xt7d7w67426t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7d7w67426t/data/mets.xml Dargan, Olive Tilford, 1869-1968. 1922  books b92-205-30908818 English C. Scribner's sons, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Peterson, Frederick, 1859-1936. Flutter of the goldleaf, and other plays  / by Olive Tilford Dargan and Frederick Peterson. text Flutter of the goldleaf, and other plays  / by Olive Tilford Dargan and Frederick Peterson. 1922 2002 true xt7d7w67426t section xt7d7w67426t 

















  THE FLUTTER
OF THE GOLDLEAF

  AND OTHER PLAYS

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   THE FLUTTER

OF THE GOLDLEAF

     AND OTHER PLAYS





           BY
   OLIVE TILFORD DARGAN
           AND
    FREDERICK PETERSON














        NEW YORK
   CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
           1922

 























    COPYRIGHT. 19'22, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

































       PRINTED AT
   THE SCRIRNER PRESS
   NEW YORK, U. S. A.


 


                CONTENTS
                                         PAGE
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF   . . . .     I
   BY OLIVE TILFORD DARGAN AND FREDERICK
     PETERSON

THE JOURNEY   . . . . . . . . . .         49
   BY OLIVE TILFORD DARGAN

EVERYCHILD .  . .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  75
   BY FREDERICK PETERSON AND OLIVE TILFORD
     DARGAN

Two DOCTORS AT AKRAGAS . . . . . . 103
   BY FREDERICK PETERSON

 This page in the original text is blank.

 





















THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF

     A PLAY IN ONE ACT

               BY
       OLIVE TILFORD DARGAN
              AND
        FREDERICK PETERSON

 
















          CHARACTERS
PHILO WARNER, a student
HIRAM WARNER, his father, the village grocer
MARY ANN WARNER, his mother
DR. BELLOWS, the village physician
DR. SEYMOUR, a city specialist
REBA SLOAN, a neighbor's daughter


 

THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



SCENE: Laboratory in the attic of the Warner cot-
    tage. At right, toward rear, entrance from
    down-stairs. A rude partition, left, with door
    in centre. Window centre rear. Large kitchen
    table loaded with apparatus. Shelves, simi-
    larly loaded, against wall near table, right.
    Wires strung about. 4 rude couch, bench, and
    several wooden chairs.
      Time, about 8 p. m. Lamp burns on table.
    MRS. WARNER comes up-stairs, puts her head
    inside the room nervously, then enters and looks
    about.

                   Mrs. IV
  Such a mess! And the doctors will be here in
half an hour! (Tries to get busy but seems bothered.
Crosses to table and looks at a little machine that
stands upon it.) That's what's driving my boy
crazy! If I only dared to smash it! The right
sort of a mother would do just that! (Looks at
machine with dire meditation.)
     Warner (without, roaring up the stairs)
  Mary Ann!
                     (3]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



              Mrs. W. (jumps)
  Yes, Hiram!
              Warner (entering)
  Where's Philo
                  Mrs. W.
  In the orchard. I watched my chance, and
thought I'd redd up a little. He won't let me
touch anything when he's here.
                  Warner
  Just about lives up here, don't he
                  Mrs. W.
  Day and night now, since he's been too sick to
go to the store. And I can't have Dr. Bellows
bring in that specialist from New York with things
lookin' as if a woman had never come up the
stairs. (Dusting and rattling.)
                  Warner
  Philo's not onto what the doctors are after, is
he
                  Mrs. W.
  He thinks they're coming to look at his machine
mostly-and see what's keepin' him awake nights.
But maybe he knows. He's awful sharp.
                  Warner
  Sharp Wish he knew enough to sell eggs and
bacon. He's ruinin' my business. Weighs a
                    [141

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



pound of coffee as if he was asleep. I can see
customers watchin' him out o' the tail o' their
eye. They're gettin' afraid of him! Mary Ann,
the boy's going to be a shame to us. He's crazy!
                  Mrs. W.
  Don't you call my boy crazy. I won't hear it,
Hiram.
                   Warner
  No, you'll wait till the whole village tells you!
They're all talkin' now!
                  Mrs. W.
  It's none o' their business!
                   Warner
  It'll be their business if he flies up and hurts
somebody.
                  Mrs. W.
  Philo wouldn't hurt anything alive. He got
mad at me once for killin' a spider.
             Warner (scornfully)
  Showed his sense there, didn't he 
                  Mrs. W.
  If Philo's queer it's not from my side of the
house. You know what your mother was like-
wanderin' round nights starin' at the stars with
that old spy-glass Captain Barker gave her.
                    [5)

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Warner
  She was a good mother, all the same.
                  Mrs. W.
  Couldn't cook at all. Your father only kept
alive by eating at the neighbors occasionally-and
as for sewing and mending, you children went in
rags till your Aunt Sary came to live with you.
                   Warner
  Mother thought a heap of us, though. I re-
nemnber how she cried because I wouldn't go to
school and went into the grocery business. And
she cried a lot more when I married you. I could-
n't understand her-then..
                  Mrs. W.
  Humph! She'd been shut up fast enough if
your father hadn't been the softest-hearted man
alive.
                  Warner
  Maybe the boy does take after her, but he's
worse'n she ever was.
                  Mrs. W.
 She didn't have any books-or college educa-
 tion-to turn her head.
                  Warner
 Nothing to read but the Weekly Mirror. It was
a good paper, though, all about crops and stock,
                    [6]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



and what the country people were doing, and a
love story on the inside page. Father subscribed
on her account. She told him her mind had to
have something to work on. But she didn't take
to the paper, and he had to read it himself to get
his money's worth.
                   Mrs. W.
  A good thing she didn't have a library to get at
like Philo. All those books he brought home
didn't do him any good. He began to get queer
about the time he was reading that set of Sir
Humphry Davy's Complete Works, with so much
about electrics and the stars, and that sort of
stuff. If we could only get him to quit this
studyin' and stay out-o'-doors.......
                   Warner
  S'pose we clear out this hole-burn the books,
and get rid of all these confounded w'-;'es and jars
and fixings. I don't believe he saves a penny of
the wages I give him for helpin' to ruin me. All
he makes goes for this truck. We'll clear it out.
                  Airs. JF.
  I've thought of that, but we oughtn't to go too
far. They're his anyhow, and I'm afraid
                   Warner
  Well, I'm not afraid! And I'll begin with this
                    [7)

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



devil! (Pauses over machine. Starts suddenly.)
What's that He's coming!
              Mrs. W. (listening)
  It's only Alice going to her room.
                   Warner
  Perhaps we'd better see what the specialist says
first.
                  Mrs. W.
  I know Dr. Bellows wants us to send Philo
away. But I'm against that, first and last.
                   Warner
  You wouldn't be if you'd listen to Bellows
awhile. You know what he told me when I met
him this morning " Why, Warner," he says, " I
never go to see the boy without taking a pair of
handcuffs in my pocket. It's the quiet ones that
go the wildest when they do break out."
                  Mrs. W.
  Oh, Hiram, it's not going to be so bad as that.
Don't let him set you against your own flesh and
blood. Just let me manage awhile. He needs to
get stirred up about something-get his mind off
this. I wish I hadn't stopped those letters he was
getting from Reba Sloan when she went off to
school two years ago.
                    [83

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Warner
  But you said you'd rather see him dead than
married to Sloan's girl.
                  Mrs. W.
  I meant it, too! But seeing your child dead is
not so bad as seeing him crazy-and if Reba can
save him-
                   Warner
  How in thunder-
                  Mrs. W.
  She's a taking girl, Hiram-since she got back.
If Philo gets his mind fixed on her, she'll soon have
him forgettin' this. Why,-you remember for
three months before we were married you couldn't
think o' nothing but me.
                  Warner
  Good Lord! Is that so, Mary Ann
                  Mrs. W.
  I had to hurry up the weddin' to save your
business. You were letting jabe McKenny take
all your trade right under your nose.
                  Warner
  Sakes 'a' mighty! If I could come out of a
spell like that, there's some hope for our poor
chap.
                    [9)

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Mrs. WF.
  That's what I'm telling you!
                   Warner
  But Reba's father-you going to have old fid-
dler Sloan in the family
                   Mrs. W.
  He's come into some money now, and any gen-
tleman can take an interest in music.
                   Warner
  And the mother was that foreign woman.
                   Mrs. W.
  But she's dead. It's just as well Philo won't
have a mother-in-law.
                   Warner
  Reba'll have one, all right. It Philo stays queer
it'll be hard on the girl, won't it 
                   Mrs. W.
  He'll not stay queer. If he gets that girl in
his head there won't be room for anything else-
for a while anyway. He'll be worse'n you ever
was. You let me manage it, Hiram.
    (PHILO is heard coming up the stairs. They
      listen in silence until he enters. He is talk-
      ing, not quite audibly, to himself, and doesn't
      see them. Goes to table and stands by ma-
      chi- e.)
                    [103

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                    Philo
  Here-at last-I have caught the word .....
the word of the stars.
                  Mrs. W.
  Philo!
              Philo (looking up)
  Mother! . . . Father! . . . (In alarm.) You
haven't touched anything here 
                  Mrs. W.
  No, my son. I've just put the place to rights
a bit. Dr. Seymour is coming, you know.
                    Phi/o
  Yes. (Walks the floor, meditating.)
                   Warner
  You must come out of this dream, Philo.
                    Philo
  It is not a dream! I am the only being in the
world who is awake!
                  Mrs. W.
  My son!
                   Philo
  Man sleeps-like the rocks, trees, hills-while
all around him, on of the unseen, beating on blind
eyes, deaf ears, numbed brain, sweep the winds of
eternity, the ether waves, the signals from the
sleeps of space!
                    pound;11)

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Warner
  Hey, diddle, diddle!
                    Philo
  Sleep-walkers all-the people in the streets,
the shops-the mad people with their heaps of
gold!
                  Mrs. W.
  Now don't work yourself up, Philo, with the
doctor coming. You want to tell him about your
machine.
                    Philo
  Yes. He is a great man. He has studied these
things. I will talk to him. He will not laugh.
                   Warner
  Mary Ann, don't you think we'd better bring
up some cider It'll look more hospitable like.
                  Mrs. W.
  That city doctor won't care anything about
cider.
                   Warner
  My cider's good enough for anybody! And
Dr. Bellows'll be sure to ask for it.
                  Mrs. W.
  Well, wait till he does. (Looks uneasily about
room.) Don't you think, son, that if you're
going to take to having visitors here I'd better
                    [12]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



move some furniture up You could have the
haircloth sofa-the springs are broke anyway-
and Alice says she don't want the wax flowers in
the parlor any more. They're turnin' yellow,
but you wouldn't notice it up here.
          Philo (c/inching his hands)
  Do what you like, mother, only don't take
anything out. If anything happened to my work
I believe I'd go crazy!
    (The parents look at each other.)
                   Warner
  Thought your work was tendin' the store.
                   Philo
  Brother Will is more help there than I am,
father.
                  Warner
  You're right about that. Will's got a head on.
                  Mrs. W.
  You'd better go down, Hiram, and meet the
doctors.
                  Warner
  Alice'll show them up.
                  Mrs. W.
  Where's that strange smell comin' from  Do
you work in the other room, too, Philo (Goes
in, left.)
                    [131

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Philo
  Father . . . I'm sorry about the store . . .
I wish I could tell you . . . but what's the use 
You won't believe!
    (Re-enter MRS. W.)
                  Mrs. W.
 Gracious! I couldn't breathe in there! Got
 to clear something out before Reba comes up here.
She'd have no respect for my housekeeping.
                   Philo
  Reba 
                  Mrs. W.
  Reba Sloan. She's been asking if she couldn't
come. She's just wild to see your machine.
                   Philo
  Don't you ever let her up here, mother!
                  Mrs. W.
  But she asked me, Philo-and a neighbor's
daughter, you know-
                   Philo
  I thought she was away from home.
                  Mrs. W.
  Been back a month-walks all about right under
your eyes. You ought to be civil, Philo.
                   Philo
  I want to see Dr. Seymour. I should like to
                   [14]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



have him know what I'm doing. But if you're
going to turn the whole village in here, I'll bar
the door, that's all.
                  Mrs. W.
  My son, if you'd only interest yourself a
little



                   Philo
 I'm not interested in anything
thirty-five million miles!
                  Warner
 What did I tell you, Mary Ann 



nearer than



                  Mrs. WV.
  I hear the doctors! Now, Philo, if you can't
talk sense, don't say anything.
    (Enter SEYMOUR and BELLOWS.)

                  Bellows
  Good evening, Warner. How d' do, Mrs.
Warner! My friend, Dr. Seymour.
            Warner and Mrs. WV.
  How do you do, sir!
                  Bellows
  Philo, I've brought Dr. Seymour around to have
a talk with you. He's down from New York for
a day or two. Been sleeping any better 
                   15

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Philo
 Too much. I need all my time. I'm very
glad to see you, Dr. Seymour.
    (XIl take seats.)
                 Mrs. W.
  I hope you'll excuse the looks of the room,
doctor.
                  Seymour
  It looks very interesting indeed to me, Mrs.
Warner. The workshop of a student, and a busy
one. (To PHILO.) You've been working too hard,
I see.
                   Philo
  I'm tired, perhaps, but I am well. When a
man makes a momentous discovery he is apt to
be overwrought. He may not eat or sleep well
for a time. He may even appear to be strange
or mad.
    (MRS. W. coughs suddenly.)
                  Mrs. W.
  I'm afraid that's not a comfortable chair,
Dr. Seymour.
                  Seymour
 Quite comfortable, Mrs. Warner.
             Mrs. W. (rapidly)
 Philo is my oldest boy, and I never could keep
                   [161

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



him away from books. Will, my second son, is
as steady in the store as his father himself, and
Johnny is just fine on the wagon. As for Alice,
there's not a neater all-round girl to be found
anywhere. They're healthy, sensible children,
every one of 'em, and don't care what's inside any
book in the world-but Philo was just bent on
going to college-
                   Seymour
  A very natural bent for an ambitious boy.
                   Bellows
  Tell us about the discovery, Philo, my lad.
    Philo (rising and walking slowly up and
                down the room)
  I think I will. It will be another experiment.
I know what the effect will be on Dr. Bellows.
He is an old friend of mine-but you, sir, are a
stranger. I should like to try your mind and see
if you are awake or asleep.
    (BELLOWS winks toward SEYMOUR, who takes
      no notice, but gives PHILO careful attention.)
                   Seymour
  I hope I shall not disappoint you.
                    Philo
  I believe we have some points of view in com-
mon, for your profession needs to take note of
                     [ 17 ]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



many problems connected with both evolution
and electricity. I have been a reader of general
science for many years. The fact that on the
earth we have had a slow evolution from a monad
to a man contains a promise of further develop-
ment of man into-let us say an angel.
                   Bellows
  Not very soon, I guess.
               Philo (sharply)
  Hardly in your day, doctor. You needn't
worry about the fashion in wing-feathers.
                  Seymour
  Go on, Mr. Warner.
                    Philo
  In others of the many millions of globes about
us in space, a similar evolution is going on, and
in some the evolution is less advanced than in
ours, in others incomparably more advanced.
                  Seymour
  We may admit that.
    (BELLOWS looks to WARNERfor sympathy, and
      shakes his head.)
                   Philo
  We have reached a stage when we have begun
to peer out into the stellar depths and question
them. We are beginning to master the light and
                    [18]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



the lightning, to measure the vastness of space,
to weigh the suns, to determine the elements
that comprise them, to talk and send messages
thousands of miles without wires. Each year
uncovers new wonders, infinitely minute, infi-
nitely great.
                   Seymour
  True,-all true.
    IP iuj (becumiag more repressed and tensely
              excited as he goes on)
  The dreams of the alchemists are being realized.
That machine yonder detects the waves from a
millionth of a millionth of a milligramme of
radium.
                   Seymour
  What!
                     Philo
  I have invented a tuned electroscope that would
be destroyed by such waves, so sensitive as to
react only to waves from an inconceivable dis-
tance, beyond thirty-five million miles.
            Seymour (trying to take it in)
  Thirty-five million miles!
            Phi/o (with great tension)
  Three weeks ago I made this instrument, and
ever since then, at regular intervals, there have
                     [19

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



been rhythmic flutterings of the goldleaf, regular
repetitions, as if it were knocking at the door of
earth from the eternal silences. I have watched
it-the same measured fluttering-two beats-
then three-then two-then four and a pause!
It is a studied measure! It has meaning! When
I first noticed it-the faint flutter of the goldleaf
--and knew that any waves from a nearer point
than thirty-five million miles w ould utterly de-
stroy so delicate an instrument---my hair stood
on end. f have watched it three weeks-alone-
and you ask me why I do not sleep! . . . Look!
    (The doctors spring up electrified, and stare at
      the instrument.)

                    Philo
  There it is again! Two beats-then three-
then two-then four-now it is over!
    (SEYMOUR continues to stare at the instrument.
      BELLOWS subsides into a chair, lookingfool-
      ish.)
             Seymour (to himself)
  Impossible! . . . (To PHILO.) What was it
you were saying What did you see
                    Philo
  I saw what you saw-signals from a distance
                    [20

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



farther than the distance of the nearest planet to
our earth.
               Seymour (shaken)
  But I saw nothing. At least a slight movement
in anything so sensitive might be due to many
causes.
                    Philo
  Yes! It is always the old story. Truths must
be hammered into humanity! Branded in with
flame, or driven in with sword and bullet!
         Bellows (starting up alarmed)
  Hadn't we better be going, doctor 
                    Phi/o
  Oh, no! Wait till you've talked me over. De-
cide whether I'm mad or not! If I'm a menace
to the community! If I must be locked up!
My father and mother are waiting to know.
Don't go! Finish your work! (Rushes into room,
left.)
       Bellows (triumphantly to SEYMOUR)
  Well
    (SEYMOUR hesitates, looks at the father and
      mnother, then at BELLOWS, and takes out his
      match-case.)
    Bellows (making a conquest of the obvious)
  Warner, a little of that fine cider of yours would
just finish off our chat.
                    [213

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Warner
  Nothing better!   (Starting out, whispers to
MRS. W.) Where's grandma's silver pitcher

                  Mrs. W.
  I'll get that.
    (They go down-stairs.)
              Bellows (laughing)
  She never lets him go to the cellar by himself.
                  Seymour
  Not a drinker, is he 
                   Bellows
  Oh, no! The pattern of a deacon. But she
keeps her hand on.
    (SEYMOUR lights a cigar thinkingly.)

                   Bellows
  No use to go over this case. It's clear enough.
We'll have our cider-it's worth waiting for-
then go to my office and fix up the commitment
papers.
    Seymour (rubbing his hand slowly over his
                 forehead)
  To talk with such a patient sometimes bewilders
the brain. He seemed so clear in his utterance-
so rational-
                    [22]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Bellows
  Funny, wasn't he  I almost believed it myself
for a minute.
                  Seymour
  It might be true.
                   Bellows
  Hey
                  Seymour
  Perhaps we are all somnambulists moving about
in this dream-world we call practical life. Behind
this tough matter that takes so many shapes and
colors, what strange secrets are hidden, just be-
ginning to reach our dull senses-X-rays, radium
emanations, wireless waves.
                   Bellows
  Oh, they're natural enough now. Common
sense has adopted them.
                  Seymour
  Yes, we are easily satisfied. Give a mystery a
name and that's cnough for the most of us. But
here and there are minds that must explore further;
and if they discover something beyond the com-
prehension of us who stay behind, we call them
mad.
                  Bellows
 Well, none of your mind-puzzles for me. Give
                    [23

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



me something clear cut, like typhoid, or measles,
an amputation, or new babies, something I can
fix my eyes on. You can take care of the mad-
men except when they're in my own village.
I'm not going to have a boy like Philo gibbering
around ready to break out wild any time.
                   Seymour
  It's true he may be led into frenzy, or even self-
destruction, but it will be from overwork and lone-
liness. I must have a talk with the parents-
                   Bellows
  What do you expect them to do  They're
asking us for help. And I'm willing to give it to
them.
    (Re-enter WARNER and MRS. W. He carries
      pitcher, she carries tray with glasses.)
            Seymour (to BELLOWS)
  We'll see. As I say, the boy has been losing
sleep, and giving his mind no rest.
     Mrs. AV. (holding tray while WARNER
                 pours cider)
  Just what I say, doctor. He's studied himself
sick.
                  Seymour
  You must get him out of here, Mrs. Warner.
(Sipping cider.) Excellent, indeed!
                    [241

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                  Mrs. W.
  I'm doing my best.
  Warner (to BELLOWS, who has drained his
                   glass)
  You're at home, doctor. Just help yourself.
    (He does.)
                  Seymour
  What is his age 
                  Mrs. W.
  Twenty. He went early to college.
             Seymour (musingly)
  The usual age. Twenty. (Sighs.) The age
of visions and enchantments. "The thoughts of
youth are long, long thoughts."
                  Bellows
  What are you saying, doctor
                  Seymour
 Just thinking. It's a healthy family, isn't it
                  Mrs. W.
  I should say! Why, Will and Johnny and
Alice
                  Bellows
  Best sort. The thoroughbreds of the town.
Temperate, thriving, regular at church. Warner
here was once county supervisor. (Clapping him
on shoulder.) Never had a better one.
                   [251

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



            Seymour (to WARNER)
  And your parents 
                   Warner
  Father was a sound, practical man. Stood
flat-footed, I may say.
                  Seymour
  And your mother
                  Mrs. W.
  Law me, Hiram Warner thinks there was never
anybody in the world like his mother. And there
never was!
                  Seymour
  That's good to build on. It is clear that your
boy is ill, and the burden of his knowledge, whether
truth or delusion, is far too great for him to bear.
If you could interest him for even a brief time in
ordinary life-(smiling) miracles that are too
common to be disturbing-throw him with young
people
                   Bellows
  You don't mean you won't sign the commit-
ment papers!
                  Seymour
 Just that. I shall not sign them.
             Mrs. W. (gratefully)
 Oh, doctor!
                    [26]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                   Bellows
  After what you saw here with your own eyes
He's completely gone off!
                   Seymour
  The boy may be right. Under this tiny con-
sciousness of ours lie vast fields of subconscious
intelligence as yet unexplored. Beyond our earth
are still greater mysteries, unimaginable, unthink-
able.         Be/lows (in disgust)
  And I counted on your common sense!
                   Seymour
  Common sense is itself too frail and uncertain
a thing to be a criterion of sanity. The common
sense of yesterday is to-day's folly, and our present
common sense will be the madness of to-morrow.
                   Bellows
  Well, I'll be  I'll wait for you down-stairs,
doctor. (Exit.)    Seymour

  The lad ought not to be in there alone. (Goes
to door.) Philo, my boy!
    (PHILO comes out. He is extremely pale, his
      black hair pushedfrom his forehead, and his
      eyes burning, but his manner is calm.)
                    Philo
  Well, am I a free man
                     27)

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                  Seymour
  You are free, Philo.

             Philo (perfunctorily)
  Thank you, doctor.
                  Seymour
  But you must have rest from this work. These
subjects are too overwhelming for a sane brain to
carry without harm. This attic is gloomy and
the atmosphere unhealthy. You must have a
complete change.
                   Philo
  I see. That is your answer to my discovery.
(Turns suddenly to WARNER.) And what do you
think of it, father 
                  Warner
  I don't seem to get hold of it, somehow, Philo.
(Crosses to machine and stares at it.) What's the
good, anyhow They're too far away. 'Twould-
n't help business.
    (PHILO gives a queer laugh. WARNER opens
      door.)
                  Warner
  I'll see you down-stairs, doctor. (Exit.)
          Philo (turning to MRS. W.)
  And you, mother
                    [28

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



    Mrs. W. (bustling up and gathering tray
                 and glasses)
  I've got to set my bread. (Crosses to machine
and stares at it, holding tray.) What'll we come
to if folks in the stars begin pesterin' We've
got enough to 'tend to right here. (Goes out mut-
tering.) Got to set my bread.
    (SEYMOUR and PHILO look at each other and
      smile.)
                  Seymour
  Won't you come down, Philo
                    Philo
  No. It's livelier for me up here. More to
think about. But don't worry about me, doctor.
I know this is the end. If I can't convince you,
then all the world must think it hallucination.
                  Seymour
  I'm not unconvinced. I simply don't know.
And I'm deeply interested. But you can't stand
it, Philo. Get out of this. Be young. This is
for older heads. You'll have plenty of time. Get
out-do anything. Fall in love-fall in love-
that will give you mysteries enough for a while.
Yes, I mean it-and don't forget, my dear boy,
that you've interested me.
    (Shakes hands with PHILO and goes down.
                    [ 29 j

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



      PHILO listens until he has reached the foot
      of the stairs.)
                     Philo
  The heavens open-the suns speak-and he is
-interested! (Closes door.)   Alone! . . . Fall
in love! Light the candle and put out the stars!
. . . (Returns to his instrument.) . . . It is still.
    (Steps are heard on the stairs, then a knock at
      the door. He crosses softly to door and
      shoots the bolt.)
                Voice (without)
  It's Reba, Philo! Won't you let me in 
    (He is silent, and steps retreat.)
            Philo (crossing to centre)
  Reba! That folly's done with, thank God! ...
(Begins walking.)  Seymour. . . . I didn't know
how much I was hoping from him. . . . It is
hard, hard to gv- on alone. But I must! I can't
turn back from that call. When a child cries we
turn, and listen, and help. And this-this is the
voice of a world!
    (A knock is heard at door.)
               Voice of WARNER
  Philo!
                     Philo
  Buzz, buzz, old bee!
                     [30

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                    Voice
  Come down, son!
                    Philo
  Please leave me alone, father. I can't bear
anything more to-night.
    (,I pause, and WARNER goes down.)
            Philo (coming to table)
  I will work-work-work ! (Busies his hands.)
Not a voice to help me--not a smile of hope-not
a touch of sympathy. (Sits still and despairing.)
     Perhaps the time is not ripe for larger
knowledge. Nature and the Divinity that guide3
her must protect their new evolving creatures. A
too sudden revelation and they might perish from
sheer wonder. . . . Yes, truth must come sof-
tened, as a dream, to the man child's brain. Its
naked light would sere and blind him forever. ...
l3 it to me it has been given to see-to hear-and
keep sane in the light. Oh, from what planet is
the call From what one of the hundred million
sphcr;s How many centuries has it been sent
outward to the deaf, the dumb, and the blind
And what is the word Is it Hail Help
Hope  . . . Or is it an answer An answer to
some signal of mine How shall I know . .
How shall I know
                    [ 311

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



    (There is a noise outside the window. PHILO
      does not look up. REBA appears and leaps
      lightly through the windows. Advances cen-
      tre. Her dress is of clinging black, relieved
      by a floating scarf of cloudy white. She has
      a mass of blonde hair, and all the charms
      properly belonging to her age, which is
      eighteen.)
                    Reba
  Philo!
  Reba         Philo (turning)
                    Reba
  Don't be angry.
                    Philo
  How did you get here
                    Reba
  The window.    Don't you    remember-you
showed me how to climb up once-with a ladder
-the tree-and the shed roof Oh, the things
you've forgotten, Philo!
    (He goes to door and unbolts it.)
                    Philo
  You must go down, Reba. (.She does not move.)
What-will mother say 
                Reba (laughing)
  She held the ladder for me.
                    [32

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



                    Philo
  Mother 
                    Reba
  You've frightened her so. You mustn't bolt
the door again. She's afraid you'll do something
dreadful.
                    Philo
  You were not afraid to come.
                    Reba
  I like to take risks. Life's dull in this village.
                    Philo
 How you've changed, Reba!
                    Reba
  It's taken you long enough to find it out. I've
been back a month.
                    Philo
  You'd better go do"n. I'm very busy, and
I've had a long interruption this evening.
                    Reba
  I'm going to interrupt some more. Dr. Sey-
mour says it's good for you.
               Philo (angrily)
  Dr. Seymour knows you've come
                    Reba
  Yes. He said you might like the surprise.
Don't you like it, Philo
                    [33]

 
THE FLUTTER OF THE GOLDLEAF



    (Comes near him. PHTLO turns away and
      busies himself about the table and shelves as
      if he meant to ignore h