Journey's End [antikvár]

Scene-A Dug-out in the British trenches before St Quentin. A few rough steps lead into the trench above, through a low doorway. A table lc occupies a good space of the dug-out floor. A wooden frame, covered with wire netting, stands against the left wall and serves the double purpose of a bed and a seat for the table. A wooden bench against the back wall makes another seat, and two boxes serve for the other sides. Another wire-covered bed is fixed in the right corner beyond the doorway. Gloomy tunnels lead out of the dug-out to up l and down r. Except for the table, beds, and seats, there is no furniture save the bottles holding the candles, and a few tattered magazine pictures pinned to the wall of girls in flimsy costumes. The earth walls deaden the sounds of war, making them faint and far away, although the front line is only fifty yards ahead. The flames of the candles that burn day and night are steady in the still, damp air. {See the Ground Plan of the Scene.) The evening of a March day. A pale glimmer of moonlight shines down the narrow steps into one corner of the dug-out. Warm yellow candleflames light the other corner from the necks of two bottles on the table. Through the doorway can be seen the misty grey parapet of a trench and a narrow strip of starlit sky. A bottle of whiskey, ajar of water, and a mug stand on the table amongst a litter of papers and magazines. An officers equipment hangs in a jumbled mass from a nail in the wall. During the Act the ' Veref light comes on and off every minute. At the rise of the Curtain there is a distant rumble of guns. Captain Hardy, a red-faced, cheerful-looking man, with gas mask on, but no belt, is sitting on a box by the r of the table, intently drying a sock over a candle-flame. He wears a heavy trench-boot on his left leg, and his right foot, which is naked, is held above the damp floor by resting it on his left knee. His right boot stands on the floor beside him. As he carefully turns the sock this way and that-feeling it against his face to see if it is dry-he half sings, half hums a song-humming when he is not quite sure of the words, and marking time with the toes of his right foot. Hardy. 'One and Two, it's with Maud and Lou; Three and Four, two girls more; Five and Six, it's with-hm-hm-hm- Seven, Eight, Clara and Caroline-' {He lapses into an indefinite humming, and finishes with a lively burst)