homecoming, The King ordains a seven days' festival For all his people, his own revenue To bear the cost. Lastly, so royal are The scope and range of his benevolence, He will decree the pardon and release Of all such men in prison (hesitating) THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN POLITIAN (coming from within the palace and standing be- side PARMENIO) As may be freed With safety to the state. PARMENIO Ev'n so, my lord Politian. Now, good people, you have heard The King's benign intentions. Go you therefore To your own homes, with loyal and pious hearts, Thanking yon Heaven that hath so blessed our arms. (Exit POLITIAN) FIRST CITIZEN Long live the King. SECOND CITIZEN Long live the Count Parmenio. FIRST ARTISAN Taxation abolished! THIRD CITIZEN Nay, nay, not so fast. 20 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN GARLIC A seven weeks' feast! SECOND ARTISAN Seven days, old maunderer. THIRD ARTISAN Come, let us spread the news. PUNCHEON If they '11 repeal Those taxes on conviviality SECOND ARTISAN Yes, let us spread the news. 'T is a great day. GARLIC There has not been its like since the millennium. (Exeunt GARLIC and PUNCHEON. Others, on the point of going, remain when BRASIDAS speaks.) BRASIDAS Honoured Parmenio, you are known to all As one not hard to approach, when men crave light On things that touch their bosoms. Will you tell us 21 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN What order of offenders these may be, For whom their prison doors are to fly open? The common felon? the prowling man of prey? The cutpurse and the cut-throat? Is it to these You '11 grant a new lease of the sun and sky? PARMENIO Brasidas, they whose judgment guides this realm Allow you a large liberty of speech: Allow to them some liberty of silence. In statecraft there are things that cannot be As public as a peepshow at a fair. The council chamber of a King is secret, Even as the heart and inwards of thy body Are secret. To uncover their hid workings Were to destroy thee, body and heart and all. BRASIDAS Oh, there 's a world of secret things, my lord, You've touched not on; and since you will not tell me What men are to be freed, who then are they You mean to keep in bonds? Are they the wretches Denounced, in secret, for what cause we know not, And after secret trial hurried down 22 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Where secret night hugs them with iron arms? 'T is a plain question, worth a plain reply. PARMENIO You call your words a question: they are rather An accusation and a wild indictment Hurled against law and justice. B R A S I D A S Law and justice! When was I not the fieriest of their lovers ? Those I indict are they that make the law A byword and a hissing. Turn not thou Away, but hear me. In yon prison-house My father suffers for a deed he did not, And there is he in fetters, where this light We call impartial sends him scarce a beam. Oh, justice is a word that you keep near you, But she, Justice herself, hath long been banished, And somewhere far from all the abodes of Law Her place of exile is. PARMENIO* Your private griefs Are known, and in some measure may be held To excuse the violence of your tongue. But try not 23 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN The patience of Authority too far. Insulted Power can any time cut short The freedom you misuse. BRASIDAS I do defy it To lay a hand upon me. With a signal I could call forth a host as from the ground, Who, if you dared to cast me in yon prison, Would batter down its walls founded in blood, Its doors dabbled with blood, its towers that rise Out of a fen and rank morass of blood, Unpacified blood, not to be quieted, Not to be put to sleep in the earth at all. (Exit) PARMENIO A man so covered with a foam of words Proclaims himself bankrupt of argument. (Exit into palace) FIRST ARTISAN Well, that is as it may be. SECOND ARTISAN For my part, I think our Brasidas had the best of it. 24 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN THIRD ARTISAN We could see plainly which one feared the other. A CITIZEN You all must own, Parmenio bears no blemish As husband, father, or friend. THIRD ARTISAN Why, there's an adage, 'The greatest villains never break a law,' Not that I hint at villainy in his lordship. FOURTH ARTISAN Come, let's remember in what place we stand. They say the gallows hath put some to silence Because they thought too loudly. (Re-enter PUNCHEON) FIFTH ARTISAN As for me, I 've a great mind to go about my business; For I begin to think that politics are A study should be left to learned men, Such as astronomers, and the best-born clergy. THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN PUNCHEON There be few thirstier studies. It begets A marvellous great drouth in a man's throat. FIFTH ARTISAN My study is mending shoes. GARLIC Mend thou thy manners, And stand not gabbling 'neath the very nose Of greatness. Seest thou not yon lords? (Enter from the palace POLITIAN and PARMENIO, who stand in the doorway.) THIRD ARTISAN They look Severely on us. FOURTH ARTISAN Our free speech has been O'erheard. FIRST CITIZEN I am called hence on urgent business. 26 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN SECOND CITIZEN Mine own affairs press furiously. THIRD CITIZEN Mine, too, Call loudly for me. FOURTH CITIZEN Come, let us begone. (Exeunt all persons in the street. POLITIAN and PARMENIO descend the steps.} POLITIAN Mind you, I do not say that the belief In signs and omens and the like is nought But vulgar superstition; for indeed I never did deny that these things are. But why should we befog our intellects With such dark matters? Life is not too clear At broadest noonday, and these messages Dropt from the void are written in a cypher Of which we lack the key. PARMENIO True, true enough; But meet you not a strange mood in the land? 27 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN No gaiety gambols by and here and there Men congregate like birds that have forewarning Of dread events in Nature. POLITIAN We'll divert Their minds with shows and pageantry. Such toys Put that great babe, the People, in good humour. (Enter ZORAYA) But who is this? Old as the cliffs she seems, Yet as unbowed as they are. What would'st thou with us? ZORAYA My errand is to speak unto the King. POLITIAN Impossible. He is sick, and hath much need Of slumber. ZORAYA They that sent me do not sleep. POLITIAN And who are they, good dame? THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN ZO R A Y A They are the Powers That spin the secret threads of life and death. PARMENIO Thou art she the people call the prophetess? ZO RAY A Too great a title. I receive, at most, Blurred intimations of what is to be. I am tantalised with Heaven's half-confidences. I am hurt with flying splinters of the truth. PARMENIO Speak what thou knowest. If evil be at hand, Whom does it menace? Z O R A Y A I can only tell thee That doom hangs o'er this day, and here will fall. Nought more do I know. (Exit) PARMENIO She gives to it no form Our senses can lay hold on. 29 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN P O L I T I A N For my palate, This diet is a thought too translunary. I have lived my life with things that can be touched, Tested, and weighed. PARMENIO Yet there are other things. POLITIAN Oh, there are things which better brains than mine Ere now have dashed themselves to pieces on; But if I break my pate, 't is little solace To have broken it sublimely, against the stars. Here our ways part PARMENIO Until we meet again An hour past noon. POLITIAN That time when day, like me, Grows middle-aged and unromantical. (Exit) 3 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN PARMENIO How covetable that strictly bounded mind, No shreds of twilight hanging loose upon it! Mine own leans out into the Dark, and so Hazards its very balance, in hope to catch The footfall of events ere they arrive, And from the Dark wins nothing. 'T is to no purpose One plays the eavesdropper about Fate's door. The servants there are incorruptible, And will not sell one secret to the world. (Escti) SCENE III A room in the palace opening widely on a garden, which lies in brilliant sunshine. PARMENIO alone. To him enter POLITIAN. In the garden an aged gardener at work. POLITIAN Where is the Prince? PARMENIO Here I await him now, But he forgets. POLITIAN His studies more and more Engross him. History, polity, jurisprudence He takes them all as steps by which to mount Toward the crowning art of ruling men. PARMENIO He does not seem disdainful of the art Of wooing women. 32 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN POLITIAN There I think he trusts Rather to Nature. Hark, I hear his foot. (Enter PRINCE HESPERUS) PARMENIO Highness, what news of Volmar? HESPERUS He hath crossed The mountain ridge already. His messengers, Sent spurring on before him at the dawn, Have just arrived. Hither he marches slowly, Much cumbered with the greatness of his spoil, But ere the daylight droops it is believed He will be here. There is a grassy knoll From whose smooth shoulder he will first look down Upon the city. Then will his trumpeters Sound out their taratantara on the air, Blowing a silver salutation to us. All hath gone well save only that I fear This sickness of the King will somewhat tarnish Our pomps, and give a greyness and a pallor To our rejoicings. 33 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN PARMENIO But he hath great power Of rallying! Is he not in the garden? HESPERUS Ay, there My father sits, quite worn out with the chase. PARMENIO The chase? HESPERUS Three nights and days he hath hunted sleep, And still it flies and flies. (Enter VENORA, followed by a waiting maid carry- ing needlework.} VENORA Do I break in Upon high matters? HESPERUS Yes, sweet lady, you Break in upon them as the snowdrop breaks In upon January. 34 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN V E N O R A I cannot do A stitch of this embroidery to-day; (to her maid} Yet leave it. (Exit maid) I have but one thought a hero Comes homeward, beautiful with victory. POLITIAN A great and fair occasion. I remember One very different the return of Rainald From miserable defeat. HESPERUS Him that was called A whirlwind on a warhorse in his day. V E N O R A A weeping welcome would be his, I doubt not. POLITIAN A silent one save for a few that hissed. V E N O R A O shameful! I 'd have stripped the summer of all Its roses, to make sweet the ways for him. 35 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN HESPERUS Alas, we oft are prone to do as they did: The man whom Fate hath scourged we scourge again. To-day let us forget these things. V E N O R A How darkly Yon cedar reaches out its solemn arms! I am a little sorry for the flowers That have to live so near it. Their gay thoughts Seem chidden and put down by its grave bearing, And for their sake I think that I could almost Wish it away. HESPERUS Ah, know you not its story? Then listen. It was mine ancestor Alexius, The founder of our house, who long ago Did with his own hand set that tree in earth; And 't is affirmed that our own royal fortunes Are with its life bound up: if it decay, We wither; while it flourishes we flourish; But when it dies we fall from sovereignty, And wear a crown no more. THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN V E N O R A Then will we hope The tree keeps young in heart, for I have heard, That is the secret of long life in all things. (Enter, in the garden, the KING.) Look where the King himself walks toward it. HESPERUS With what slow, feeble steps! V E N O R A Since I have been A guest within these walls, I never saw him Leaning upon his staff so wearily. KING (touching the tree caressingly) Still sound still sound and hale. How many a time In troubled dreams have I beheld thee maimed, And stricken through with death! But in clear daylight Is not all well with thee? Art thou not full Of great desire to live for ages yet, And is not great desire strong as resolve? 37 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Oh, that I had some sovereign prophylactic, Able to drive far from thee all disease, And all decay for ever! HESPERUS Is it meet That we should gaze on his distempered mood? V E N O R A It is not kind. HESPERUS Let's forth into the sun. KING (to the gardener) Fellow, what things in Nature may they be, What powers of earth or air, that most do threaten The life and welfare of a tree like this? GARDENER Why, King, a tree be in many ways mightily like a man. Now if a man feed well, and live orderly, and keep a still mind, and have no very great shocks of trouble, he may come to a wonder- ful great age. And so is it with trees. But there 38 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN is the weevil, now, that eateth through the bark: unto the tree he is like gnawing care, cark and care, and in time he will let in death to the very heartwood. Then there be long droughts, where- by the tree is stinted of its right meat and drink: that is want woful want and good trees hath it killed. Then there are fell tempests also; these be great shocks, and they do not come and go without leaving their mark somewhere, though the eye may see it not. KING How long might this cedar yet live? GARDENER Why, King, that is most hard to tell. But it may live a long while yet, except it die suddenly by the act of God. KING What meanest thou? GARDENER I mean naught else but the lightning, the thunderbolt; for that is the act of God. 39 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN KING Ay, truly. And if the lightning should split this trunk, I fall at one stroke from Kinghood to an estate which a beggar might despise. For then should I and mine in a moment be but as your mock princes, your hide-and-seek pretenders, that go pranked in a sort of out-at-elbow greatness, and posture through life, demanding the rever- ence no man pays, and for ever sighing over lost occasions; the very phantoms of majesty. To come to that in a twinkling! How terrible a thing may be the act of God! GARDENER Oho, there is rottenness in this branch. This in time would open the door to death. This bough must be lopped straightway. (Enter QUEEN in the garden) KING (The gardener lops the bough} Hold, sirrah! Oh, what is this that thou hast done? I felt his blade strike through me here. (He staggers , the QUEEN supports him.) Queen! wife! 40 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN What ruthless surgeon have they sent to me, That gashes me in the side, and leaves unstaunched The wound his bistoury gave? QUEEN Nay, King, thou hast No hurt at all. But thy long sleepless nights Have sorely jarred thy brain. The air to-day Is of a fevering heat in this closed garden. I know not if 't is good for thee. KING My mind Fell ghastly sick one moment; but thy voice Hath ever unto me a healing sound, And I am well again. QUEEN Let us go in. (They enter the palace. Enter from another side POLITIAN, PARMENIO, and ERMINIUS.) ERMINIUS Your Grace, I have discovered and frustrated Yet one more foul design these letters here 41 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Attest its deadly nature to subvert Your rule, and overthrow the throne itself. KING (glancing at papers) The air hums with conspiracies to uproot me. ERMINIUS Sir, during this your ever blessed reign, I have unearthed in all ten several plots Against your Majesty's most sacred life. P O L I T I A N (aside) After inventing at least nine of them. ERMINIUS / I wait not the full hatching of these treasons, But crush them as it were in the very egg, Almost before there is POLITIAN (aside) A hen to lay it. 42 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN E R M I N I U S (to POLITIAN) My lord, I wish you nobler occupation Than piecing out another's sentences. POLITIAN Forgive me; it was a crude attempt to show How I esteem the diligence and despatch That under your direction have so marked Our judicature. ERMINIUS If this be irony, I understand it not; for none denies That in our courts Conviction with all promptness Follows upon the heels of Accusation, While Execution lags not far behind. KING The authors of this plot ERMINIUS Are all in irons. KING Why is yon fellow Brasidas still at large? He brawls under my windows like a fishwife, 43 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Hawking sedition of so rank an odour, Stale fish were lavender to it. ERMINIUS Majesty, We do not think him dangerous. He has Indeed no following save a sort of men Whose thought will never ripen into action. KING Thought has been tolerated much too long. ERMINIUS It is indeed most troublous. KING Look you to it That from to-morrow he be in safe keeping. We '11 see whether the chastening prison diet Give any touch of fine austerity To an eloquence a little overblown. ERMINIUS Consider, sir, at such a time, the man Being so popular 44 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN POLITIAN And to do him justice He is rather a good quality of windbag. PARMENIO I have no cause to love him. But oft such men Are to the State as boiling springs to the earth, That vent her plethera and so cool her fever. KING Enough enough I see you are all in league With them that plot against me. It is to you I owe it that I cannot sleep i' the night For menacing voices, yea, and furtive hands, That draw aside the curtains of my bed, And only fail of their intent by some Mighty interposition. Get you gone Out of my house. What are you counsellors ? Counterfeits rather mimes semblances spectres. Out of my house: is it not haunted enough Already? Go. (Exeunt POLITIAN, PARMENIO, and ERMINIUS.) 45 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN QUEEN Dear lord, these altercations Do only leave thee shattered. Put all discord Far from thy mind, and let us walk again Among the agreeing flowers. KING Presently I '11 to the garden with thee; and in truth My life is well-nigh bounded by its walls. (Paces the room, then pauses.) The air is very heavy and still. Almost Would night seem to have trespassed upon day, So dark it grows. (Enter HESPERUS and VENORA from the garden.) HESPERUS Dark? Doth he jest? If not, Then, in the name of sunlight and all splendour, What fantasy is this? Father, I think A brighter day never lit up the world. KING Have I no eyes? For all permitted uses I have a pair as serviceable as thine. No palsy in them. 46 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN PRINCE But the spirit's fatigue May for a time oppress the lucid vision. KING I tell thee I can see as well as thou; And were there any falseness in a man, Though he were mine own child, I should espy it. I '11 put my sight to the test before you all. Lady, thy finest, thy most tenuous needle! And now a thread, the slenderest filament Thou hast. If quickly through this needle's eye My hand persuade the silken thread to travel, Wilt thou still hold me purblind? (He attempts to thread the needle.} Nay, I cannot! It is this wan, blear, and untimely darkness Baffles mine eyes. PRINCE Strange, he should talk of darkness, When all above us is perfect blue and gold, And there is not a speck upon the day. 47 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN KING (looking out upon the garden) Still darker. It is that great silent moment When stands the packed and loaded storm, in doubt Whether to hurl the thunderstone or no. The massy blackness builds itself as a wall, With towers that topple upon us; and there are faces, Puckering enormous brows. Cannot a man Cherish a cedar and watch over it, And ravel up his heartstrings with its fibres, But soon the very heavens must seek it out With an especial malice, to work its ruin? Stay, thunder, in thy caverns ! Or burst forth, And mow down all the forests of the world With thy hot scythe, so thou but spare these boughs, Whereon the fate of Kings yet unconceived Trembles. Ah, now the storm breaks from its moorings, And the forked fury with its jagged leap Already is on us. It strikes the tree: the cedar Is riven to its anguished roots it falls asunder, Crashing unto the earth, and bears us with it, Pulled from our height of place and royal station 48 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN For ever. Now am I a King no more, And thou indeed art a King's son no more, And thou thou art queenly still, but Queen no more. Thy hand, here will I rest a little. (He totters into a chair.} Tear off This purple lie: we are nothing now or only A proverb of the unstableness of the earth Beneath the feet of princes. QUEEN If he could But sleep awhile, that were the sovereign balsam, And waking he would be himself again. (A sound of distant trumpets. The KING lifts his head and listens.) V E N O R A Hark! HESPERUS It is Volmar greeting us from the hill. (The KING sinks into sleep.) 49 SCENE IV The same. HESPERUS, booted and spurred. VENORA. HESPERUS The hours go nimbly, it is almost time That I were riding forth to meet the hero. (Enter QUEEN) How is my father? QUEEN He is in deep sleep. HESPERUS His chiefest need! QUEEN I think that when he wakens, The thick cloud will have lifted from his brain. HESPERUS And he will be again the King we knew. (Enter an usher) 5 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN 9 USHER An officer of General Count Volmar's, Sent in advance of the returning forces, Craves access to this presence. HESPERUS Let him in. (Enter HILDERIC) Is it not Hilderic? HILDERIC It is, my lord. HESPERUS A brave and skilful soldier. Thou art welcome. HILDERIC The General, who will soon be at the gates, Hath sent me on as bearer of this gift Of jewels, if her grace will not disdain it. (Servants bring in a treasure-chest?) (To QUEEN) Lord Volmar bade me say, that he himself Hath little learning in their qualities, And should there be among them things of nought, He begs you'll pardon both the gift and giver. 5' THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN QUEEN Why, here are sapphires, rubies, emeralds V E N O R A Calcedony, and sardonyx, and jacinth QUEEN And every coveted gem the earth conceives. A lordly gift indeed ! HESPERUS Thou bringest jewels, But it is news we are most greedy of. Draw me a picture of the war, as thou Didst see it. HILDERIC Well, sir, it hath been a fierce And bitter strife. For at the outset, mark you, The enemy did so stubbornly resist, Even to the point of wild foolhardihood, That nought was left us but to throw away All mercy, and strike terror deep and wide. Therefore did we let loose those trusty hounds, Rapine and Fire; and ever as we marched, We lit our way with blazing farms and hamlets. But when we had put whole cities to the sword, 5* THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN And plentifully had sown the seed of famine By wasting all their fruitfullest land, the rest Was easy; for the people's spirit then Being broken, they looked on with listless gaze At their own ruin, and we now bring home The spoil of temples and of palaces, The choicest treasures of a once rich Kingdom, Leaving behind us peace, and a great stillness. V E N O R A On what a deep, wide base of other's sorrow Is built to-day our joy! HILDERIC Ay, madam, that Is true enough; but 't is the sort of truth To which we soldiers have to give the go-by. V E N O R A Yet surely there's a place in heroes' hearts, Where pity for the fall'n hath lodging? HILDERIC Madam, I have a little son, some five years old, As pretty a rogue as you should wish to see, Who has an army all of painted tin 53 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A standing army till he knocks it down And then, what pity has he for the fallen? HESPERUS Not much, I '11 swear. HILDERIC Well, as he plays his game, So play we ours upon a larger table. But play it on a kingdom or a carpet, 'T is still a game. 'T is the great Game of War. HESPERUS Which men play basely or nobly, as themselves Are base or noble. But take it as we will, Destruction is a destroying, slaughter a slaying. We cannot yet make war as we make love, Carry a citadel by a serenade, And ride into a fortress on a sigh. For war is war, its chronicles at their best Dreadful, and at their worst an inventory Of all that is in Hell. QUEEN Come, let us look Once more at these rare treasures. Amulets 54 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN And signets cameos and intaglios Here's wealth enough to dower an emperor's daughter! HESPERUS Had Volmar flung a province in thy lap, 'T were scarce a richer offering. v E N o R A Do but mark The wondrous workmanship ! stone after stone Carved into shapes of life, or overwrought With fancies, dreams, out of old Grecian story. Here Hermes binds Ixion to the wheel; Here is the yet unfreed Andromeda; Here Theseus slays the Minotaur; and there A naked soul quails before Rhadamanthus, The cold judge of the dead. On this is figured The maiden goddess of the bow and quiver; On this, Medea drives her dragon team. Lo, Psyche here, at last made one with Eros, And all her sorrows over. And on that sard You may behold Achilles, not in wrath, But with a brow of pity, as when he mourned Penthesilea. 55 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN HESPERUS Carven in green jasper Here stands Actaeon, by his own hounds torn, As men are torn by their own fierce desires, Who hunt delight too madly. V E N O R A And upon This amethyst Arachne at her loom, Daring to match the perfect woof of Pallas, Weaves her own perfect woe. QUEEN Hardly a gem But tells some ancient tale alas, how oft A mournful one! V E N O R A Here is a priceless stone So rudely wrought it must be wondrous old. HESPERUS Rather I think it but of our own day. For Art, being in its childhood barbarous ever, In feeble age grows barbarous again, Its second childhood reached. Yet here is not 56 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A jewel but might fittingly adorn, At tonight's feast, the lovliest brow or bosom. To-night, good Hilderic, thy great commander, And thou and all his captains, sup with us; And if the fare be worthy of the guests, This house will not have seen a goodlier banquet. HILDERIC We'll bring brave appetites, I '11 take my oath on 't, And some of us a valiant thirst to boot. HESPERUS The jocund lamplight hath a happier secret In drawing heart to heart than the staid day, And under it we'll all meet joyously. 57 SCENE V The street in front of the palace, crowded with all sorts of persons in gay attire, amongst them ABBO of the Woods, conspicuous in sombre rustic garb. In the doorway of the palace, the QUEEN, HESPERUS, VENORA, POLITIAN, PARMENIO, and other courtiers and ladies. ABBO Nay, friend, grudge me not a little standing- room. FIRST CITIZEN But thou requirest so much of it. Thou art made on such a large pattern. ABBO Well, well, we are none of us built after our own planning else thy nose would have been shorter. CHORUS OF VOICES Ha, ha, ha! 58 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN SECOND CITIZEN Who planned that coat of thine? FIRST CITIZEN In what King's reign flourished thy tailor? THIRD CITIZEN Did thy clothes come out of Noah's Ark? A B B O Now ye should all be grateful to me, seeing that my old homespun doth the better set off your finery. FIRST CITIZEN Ay, to be sure it doth. And no doubt thy gar- ments were fashionable enough in Methuselah's time. FOURTH CITIZEN Come, let the man alone. He hath an honest country face. SECOND CITIZEN Ay, and acres of honest country mud on his boots. 59 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN FIRST CITIZEN Hark, they are at hand. VOICES IN ANQTHER STREET Long live Volmar! Hail to the conqueror! Long life to Volmar! Hail, Volmar! (Enter VOLMAR riding at the head of his army accompanied by HESPERUS.) VOICES Hail, Volmar! Long life to the victor! Glory to Volmar and all his host! Hail to thee, Volmar! Honour to the conqueror! Hail, hail! (VOLMAR dismounts and is met on the palace steps by the KING and QUEEN, and others of the royal household.} KING Welcome, most noble Volmar. You went from us Under a pelting hail of men's good wishes, To come back in the sunshine of their praise. VOLMAR A very thunderous sunshine, Prince, so loud The people cheered us. 60 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN HESPERUS And what sound on earth Matches the crash and peal of a people's joy? QUEEN Our welcome of you is in softer key, But not less truly J t is the heart that speaks it. KING Forgive me that I rode not forth to meet thee Beyond the walls, as I would fain have done; For gladly had I seen, from afar off, The mingled dust and glitter of thine approach, But the infirmities of this vext clay Here held me bound and captive. Take thou now The thanks that unto valour and lofty service Are due, and if I use a poor pale word For want of nobler, hear thou in it only Its wealthiest meaning. I am forced to drink Deep of inglorious rest, a thing I loathe For in my youth they taught me that to rest Is to rust also; but to-night we revel, We feast together, thou and I and mine; And we will talk of all the battles thou Hast fought, and the great wars we both have known, 61 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN And the great warriors; and with memories such As these we'll fledge the hours. V O L M A R Ay, sir, we'll make them Flee like your routed foes. And sweet, indeed To us that long have fed on soldiers' fare, Sweet will it be, to gather at thy table, Exchange the rough life of the camp and field For princely cheer, princely companionship, Forget the reek of carnage in the breath Of ladies' lips, and speed the night on wings Of wassail, and drink down the morning star In cups of triumph ! A B B O Go drink of Hell's flood tide. (Plucks a dagger from his breast and flings himself on VOLMAR.) V O L M A R Off, off, vile peasant! (Is stabbed and falls. Shrieks of women. Wild commotion.) VOICES He is stabbed to death! Volmar is murdered! 62 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN QUEEN Murdered at our door? (The KING sinks back and is supported by his courtiers.) HESPERUS Seize the assassin. (Leaps into the street, followed by PARMENIO and others. ABBO is surrounded and stands ward- ing off attempts to overpower him.) FIRST CITIZEN Seize him. SECOND CITIZEN Show him no mercy. THIRD CITIZEN Despatch him. A SOLDIER Flay him first. FIRST CITIZEN Rend him in pieces. 63 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN HESPERUS Stay! Harm him not! A SOLDIER O Prince, this churl has killed Thy noblest. HESPERUS (bending over VOLMAR'S body) Are ye sure the wound is mortal? p A R M E N i o Perhaps it is not past the healer's skill. AN OFFICER Yea, 't is his heartblood overflows these steps. A SOLDIER Dead dead, my lords. HESPERUS O miserable end! Thou shouldst have fall'n in splendour of battle, slain By some most glorious sword and here thou liest, Thy flame of life put out by yon base hand. Who art thou, wretch? 64 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A B B O My name is Abbo. Where I dwelt, men call me Abbo of the Woods. HESPERUS Have I not somewhere looked upon thy face? ABBO I cannot tell. A SOLDIER Suffer us now to slay This man. HESPERUS Again I charge you, harm him not! Stand off from him. So great a murderer Shall fall not thus, beneath your casual steel. No single arm shall hew him down haphazard, Nor aught less than a realm and people be His executioner; for he shall have Justice, a thing more terrible to the wicked Than random vengeance. Take ye him away, And set strict guard on him. Deny him not The smallest customary privilege The law decrees for men yet uncondemned. Omit no form, fulfil each due observance, 65 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN And let him, at the fitting place and time, Be brought to trial and judgment, that hereafter None shall have cause to say of us, 'They gave The violent up to violence, and delivered Unto the lawless them that broke the laws.' Take ye him hence and do no wrong to him. 66 SCENE VI The same. Enter from one side a countryman with his wife and child. From the other side GARLIC. COUNTRYMAN Good master, is it true that there is to be no shows or plays or feasting? GARLIC Ay, the King hath in his infinite wisdom forbid them by reason of this great man's death. COUNTRYWOMAN We might as well ha' stayed at home. GARLIC Have ye travelled far? COUNTRYMAN A matter of twenty mile. GARLIC I had an uncle was a great traveller in his youth, but he made a true repentance and died 67 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN a right godly man, much honoured as a cheese- monger. COUNTRYMAN Was not this a very great man indeed that was killed hereabouts? GARLIC Ay, he was a very great man. He was, as ye may say, an ensample to us all. Have ye not heard what a world of trouble and mischief he was ever stirring up? That is the sure sign of your truly great man. CHILD Mother, what is a great man like to look at? COUNTRYWOMAN Lord, child, how should I know, that never saw one? CHILD I should fear to meet one on a dark night. GARLIC When I think upon such greatness as was his, I seem in mine own eyes to be scarce more than an ordinary mortal. Were ye never here before? 68 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN COUNTRYWOMAN Never in all our days. GARLIC There is much ye might see with profit. Yonder, now, is our famous jail, and if ye go round by the northeast side ye will espy the gallows. A nobler gallows you could not wish for. COUNTRYWOMAN We had a most fair prospect of it as we came by. GARLIC Well, I must now bid you good-day. See that ye fall not among evil company. These be graceless times and there is fearful regeneracy around us. (Exit) COUNTRYMAN AND COUNTRYWOMAN Good-day, good master. (Enter from opposite sides BRASIDAS and a CITIZEN) BRASIDAS All is in readiness. You will not forget the hour? THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN CITIZEN God forbid. (Exit) BRASIDAS (to the countryfolk) Have ye any friends in this city that could protect you from harm if need were? COUNTRYMAN Nay, sir, we know not a soul. BRASIDAS There may be tumults. If you are wise, you will go back to your village. I counsel you for your good. COUNTRYMAN Sir, I am sure thou dost. We will go back to-night. I would we were home now on our farmstead. (Exeunt countrypeople) BRASIDAS Good simple folk, what mummery and trumpery they come hither to gaze at! and at home they have the great pageant of the harvest, and all the sweetness of the earth at their doors. 70 SCENE VII The same. Night-time. Enter BRAS ID AS near the prison. He knocks at a barred window. BRASIDAS What tidings? ( The window is slightly opened and a light flashed on his face.) VOICE WITHIN Is it Brasidas? BRASIDAS T is he. VOICE The flax field is in flower. ( BRASIDAS Goodnight. VOICE Goodnight. 7 1 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN BRASIDAS So all is well. He hath the signal-word At his tongue's tip. And yet was that the voice I thought to hear? Yes, all is well. And soon My sworn and faithful will have gathered to me, And by connivance of the friend within, Long ere the dawn, this fortress of foul night, This house of groans, this place of shuddering, Will be delivered up into our hands, With all its secret archives, that will show Tyranny with her gorgeous vesture off, Her very self, stripped to her soul. And yet, Did not the voice sound unfamiliar? No, all is well; misgivings must not now Trammel the hot wheels of Resolve, when fate Hangs on a filament of gossamer. It is the cavernous and deep-mouthed night, That gives unto all voices its own accent. (Enter ZORAYA, going towards the palace steps. BRASIDAS conceals himself in shadow.) ZORAYA Here was it done, here was he taken and slain. They have not even washed the blood away. Or is it the red hue of porphyry 72 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN That under this perverting and sick light Can mock mine eyes? Nay, it is blood itself, Haunting these steps. But Oh, thou murdered man, It was by far, far redder steps than these That thou didst climb to what men take for greatness. Thou wert more cruel than the forest fire, Thou wert more callous than the lean-lipped sea. And thou didst climb and climb as a sleep-walker May climb a mountain knowing not it is Etna Till headlong down its sulphurous throat he falls. I hear a step. Is 't Brasidas? BRASIDAS None other. Z O R A Y A Friend, whatsoever scheme or undertaking Thou hast in hand, attempt not on this night To shape it to a deed. BRASIDAS How hast thou heard? To none hath it been breathed, save them that were To act with me. 73 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Z O R A Y A No matter how I know, Or what I know. But if thou should'st proceed With what thou did'st intend, expect disaster. BRASIDAS Whence, then, does hidden danger threaten? ZO R A Y A Enough That something thou would'st war against is strong To-night, and watchful. What indeed it is I do but dimly see. It rises like A crag that hurls back a besieging wave. BRASIDAS I know thee full of truth as of strange foresight, And this thy warning chimes with mine own doubts, That were but now with difficulty stilled. If I put off this enterprise, what then? ZO R A Y A Have thou a little patience. Let time work. Slowly the spirit of the world itself 74 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Is bringing to the birth all thou did'st dream, And with thee or without thee shall thy cause Prevail. BRASIDAS My cause is nothing less than man's. ZO R A Y A Then it must conquer. BRASIDAS Unless Evil have Indeed celestial warrant, and gross wrong Be something at which deity itself Connives. But that I '11 ne'er believe. Zoraya, There's not much passes within palace walls But thou dost know it or so runs the rumour: What hast thou heard to-night touching the King? ZORAYA At first, when he looked on at Volmar's death, Horror quite smote him down; but shaking off His weakness like a mantle, he rose as though Calamity had girded up and braced him, Such quick rebound of spirit he hath. 75 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN B R A S I D A S Some say He carries, in a ring upon his finger, Drops of a wondrous potion, a quintessence Not to be used save in extremity, But able to call back the escaping life Even when in act to fly. Z O R A Y A And some declare It hath quite opposite virtue. BRASIDAS Ah ! who knows ? Tell me one other thing. In these last days Do any tidings of my father reach thee? 2 O R A Y A He is no more in prison. This very morn He was set free, by one who soon or late Does from these corporal bonds enlarge us all. BRASIDAS What, is my father dead? Dead in a dungeon! (A great bell tolls the hour of one.) 76 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Z O R A Y A That was the voice of the new day. Farewell. (Exit ZORAYA) BRASIDAS Farewell. The new day. It was time the old Went to its rest. The new day the new day! 77 SCENE VIII A Court of Justice. PETRUS in the judgment seat. ABBO of the Woods arraigned before him. The QUEEN, VENORA, and others sitting as spec- tators. Guards, scribes, officials. At the back of the Court the populace. PETRUS The crime, which with deliberate fell intent, Before a multitude of witnesses, You did notoriously commit, and here Acknowledge by your own mouth without shame, Is one, the like whereof hath not been seen On this our soil, within men's memory. You took your victim, the most noble Volmar, All unawares, in the great hour that crowned His glorious life, and slew him on the steps Of the King's palace, with the same stroke wounding The heart of a whole people. (Enter HESPERUS) 78 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN From that hour Till now, all justice and all fairness have Been shown to you. Nothing which might avail you, In this your trial, hath been to you denied. You have been proffered, and you did refuse, The services of one who, by vocation A pleader at the Bar, would have set forth Whatever might be urged in your behoof, With suasive art and skill. Nought now remains But to pass judgment on you, and apportion Your penalty to the greatness of that guilt, Which in its full height stands before the world, Manifest to all men's eyes. HESPERUS Most learned Judge, I crave indulgence for what well might seem A lawless trespass upon this tribunal. No least infringement of its sanctity Do I intend. Indeed, though I have ne'er Sat amid those who practise in our courts, Yet have I, without favour, or the relaxing Of due and rigorous tests, attained to hold A mastership and doctorate in our laws, Such as do fully entitle me, if so 79 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN I list, to take my stand with professed pleaders, The brotherhood of the forensic robe. Nay, in the quality of an advocate, Not else, do I claim audience in this court; And though it be at the eleventh hour, And almost one can see the headsman's finger Trying the axe, I call for stay of sentence, Till I can bring before you certain matter f Unbroached yet in this trial, but none the less Most pertinent to the issue. P E T R U S At your desire Judgment shall stand deferred, and aught you say Shall here be gravely pondered. HESPERUS Prisoner, What King is he whom thou dost serve? A B B O King Othgar, Thine enemy. HESPERUS In whose land wert thou born? 80 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN A B B O King Othgar's land, which ye made war upon. HESPERUS Where was thy dwelling? A B B O In the forest, near The boundaries where King Othgar's land meets thine. HESPERUS (to the JUDGE) Now, as it chances, tidings which to-day Have reached us from those confines make it plain That, notwithstanding Volmar's victories, A state of war hath never truly ceased. Still on the frontier do its smouldering embers Flash daily into angry life, and though The enemy's hosts in battle on battle were quelled, Their Kingdom, as a Kingdom, ne'er did make Formal submission, nor hath any pact Or treaty of peace been signed, and, in a word, A state of war still to this hour obtains; Whence I contend that this man's act, the slaying Of his own countrymen's arch-enemy, 81 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Was in its essence a pure act of war, Entitling him to no more grievous usage Than all those captives of our arms receive, Whom we condemn to labour in the mines Or at the galleys. P E T R U S I must count your plea As but a specious one. Nought hath been here Adduced in proof that this man's action flowed From any founts akin to public virtue Or patriot zeal. You give to his deed a colour Which its own doer perchance would disavow. HESPERUS (to ABBO) What moved thee to the deed? Tell unto us Its story. ABBO On that border, where till now My dwelling was, there grew I up from birth, And lived by hunting of great forest beasts, And selling of their furs, and tusks, and hides. Alone I dwelt, save that my child, my daughter, A damsel ripening unto womanhood, 82 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Dwelt with me. And it came to pass, when first Ye marched against my country, that your armies Were thereabouts encamped a little while; And one day, toward eventide, the maiden, My daughter, by rude hands laid hold upon, Was taken and carried unto Volmar's tent, That he might have his will with her, and there, Upon that night, he forced her to abide. And in the morn she was cast out among The soldiers, to be slave to any man's Desire. This was I told by one that knew. But ere another sun went down upon them They found her body, slain by her own hand, For she and Shame could not live on together. And in the woods I abode, and when your hosts Marched back that way, with the camp-followers I mixed unknown, and with them hitherward I came. And God was good to me. He gave Into these hands the. man they hungered for; And I did take and slay him in his pride. And could I slay him a thousand times again, That would I do. P E T R U S Thus is the prisoner's act, Save in the greatness of the victim, seen 8.1 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN To stand with common crimes of private vengeance. As for his private wrongs, and whether these Do in some measure palliate his offence, With all such questions I am unconcerned. I sit not here to deal in casuistry, But to administer the law. His crime Was open and flagrant, and if I myself Did inwardly incline to pardon him, I could not. The prerogative of pardon Dwells with the King alone. HESPERUS Then to the King I make appeal. KING Thou might'st, with as good fortune, Appeal to the dead hero, that lies stark In his yet unclosed coffin, as to me. v E N o R A O King, remember this man's mighty woe. QUEEN If thou had'st but a daughter of thine own 84 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN V E N O R A (throwing herself at his feet) Thou hast! for this thy son and I are wedded, Though never until now told we the world. KING What, secret spousals? When a King's son mates, His bride should be the daughter of a King. Yet never saw I in thee aught unlovely, Or aught unwomanlike or any fault Save what is common to all thy sex, for being Women, ye think a Kingdom can be swayed By women's tears ye set a peasant's wrongs, And the light handling of a country wench, Above a mourning realm. QUEEN Girl, with this kiss A queen makes thee her daughter. King, thy wife, Thy son, thy daughter, sue for this man's pardon. Have pity, have pity upon him. KING Let pity know Its place and season. Pity gone astray Hath led men blindfold to the wilderness, Whither I '11 follow it not. This miscreant's hand 85 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Hath robbed me of a man whose worth to me Was that of armies. If I pardon him, May Heaven in anger HESPERUS Oh, speak not some wild word Thou 'It wish to unsay. KING You Powers, whate'er ye are, That weigh us in your balance if I show Mercy unto this murderer, straightway then Visit me with your signal malediction, And let some visible stroke of instant fate Wither me into ashes, even here Where now I stand. HESPERUS My task was hard before, And in a moment it is made thrice harder; But come what may I will not flinch from it. Prisoner, I now must lead thy memory back Unto a certain morn, seven years ago, When all that border-forest round thy dwelling Rang with the hunters' bugles. On that day, There, in a thicket, and by chance divided From his companions, lay a stripling, gored 86 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Deep by some savage tusk, and bleeding nigh To death. And thou did'st find and bear him thence Unto thy dwelling, and did'st dress his wound, And with a rough but heartening wine thou did'st Bring back the life that else had ebbed too far. Hast thou a recollection of his face? A B B O 'T was strangely like thine own. KING (to HESPERUS) The man dissembles. Thou art mistaken in him he does but catch At the offered cue, and play up to thy thought. HESPERUS (to ABBO) Then with returning breath I bade thee ask Whate'er thou would'st in recompense, but thou, Who knewest not who I was, would'st only take A trivial gift, a thing of little price. ABBO Not so it was thy jewelled hunting horn. THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN HESPERUS Whereon I bade thee blow a blast to call My comrades, which thou did'st; but when they came Thou wert not to be found, and they declared That something either less or more than human Had tended me and vanished. p E T R u s (to ABBO) Hast thou still That hunting horn? ABBO In my wood hut it lies, But long ago I plucked from it the gems, And sold them, being in need two greenish stones, With figures cut upon them. One did seem A huntress, and the other was a stag Torn down by hounds. HESPERUS Diana one the other Actaeon, fabled to have been transformed Into that antlered shape. Here are some gems THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN Whereon those very figures that you speak of Are, with a varying fancy, deftly carven. Canst thou point out the two, if here they be, Which from that horn thou sever'dst? This is one A B B o (examining the gems) That is the other. HESPERUS True. These two alone Are portion of that gift which Volmar gave Unto the Queen those jewels brought by him From this man's country; and these two I well Remember, as having once been set in gold On that same bugle of mine. KING Woe, woe is me! VOICES OF THE POPULACE Pardon the man. Release him. Let him go. KING Have I not called on Heaven to smite me down If I should show him mercy? THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN VOICES Set him free. He saved thy son. KING The dread Power I invoked Is swift to take us at our word, and bind us To the letter of our contracts. HESPERUS King, my father, God is more just than thou dost picture Him. Dost thou suppose He is a bartering God, That makes a profit out of our poor folly, Alert to seize on our unwariness, To catch us tripping and stickle for a price? And should'st thou dare to do a worthy thing, Dost thou imagine that the august Begetter Of all this world shall then fall short of thee In righteous dealing? KING He hath me in His hold, And thou, who art young, know'st not how hard it is To slip out of a bargain made with Heaven. 90 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN VOICES Pardon the man. Free him. He saved thy son. _ (Enter among the populace ZORAYA) Z O R A Y A Hear me, King! There is one only way For thee to cut this knot. Lay down thy King- ship; Then shall a King succeed, who hath not yet Pledged him to cast out Mercy, but will rather Beckon her to an almost equal seat Beside great Justice. VOICES A word in season. Ay, A wise word. Abdicate. Uncrown thyself. KING Ye cannot be as weary of your King As he is weary of Kinghood. I will do Your bidding. I am very humble now. See, I make way for another for a King Not bound, like me, by a rash covenant With the exacting skies. (He breaks the seal of his ring, which he places to his lips. He staggers and sinks back.} 9 1 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN QUEEN O help, ere he Be gone! Help! V E N O R A Then the ring had poison in it! KING He whom I sent for loiters not, but hither Rides at full speed. Wife, thou didst ever have Great patience with me. HESPERUS Can we do nought at all To ease thy going hence? KING There's nothing needed. After this tangled life, death seems a thing Most excellently simple. (Dies) HESPERUS He is dead. He who alive had much infirmity Hath strongly laid life down. Whate'er his faults, 92 THE HERALDS OF THE DAWN We'll think them not himself, but outermost Apparel only, and fold them all away In silence. As for thee, who standest there And seest thy vengeance full and perfected, The King alone could pardon thee, and I Am henceforth King. Take then from me for- giveness, And go thou back to thine own land in peace. THE END 93 ii v