War Brides: A Play in One Act | Page 7

give the sons we bear.
Hertz: [Chuckling.]
Sit in the councils? That would be a joke. I see. Mother, she's a little--[Touches his forehead suggestively.] Sit in the councils with the men and shape the destiny of the nation! Ha! ha!
Hedwig:
Laugh, Herr Captain, but the day will come; and then there will be no more war. No, you will not always keep us here, dumb, silent drudges. We will find a way.
Hertz: [Turning to the mother.]
That is what comes of letting Franz go to a factory town, Maria. That is where he met this girl. Factory towns breed these ideas. [To Hedwig.] Well, we'll have none of that here. [Authoritatively.] Another word of this kind of insurrection, another word to the women of your treason, and you will be locked up and take your just punishment. You remember I had to look out for you in the beginning when you talked against this war. You're a firebrand, and you know how we handle the like of you. [Goes to door, turns to the mother.] I am sorry you have to have this trouble, Maria, on top of everything else. You don't deserve it. [To Hedwig.] You have been warned. Look out for yourself.
[_Hedwig is standing rigid, with difficulty repressing the torrent of her feelings. Drums are heard coming nearer, and singing voices of men._]
Amelia: [At door.]
They are passing this way.
Hedwig:
Wave to Arno. Come, Mother. Ah, how quickly they go!
[_The official steps out of the door. There is quick rhythm of marching feet as the departing regiment passes not very far from the house._]
There he is! Wave, Mother. Good-by! good-by!
[_The women stand in the doorway, waving their sad farewells, smiling bravely. The sounds grow less and less, until there is the usual silence._]
In another month, in another week, perhaps, all the men will be gone. We will be a village of women. Not a man left.
[She leads the old mother into the house once more.]
Hertz: [In the door.]
What did you say?
Hedwig:
Not a man left, I said.
Hertz:
You forget. I shall be here.
Hedwig:
You are old. You don't count. They think you are only a woman, Herr Captain.
Hertz: [Insulted.]
You--you--
Hedwig:
Oh, don't take it badly, sir. You are honored. Is the name of woman always to be despised? Look out in those fields. Who cleared them, and plucked the vineyards clean? You think we are left at home because we are weak. Ah, no; we are strong. That is why. Strong to keep the world going, to keep sacred the greatest things in life--love and home and work. To remind men of--peace. [With a quick change.] If only you really were a woman, Herr Captain, that you might breed soldiers for the empire, your glory would be complete.
[_The old captain is about to make an angry reply when there is a commotion outside. The words "News from the front" are distinguished, growing more distinct. The captain rushes out. The women are paralyzed with apprehension for a moment._]
Mother:
Amelia, go and see. Hedwig, come here.
[_Hedwig crouches on the floor close to the mother, her eyes wide with dread. In a few moments Amelia returns, dragging her feet, woe in her face, and unable to deal the blow which must fall on the two women, who stare at her with blanched faces._]
Amelia: [Falling at her mother's knee.]
Mother!
Mother: [Scarcely breathing.]
Which one?
Amelia:
All of them.
Mother: [Dazed.]
All? All my boys?
Amelia:
Emil, Otto--be thankful Arno is left.
[_The Mother drops her head back against the chair and silently prays. Hedwig creeps nearer Amelia and holds her face between her hands, looking into her eyes._]
Hedwig: [Whispering.]
Franz?
Amelia:
Franz, too.
[Illustration: HEDWIG: Franz?
AMELIA: Franz, too.]
[_Hedwig lies prostrate on the floor. Their grief is very silent; terrible because it is so dumb and stoical. The Mother is the first to rouse herself. She bends over Hedwig._]
Mother:
Hedwig. [Hedwig sobs convulsively.] Don't, child. Be careful for the little one's sake. [Hedwig sits up.] For your child be quiet, be brave.
Hedwig:
I loved him so, Mother!
Mother:
Yes, he was my boy--my first-born.
Hedwig:
Your first-born, and this is the end.
[She rises up in unutterable wrath and despair.]
O God!
Mother: [Anxious for her.]
Promise me you will be careful, Hedwig. For the sake of your child, your first-born, that is to be--
Hedwig:
My child? For this end? For the empire--the war that is to be? No!
Mother: [Half to herself.]
He may look like Franz.
[_Hedwig quickly seizes the pistol from the mantel-shelf and moves to the bedroom door._
_Amelia, watching her, sees her do it, and cries out in alarm and rushes to take it from her._]
Amelia: [In horror.]
Hedwig! What are you doing? Give it to me! No, you must not! You have too much to live for.
[Illustration: AMELIA: No, you must not! You have too much to live for.]
Hedwig: [Dazed.]
To live for? Me?
Amelia:
Why, yes, you are going to be a mother.
Hedwig:
A mother? Like her? [Looks sadly at the bereaved old mother.] Look at her! Poor Mother! And