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Her Yankee SecretA Romantic Farce W. Scott Smoot Characters
Time and Place Between sundown on July 2, and late night, July 3, 1863. Setting Unit set to serve action that shifts rapidly among an army camp, a parlor, woods, and different streets and a park in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In performance, the play lasts about eighty minutes. Synopsis by Scene
This play is about a young woman, escaped from slavery, who returns to rescue her husband from the besieged town of Vicksburg. Ineffectual Major Morris, commander of a black Union regiment stationed across from Vicksburg in 1863, promises rank and reward to his men if they can infiltrate the city and cause it to fall in time by July 4th, two days away. One of his men, Mose Thomas, knowing Vicksburg well, volunteers to dress as a woman to sneak into the town. What no one knows is that Mose really is a woman, Ruth, who escaped slavery and has returned South to rescue her husband Thomas. She believes he is still held somewhere in Vicksburg. Once in Vicksburg, she runs afoul of her former overseer Ty Downs, and seeks refuge in the first house she finds. There she meets Sarah Day, a young woman starved for real food and also starved for respect from Vicksburg's society women. In exchange for three wishes -- for a new dress, roast beef, a home far away, and perhaps a man to go with it - Sarah rescues Ruth from Ty, calling her "Little Eva," her old cajun mammy. Suspicious, Ty and his black sidekick Trusty try to find out what Sarah is up to. Author's Notes for HER YANKEE SECRETA Civil War Comedy: No Joke!As a middle school drama teacher, I always seek a funny script with a large cast that can be rehearsed in small groups, like a typical Shakespearean comedy. Shakespeare always has a gang of lower-class clowns, perfect for the youngest actors. For seventh and eighth graders, there are sympathetic upper-class lovers in impossible situations. For character actors in any grade, there's always a bad guy and at least one pompous upper class fool. If words can conjure most of the scenery and allow fast-paced fluid staging; and if the actors can dress colorfully without tights, and if the boys get to fight or carry weapons - so much the better! So for me, it seemed natural to set a comedy in the last hours of Vicksburg's siege during the Civil War, for it supplied all the ingredients of Shakespearean comedy. Black troops fought there, but, treated as a lower class, they were underused and itching for action. Women in town struggled to keep up their upper-class social lives without men, without clothing, without the usual kinds of food. For characters, there are Old General Pemberton, famously hen-pecked and out-generaled by Grant; Mrs. Pemberton, the famous hen; and the despicable overseer. For costumes, we have the prospect of handsome uniforms, hoop skirts, parasols, guns and, yes, even cross-gender clothing: some two hundred women fought as men in both armies, and one Rebel man raided Yankee camps in a dress. But I also seek scripts that - again, like Shakespeare's - have moments of genuine pathos, for students should see their art as important and real. And certainly the degradations of slaves, and the ironic Independence Day fireworks in Vicksburg, 1863, and its results - Sherman's destructive march, the deep and lasting resentment of the conquerors, and Jim Crow laws - all that suffering and irony lie just under the comic activity. These student actors will have fun for the moment, but they know they are also involved in something deeper than an evening's entertainment. W. Scott Smoot
(A clearing in the wood on the Louisiana bank of the Mississippi River across from the besieged town of Vicksburg. It's 1863, July second, late on a sunny hot afternoon. Black soldiers in Union blue play cards and play about, waiting for their white commanding officer to arrive. ) (One soldier, called Mose, is actually a young woman in disguise. This is RUTH. She alone sits still and stares across the river.)
SPELL Look sharp, boys. Major Morris is comin'. LARSON Per-fessor's comin', boys. Think they're gonna let us colored troops fight? PAULO Dream on. He's just comin' to lecture about "Homer" and "those sin cities." SPELL "Thucidydes." PAULO Yeah, them. SPELL He's trying to broaden your minds, puppy. GUS I'm thinkin' about somethin' broad that that man never thinks about. GUS, LARSON and PAULO Uh - huh. PAULO What about you, Mose? (RUTH stares out at the city of Vicksburg across the river.) SPELL These days you gotta wake him up. I been watchin' him watchin' Vicksburg. He sets an' stares like in a voodoo trance or somethin'. Look at him. (RUTH speaks directly to the audience; she rises from her seat to act out what she describes. The men do not perceive this, and remain behind, gesturing at her empty seat as if she's still there.) RUTH Maybe they got my man Thomas over there in some chain gang. I can see him, standing straight to wipe the sweat from his eyes, and Mister Ty Downs cursin' at him -- 'cause he hates to see a black man standin' straight and tall. That weasel will fall into a fit when he sees me again - "You! It cain't be! My only slave to ever get away!" He'll crawl on his knees for mercy, and I'll say, "You call me a 'slave?' D'you think a girl who can do what I done ever was a slave?" PAULO (shouting) What about you, Mose? RUTH What d'you wanna know about me? PAULO Don't you think girls is better 'n Greeks? RUTH Oh, sure. GUS (to PAULO) Paulo, you don't know nothin'! I'm the only one here that's been close to a girl. PAULO Shoot! I have too! LARSON Me, too! (They look to RUTH, who has been silent.) RUTH Well, yeah, I reckon I'm pretty close to a girl right now. LARSON Oh, yeah? Who is she? RUTH That's all I'm sayin'. GUS Tell us about her. RUTH No. PAULO I'll rassle it outta him! (PAULO playfully starts to wrestle RUTH, and the boys join in.) RUTH Get yer hands off-a me! (She flips PAULO over. MAJOR MORRIS, young, white, enters.) SPELL Here's Major Morris, boys. Atten - hut! MAJOR MORRIS At ease. No, wait. I do need your attention. This is imperative. I repeat, this is an imperative! (Men are unsure how to stand, absent a clear command, until SPELL speaks.) SPELL Once again - hut! MAJOR MORRIS Thank you, Corporal. Now, men, we have seen little action since May. . . GUS (aside) . . .Unless you count marchin' in circles and diggin' ditches! MAJOR MORRIS . . .And I acknowledge that, because you are colored troops, you have seen even less of the glories of war than my white brethren across the river. Your courage and discipline are still unproven. LARSON (aside) Huh! Guess he don't count the battle at Champion's Hill neither. SPELL Stop whinin', you puppies. MAJOR MORRIS I say, you are still unproven to my brother officers. They doubt your mettle. But I do not. PAULO Hey, Mose, didja hear that? LARSON Shhh. MAJOR MORRIS In fact, in tribute to you, I've written a poem. (SPELL quells the men's exasperation; we see that the Major reads his poetry to them often. MAJOR MORRIS pulls out a hand written page) "From the hills of old Kentucky, Marching roads both dry and mucky, O'er mountains high in Tennessee, The Mississippi then we see. "Everywhere that we have toured, Cheerfully you have endured Cold and heat, rain and sun, Flies and more flies, every one." (The men applaud politely. MAJOR MORRIS looks up, surprised, and turns to another page.) You liked it? I'm sure you will appreciate the second page as well! To wit: "Look and see, across the river Vicksburg, which we to the Union must deliver -" (aside to SPELL) The meter of that line needs amendment. Please remind me later. SPELL Yes, sir. MAJOR MORRIS "Lo, like fabled Troy she waits, And we, the Greeks camped at her gates, Victory within our reach Yet we her defenses cannot breach. "As sun is setting, still I see. . ." (RUTH turns aside to the audience. As she speaks, MAJOR MORRIS continues to mime the reading of the poem, his voice audible only where indicated. The men do not notice that she has turned aside.) RUTH I can see it: General Grant, he'll say to me, "Ahem! Ahem! You there, Private. You from around here?" "Yes sir!" "Then, ahem, you lead the way!" So I'm the one leading a hundred black men in blue, out of the silent woods, crossing the field where my people work. MAJOR MORRIS "Union Johnnies, Freds and Billies Standing strong as famed Achilles. . ." RUTH Thomas hears the sound, stands and gives a look, and sings out, "There! Yankee troops are come to free us!" Everyone's jumpin' and laughin'. But Thomas stands still. He peers into my face. . . "'Scuse me,' he says, "but I swear, you look like a girl I used to know, and either I'm dreamin' of her, as I been dreamin' of her these past two years, or else, you gotta be her twin brother." MAJOR MORRIS "Brothers in arms, all courageous So long as we catch nothing contagious -" SPELL (aside to MORRIS) That rhyme, sir. . . MAJOR MORRIS (aside to SPELL) The next couplet is more impressive. (MORRIS resumes reading to the men.) "Oh Fates! O Sisters three so fickle We pray your sympathy to tickle. . ." (MORRIS reads more lines in mime, while RUTH continues her story) RUTH I say to Thomas, "You mean Ruth, who escaped one fall day? Ruth, who promised to love you always, and return as soon as she could? It took three years, and it took joinin' the army - and that took some doin', let me tell you -- but, Thomas, here I am!"
(MORRIS concludes his poem.) MAJOR MORRIS ". . .as on that ancient day so glorious Our colored men in blue, victorious!" LARSON We gonna win! (ALL cheer.) MAJOR MORRIS Thank you, private, for that frank expression of confidence. Which brings me to the main point of this meeting. (He pulls out an official document.) Men, I have received from headquarters this offer. To wit: "Whereas the city of MAJOR MORRIS (continued) Vicksburg has withstood our siege for two months; and whereas her supplies must be nearly exhausted; and whereas the annual celebration of our Union's birth and independence approaches in just two days; and whereas our victory on the particular day would appear to all the world an omen favorable to our Union; we do hereby offer promotion and monetary reward to any man whose initiative shall have precipitated the surrender of the aforesaid town on the aforesaid date." It is signed by Generals Grant and Sherman. Are there any questions? PAULOHere, sir. MAJOR MORRIS You may ask, private. PAULO Say what? (There are snickers among the men. MAJOR MORRIS looks to SPELL for help.) SPELL They say, break open Vicksburg by July Fourth - you get cash, you get rank. MAJOR MORRIS If any of you could make that happen by day after tomorrow, I'd be much obliged. I'll be in my tent. SPELL Dismissed. (As SOLDIERS disperse, RUTH catches up to MAJOR MORRIS. SPELL listens.) RUTH Sir, I come from around here! I could get in by myself. MAJOR MORRIS Private-? RUTH Thomas, sir. They call me Mose. MAJOR MORRIS Mose Thomas. So, how well do you know the topography of the city? RUTH Better than most white folk there, 'cause I know its underside. I come up here sometimes with the mistress before the war, and spend time with the colored servants. I took cut-throughs and learned these caves and tunnels. I especially know the area down by the river, 'cause I spent some time there being invisible. MAJOR MORRIS Invisible? RUTH When I was escapin' three years ago. MAJOR MORRIS Still, supposing you were somehow to enter the city, what could one soldier do there? SPELL He could find their food stockpile, set fire to it. RUTH I could find their ammunition supply, and blow it up. SPELL He could take their commander hostage. RUTH Find a way for you all to sneak in. SPELL Think of it, Major! You let one soldier in, and maybe that soldier could open up the city for our whole regiment. It's like that story you're fond of, about the wooden horse. . .? MAJOR MORRIS Yes, yes, a Trojan horse. I see! Oh, but no, Private, you'd encounter an obstacle you haven't imagined. (MAJOR MORRIS pulls out binoculars) See, look through these. Adjust this part here 'til you see clearly - RUTH Oh, Lord! It's like I could touch it! There's Church Street. There's a sea gull swooping down from the steeple. There's a lady in a blue skirt. She's carrying a basket, and stepping over a tree down smack in the middle of the street! Spell, you look, too! (RUTH hands the binoculars to SPELL, who looks with interest.) MAJOR MORRIS Private Mose, did you see any colored man anywhere? RUTH No, not one. They - we - used to be everywhere. But not now. SPELL The whole city stacks up on that hill like a layer cake, streets and houses on top of each other. I see white people comin' and goin', and soldiers in grey, and there's some black girls. But no black men. MAJOR MORRIS I have spied them, but only in chain gangs, doing labor. I think the Confederate army has concentrated all slaves from the surrounding territory somewhere in town. SPELL Mose, a colored man on the loose would be captured, or shot on sight. RUTH But not a colored girl. MAJOR MORRIS I beg your pardon? RUTH I think I could pass pretty well for a girl. I'm not too big, I have no beard, yet. Couldn't we get skirts off a servant girl on some farm around here? (MAJOR MORRIS and SPELL walk around her, appraisingly. She squares her shoulders, lowers her voice.) Of course, I'd need the fellas to give me pointers on how to be lady-like. SPELL You could make a fine lady. Just think, Major: instead of a wooden horse. . . MAJOR MORRIS A Trojan - skirt. Yes! How could you approach the town from here? They survey the river day and night. SPELL I'll take him. . . her. . . in our raft before sunrise. There's a spot below town I saw with these glasses of yours. In moonlight, we'd look just like some of these logs that's always floatin' downstream. RUTH That's just where I hid myself when I escaped three years ago. I know where to go! SPELL We got everythin' to gain, and nothin' to lose. 'Cept maybe you, Mose. Where can we get a skirt? MAJOR MORRIS The officers commandeered a plantation west of here, where there are servant girls. I'll obtain your clothing. Fourth of July is day after tomorrow. Go tonight and come back tomorrow afternoon with something definite we can use. RUTH I'll find something. I always do! MAJOR MORRIS Come with me, Corporal. We'll get those clothes. (MAJOR MORRIS exits. SPELL follows, then stops to speak to RUTH.) SPELL You really would make a fine lady. RUTH Say that again, I'll box you! (SPELL exits. RUTH speaks aside) Thomas, if you're over there, hold on! I'm keeping my promise! END OF SCENE Return to top of the page(In Vicksburg, the home of MRS. BUTNER, where SARAH DAY boards. SARAH, hosting this small soiree, is off stage at present. Newlywed BLOSSOM SWEENEY and adolescent girls VERONIQUE and DAHLIA and other women are present.) MRS. BUTNER Now don't you be talking that way about her, girls. She is our hostess! VERONIQUE But she hasn't fed us anything! DAHLIA Besides, it's your house, Mrs. Butner. MRS. BUTNER Still, let's be charitable. She's practically an orphan, and she hasn't had our advantages. BLOSSOM The girls have a point, Mother. If Sarah Day had more refinement, she might have landed a husband -- as I did -- before this war. Take that as a lesson, girls. (We hear the whistle of a shell dropping, and an explosion. The women pause to steady furniture nearby, but take no notice besides.) DAHLIA If the war goes on much longer, she'll be too old to marry. Isn't she over twenty already? BLOSSOM Nearly an old maid. MRS. BUTNER She is, she is, I know it, but it's unkind to say so. All three of you should be ashamed. VERONIQUE Oh, but gossip is such fun, Mrs. Butner! DAHLIA And what other fun can we get since the Yankees came? MRS. BUTNER You are only girls, I allow. But Blossom, you know better than to call Sarah an old maid at her very own tea. BLOSSOM Yes, Mother. (There is a pause, when no one has anything to say. When MRS. BUTNER starts in again, everyone jumps in eagerly.) MRS. BUTNER Why, it's as bad as if you were to comment on how she patched her petticoat with hemp and magnolia leaves. BLOSSOM Ridiculous! DAHLIA Veronique and me were pretending not to notice. BLOSSOM She's proud of it! She calls it her ingenuity. DAHLIA Uh-oh, I hear the General coming. (DAHLIA and VERONIQUE giggle. All rise and face the entrance expectantly. In comes MRS. PEMBERTON, with hat and a sword.) MRS. PEMBERTON I'm sure you'll excuse me: I was inspecting the troops. Where's the hostess? Will no one take my hat and sword? (BLOSSOM, VERONIQUE and DAHLIA rush to her aid.) BLOSSOM Of course, Mrs. Pemberton. VERONIQUE Where should I put your sword, Mrs. Pemberton? MRS. PEMBERTON Hold it for me, dear, and stay within five paces. Should the Yankees break through our defenses, every lady should protect her own honor from those savages. Especially a lady so eminent as I.. MRS. BUTNER Please join us, Mrs. Pemberton. You aren't late. Sarah Day is still putting together some concoction for our tea, which we have not yet been served. BLOSSOM We were just discussing her ingenuity. MRS. BUTNER Back in Pennsylvania, her people were in business, you know. Ingenuity is highly prized in business, I hear. MRS. PEMBERTON I've had enough of Yankee ingenuity. General Grant's shells, General Grant's tunnels, General Grant's deceptions. If he had fought my husband like a gentleman instead of some underhanded Yankee tradesman, we wouldn't be in this predicament. BLOSSOM General Pemberton certainly faced him like a gentleman. I'm sure we'd all agree, Mrs. Pemberton, that your husband is not the least bit ingenious. (SARAH DAY enters carrying a tray of cookies and little plates, which she hands to her guests.) SARAH Here we are, ladies! Thank you, Mrs. Butner, for the use of your kitchen. You have been so kind to look after me since my aunt's passing. MRS. BUTNER Not at all, dear, not at all. (We hear the whistle of a shell dropping, and an explosion. ) Only two, this evening. Perhaps General Grant has lost interest. (We hear the whistle of a shell dropping, and an explosion. ) MRS PEMBERTON You spoke too soon. BLOSSOM Now, do tell us, how have you managed to make cookies, when the rest of us are nearly bereft of every good thing? SARAH It took a little ingenuity. Since we are short on the shortening to make cookies rise, I aimed to make something more like a ginger snap. MRS. BUTNER And wherever in my kitchen did you find ginger, Sarah? SARAH Oh, I didn't, Mrs. Butner. I call these my "turnip snaps." Would you like tea with that? MRS. PEMBERTON Immediately. (When SARAH exits, each guest finds a way to dispose of her cookie in her dress, in a drawer, in a plant, under a rug, under a hat. There is a knock, and MRS. BUTNER goes to the door.) MRS. BUTNER Ah, men have arrived. Please, gentlemen, join our little soirée. (PEMBERTON and TY DOWNS in grey uniforms enter and doff their hats-- PEMBERTON first, TY following his example.) PEMBERTON Ah, ladies, forgive me if I'm late. Corporal Downs and I were inspecting the troops on the perimeter. (DAHLIA and VERONIQUE giggle. BLOSSOM quiets them.) BLOSSOM And how do they look, General Pemberton? (PEMBERTON launches into oratory.) PEMBERTON Did anyone say they looked weary? They are not! Hungry? They are not! Scared? No, PEMBERTON(continued) no, I say, we will never surrender! Even when the last drop of Confederate blood oozes like sap into the Mississippi soil, we will never capitulate! Even if there's one last man, chopped to bits by Yankee bayonets, blown apart by Yankee shells, with his dying breath, he'll gurgle, "The South lives on!" (All burst into applause. PEMBERTON takes a short bow.) Anything to eat around here? I'm famished. (Women all produce those cookies from their hiding places.) ALL WOMEN Here! (SARAH arrives with tea and distributes it; the women must now keep their cookies.) SARAH Men, at last! After tea, we can have music and some proper dancing! Here, let me pour. (MRS. PEMBERTON pulls her husband aside. He is marking in a notebook.) MRS. PEMBERTON John, remember, you don't have to actually say it to write in your memoir that you said it. And oratory alone will never redeem this fiasco. PEMBERTON What did I say after "the blood oozes?" It was something good, I remember. (BLOSSOM approaches TY. They speak as conspirators.) BLOSSOM Corporal, that favor I asked - did you find what I requested? TY I got my man Trusty to fetch it - from out of town, if you get my meaning. He's out front with it. You want it now? (BLOSSOM nods. TY exits.) MRS. BUTNER Why, what an interesting color I see squirming around in my cup. Do you have it, too, dear? BLOSSOM Mine, too. General Pemberton? PEMBERTON It's like a little kerosene slick on the surface. Whatever is this, little lady? SARAH I see you noticed the colorful effect. I like to think of it as my rainbow tea. The colors, and that bracing aroma, come from tar. I made it from pine bark. (She sees no one drinking.) We have to make do with what we have, after all, don't we? (TY re-enters with a covered basket.) BLOSSOM Sarah is so right. We have to make do with what we have. That's why I always bring my supply of sugar with me. EVERYONE Sugar? BLOSSOM Corporal, would you please take the sugar around? Yes, I've conserved my supplies. I'm sure my pantry will provide for several more days at least. (GUESTS take heaping spoonsful in their cups.) PEMBERTON Very patriotic. This sugar may save the Confederacy! (We hear the whistle of a shell dropping, and an explosion. ) BLOSSOM In fact, I'm planning a little soirée of my own, on the Fourth. We can shoot off fireworks to match theirs, and show the Yankees how far we are from surrender. (EVERYONE applauds.) SARAH Ladies, we have only two gentlemen, but, I've asked Dahlia to play some waltzes. . . (DAHLIA leaves and we hear piano music playing during the next several lines.) . . .so let's have dancing for everyone! (Shells whistle and burst in quick succession and guests all rise in alarm. Everyone must speak above the fray.) Please, don't feel that you have to go! We're high up; we're safe. Aren't we, General? PEMBERTON Yes, that's true. MRS. PEMBERTON Now, dear, one of those shells could knock out the gate to the slaves' pens, we'd all be massacred tonight. PEMBERTON Yes, that's true. Corporal Downs. . . TY Yes sir, I'm on my way, sir! No one ever escapes from me, sir! (TY exits.) PEMBERTON I'd better supervise. (PEMBERTON exits.) MRS. PEMBERTON Thank you so much for a lovely gathering, girl. You have such a gift for making do. MRS. BUTNER I'll see you home, dear. (Other guests follow MRS. PEMBERTON and MRS. BUTNER out, leaving SARAH alone with BLOSSOM, and piano music.) SARAH Thank you, Dahlia. There won't be dancing. (The music stops. DAHLIA re-enters.) DAHLIA Oh! No one's here! (DAHLIA flees. There is a pause. The shelling dies to silence during the next four lines.) BLOSSOM Poor thing. Your party dissolved just like sugar in water. SARAH When I first came to this town, you were my one friend. BLOSSOM I still am. Now don't cry. I still am your closest friend. SARAH Yes. The closest thing to a friend as I can get. No one here wants me to do well. BLOSSOM To the contrary, all the ladies commented on your ingenuity. SARAH Then they bolted at the first excuse. But last week at your tea, a shell knocked a gap in your wall the size of a heifer. It gave new meaning to the phrase "open house"-- and flies lit everywhere, but people stayed. BLOSSOM A hostess should provide good food, of course. My rabbit stew, for example. SARAH Everyone heard Mrs. Pemberton chomp down on something hard. Everyone saw what she hid to the side of her plate! BLOSSOM That was only gristle! SARAH It was rat knuckles! We all saw it. They ate your rat concoction, but not my turnip snaps. What makes me so different? Is it just that I'm from Pennsylvania? BLOSSOM Oh, now dear, your pedigree is all in the past. You're just like a true lady. Only, of course, you are still just a girl. SARAH I'm older than you! BLOSSOM But I married Gerald Sweeney; I am mistress of a household. That does make a difference in Society. SARAH It's galling what hooking onto Gerald Sweeney did for you. I wouldn't have him. I would never tie my future to a man whose world is no wider than his own fat saddle! BLOSSOM Pride! Nothing but overweening pride! And now, you're paying the price, Old Maid! SARAH Get out! BLOSSOM It's my mother's house. You can't make me! SARAH I heard you laugh at my magnolia patches. Let's see how you tack your petticoats together! (She pulls up BLOSSOM's dress, revealing jerry-rigged mess of ivy, rope, patches.) Hah! BLOSSOM I'm going to my own home! SARAH Good. BLOSSOM And after I talk to my mother, you won't have a home. . . and no one else will have you! (BLOSSOM exits. SARAH shouts after her.) SARAH Fine! I'll sleep in the cemetery! There, they don't gossip! (To herself.) Sarah, old girl, you always were your own best friend. Old. Girl. You've got to get out of here for good. But not till you're getting out without giving up. END OF SCENE Return to top of the page(Just before sunrise of the next day. Yankee's camp across the river. SPELL sits, making preparations for the raft ride across the river. He has a lantern and basket beside him. He carries a pole for directing the raft. PAULO, GUS, and LARSON are coaxing RUTH into view.) PAULO That-a-way, Mose! You got it. Jes' keep yer feets close together, like this: (PAULO demonstrates, and RUTH enters in a serving girl's dress and head scarf, imitating PAULO's mincing walk.) GUS He ain't got the hips right, yet. And the hands. You gotta sway your hips like this: (GUS sways in rhythm to his words, and RUTH follows his lead.) "come on, honey, come on, honey, come on, honey, come on" - that's what a girl's hips is sayin' to ya' all-a time. And her hands, they's sayin' the same thing, same rhythm, like this: (GUS adds a hand gesture, fingers splayed, shoulders swivelling - like some kind of shimmying dance.) LARSON Naw, that's all wrong. Maybe your type-a girl walk like that, but not Mose. He's a nice girl, ain'cha? RUTH Yes. I'm a nice girl. PAULO No, you gotta say it high, like this: "Oh, no, sir, I'm a nice girl!" RUTH "Oh, no, sir, I'm a nice girl!" GUS Sounded more like a girl before. You all know, I'm the expert, and I know a real girl when I see one. And this one's a real girl. (RUTH freezes. SPELL stands with the lantern and approaches her. The BOYS look at her a moment, in silence. Then they laugh. LARSON punches her playfully.) LARSON Ha! All the guys'll be after you now! PAULO And won't they be surprised when they squeeze him tight! SPELL Boys, didja notice it's real quiet, and it's like you're shoutin' "Hey, Vicksburg! Look over here!" They got binoculars, too. We gotta cross the river, before sunrise. Don't want some rebel seein' us shove off the bank. Better take this lantern back, and let's have some quiet. PAULO Good luck, Mose! LARSON You gonna do somethin' good, I know. GUS Hey, bring me back a real girl. (PAULO, LARSON and GUS exit with lantern, laughing. There is a long pause.) RUTH What's in the basket? SPELL You shoulda' laughed. RUTH What? When? SPELL When Gus said you was a real girl. You'd-a laughed, if you was a real man. But you just froze up like you'd been caught stealin'. RUTH I ain't no girl! (She laughs, and punches at SPELL playfully. He does not respond.) SPELL Too late for that now. And now I wonder what I'm gonna do. I'm not puttin' any girl into that kind of danger. RUTH All right. I'm a girl. But I'm not just any girl. SPELL It's too risky. RUTH Anythin' I can see in my head, I can do. I escaped from here myself; I learned readin' and sewin' up in Cincinnati; and once the war started, I saw no way back down here but joinin' this regiment. And you said yourself I'm the best man in it. SPELL Well, so far, it's all been playin' at soldier, like you been playin' at bein' a man. This is the real thing. Come on, hurry, we'll dress up Gus instead. RUTH I know the city. Spell, listen: I've got to be the one! SPELL You can just draw him a map. Why does it have to be you? RUTH My man Thomas is here, in Vicksburg. I come back to get him. SPELL Let me get this straight. You escape alone, you make it safe to Ohio, then you risk your life to come back for him? You ain't a man; but your Thomas ain't half the man you are. Not if he let you escape without him. RUTH You don't know! He was prob'ly right. I spent weeks crawlin' up the river bank, squeezin' into tight places, hidin' in trees, blendin' in towns with servants. Thomas prob'ly was too big to get away. SPELL So are you goin' over there to make a Trojan horse, or just to find your so-called man? RUTH I can do both. SPELL Listen, girl, this is my big chance. If we can really do something here by tomorrow, we can turn this whole war around. And then there's promotion and money besides. That's a lot of future ridin' on just a girl. RUTH Before you knew I was "just a girl," you trusted me, so quit worryin'. Now, you take me over, or I'll do it myself. SPELL You better not be wastin' this chance on that so-called man of yours, or I swear. . . (She grabs the pole, and heads off towards the raft before he grabs her.) RUTH You take your hand off-a me! (RUTH knocks SPELL away.) And don't talk bad about my man! (RUTH swings at him again.) SPELL All right. I'll trust you. RUTH Listen -- there's bird calls; sun'll be creepin' up soon. We got to go now. SPELL First, we gotta plan. They'll hear us if we talk on the raft. So look now, up there where the church steeple is? Between the church and the house on the left, there's a sapling. We can watch with binoculars. You take the red scarf from this basket, tie it anywhere in that tree, I'll be watching, I'll come to get you right away. RUTH They'd shoot you comin' across. You just come get me at dark. SPELL Fourth of July's tomorrow. We may not have all day to do whatever we got to do. And if you need me, I'll be there. RUTH How? SPELL Use what's in the basket. (RUTH looks in the basket, then looks up at him quizzically.) It's the oldest voodoo trick there is - fool 'em with your right hand while you trick 'em with your left. Get it? They don't call me Spell for nothin'. Here let me help you. (SPELL makes to help her towards the raft; RUTH shakes him off.) RUTH I can handle myself, thank you. SPELL Just one thing. What's your name? RUTH Ruth. (RUTH exits. SPELL pauses, with a gesture of benediction.) SPELL Lord, keep Ruth safe! And keep her head on straight! END OF SCENE Return to top of the page(MRS. BUTNER'S home the morning after the failed party. We hear distant shooting, blowing of whistles. MRS. BUTNER is picking up remaining cookies from the party, with disgust. Enter SARAH.) SARAH Guns, alarms, cannons - time was, I'd be apoplectic! Now it's all just part of the morning, like the robins and the sunshine. Oh, that would make a poem! But what would rhyme with "apoplectic?" MRS. BUTNER It started before dawn. Some disturbance among the slaves. Between that and the shelling -- I 've spent most of the night down in the cave. SARAH Ugh. I'm glad I slept through it. I hate it under this house. It's so cold, and drippy, and crawling with spiders. I prefer the big frame bed. MRS. BUTNER You'll be murdered in it if those slaves get loose. Thank goodness Corporal Downs is in charge. SARAH Now there's a man with a small world. His only talent is restriction. MRS. BUTNER You should be charitable. He was your guest last night. SARAH Last night. I'd prefer not to think of it. MRS. BUTNER Well, you had better think of it. Those shells hit my daughter's house last night. SARAH Has she anything left? MRS. BUTNER She needn't sleep in the cemetery tonight, if that's what you mean. SARAH The cemetery? Oh. So you two spoke about-? MRS. BUTNER You were unkind, young lady. And even a Christian woman has her limits! SARAH Meaning-? MRS. BUTNER My daughter will host her Fourth-of-July fête tomorrow evening, then sleep here for the duration of the war. I want you to evacuate by tomorrow at noon. SARAH As you wish, Mrs. Butner. MRS. BUTNER For now you have the place to yourself, as I'm helping Blossom prepare for the move. Noon tomorrow! And here - for breakfast, eat your own turnip snaps! (MRS. BUTNER exits. SARAH follows, to toss out the cookies. Startled, she jumps back in, and RUTH follows.) RUTH Please, ma'am, I throw myself on your mercy. Help me - hide me! SARAH Are you the thing they've been shooting at? All that to-do over one servant girl? What ever did you do to bring on the wrath of Ty Downs? RUTH Look, don't do a thing. Just, when he comes, you say you never saw me. (RUTH searches for cover.) SARAH Why should I help you, girl? RUTH Because I'll. . . I'll get you whatever you want! SARAH Be my slave? Aren't you running away from that sort of thing? RUTH I will not be anybody's slave! But listen: you can have three wishes! SARAH Like a genie? I could use one. Right this moment my wishes are boiling over like soup. But, it's no use: unless you can get me a home far away from here, a nice dress, and a decent meal - with roasted beef - then I'm not interested. (TY bangs on the door.) TY Mrs. Butner! Mrs. Butner! RUTH I can do all three! TY It's Corporal Downs, Mrs. Butner. Miss Day, you in there? RUTH But if he catches me, you get nothin'. TY I warn you, by the authority vested in me by the Confederate States of America, that I will hereby bust in with or without permission, on count of five. One. . . SARAH Roast beef, a dress, and a home? TY Two. . . RUTH Would you settle for pork? TY Three. . . SARAH No. Can I get a man with the house? TY Four. . . SARAH One who knows the world? TY Five. RUTH I can try! TY Here goes. (SARAH opens the door just as TY crashes through it. TY lands on the ground at RUTH's feet. TY grabs at her ankle and RUTH kicks him. He howls.) SARAH Corporal, you have no authority to come into my abode and manhandle my servant's ankles. TY She's not yours! SARAH Up on your feet, you low-down sorry excuse for a gentleman! (SARAH shields RUTH from TY's sight.) If I say she's my servant, who are you to say a lady is lying? TY Oh, no ma'am, not lying. Only, I know this'un. I seen her before. And she was skulking around the slaves' pen this morning, tryin' to communicate with the colored men. SARAH She was on an errand for me. I . . . needed a recipe. . . for . . . cajun beef. TY Really, ma'am? So, where did you get your beef? SARAH You don't believe that either, I see! General Pemberton would never treat a lady to such skepticism. TY No ma'am, no skepticism; I just have trouble believin' you. SARAH Your errand here has failed, and you may leave now. TY Only let me see her up close. I can identify her face for sure if I do. SARAH Well, now, that's just not possible. . . (SARAH pulls RUTH's head-scarf down over her eyes. RUTH has to hold her chin up forty-five degrees to see where she's going.) . . .because the light hurts her eyes. She's very old and ailing. But here, here's a look at her. Now, get out. I was thinking of dressing. TY You, there! You're Ruth. I know you are. (RUTH cowers behind BLOSSOM again as if afraid, and speaks cajunesque gibberish.) RUTH Hodey bodey 'way! Hodey bodey weh-way! SARAH Now you're frightening poor little. . . Eva! She's an old cajun woman, and not used to people raisin' their voices. TY How come I never seen her before? SARAH I sent her on an errand down to New Orleans before the war, and she got lost on the way up. She's been in the forest, half-starved. RUTH Code 'n eden berries. Lody, eden nuzzen berries. (SARAH comforts her.) SARAH I know, I know, Little Eva! But he's going away real soon. You are overstaying your welcome, Corporal. TY How come you can understand cajun all-a sudden? SARAH She. . . she was my mammy. TY They don't have mammies in Pennsylvania! SARAH Oh, and what else do you think you know about Pennsylvania? TY It ain't polite to say. SARAH Get your ignorant, rude, skeptical, obstinate self out of here now! TY For now, all right. But I seen you, Ruth, and I'm comin' to get you. RUTH Lody, Lody, hep hep me fumma cah-booba, fumma idjy cah-booba! SARAH I agree. Farewell, Corporal. (TY exits. SARAH and RUTH wait until he's gone, then laugh.) RUTH All right. You done a good job. But he'll be back. And I can't do what I need to if you don't give me a few things in return. SARAH You promised three wishes. RUTH And you'll get 'em, only one at a time. You got me outta that mess: that gets you your first wish. You'll have a new dress by tonight. Now, let's say you give me some information, and I'll get you a decent meal. SARAH What kind of information? Oh, lands! You're not just a slave girl, are you? You spy for the Yankees? RUTH When you have your new home far, far away - will it matter what you told a Yankee spy? SARAH You and your gun boats and cannons have hounded this town nearly to death, like a pack of dogs attacking a great bear! This used to be the most beautiful town. It was serene, it was colorful, grand, sociable. Now our homes are crushed or burnt, our streets are rubble, we're in tatters and we're always hungry. I will not assist your Yankee butchers one whit. I will summon Mr. Downs. RUTH And he'll whip me, and shackle me, and probably get me killed, and your town won't be any better for it. Ain't you from Pennsylvania, anyway? What's this town to you? SARAH These people have been kind to me! Well, most of them have been kind. Well, mostly kind. Anyway, I will not dishonor myself by betraying them. RUTH Well, I remember how this town used to be, too. And from where I was lookin', it wasn't so beautiful. I was made to walk in the muck-filled gutters of your "beautiful" streets, and wait in the shack back of some "grand" house, and watch "sociable" people dance by in all these "colorful" clothes made of cotton that my man and I picked, bendin' our backs under a whip. I'm fightin' to get him out of that. Would you call that dishonorable? SARAH I have always detested their slavery. RUTH Then it's not dishonorable to help me! And your people here: they gotta give in sometime. You can end all the sufferin' tomorrow: for my people, for this town, and for your own self. SARAH If I did give you your information, what else would you want? RUTH For that home you want, far away from here? My comrades and me, we'll need a place to work from. This place'll do. SARAH Oh, no. This isn't mine to give. I myself must vacate it by tomorrow. RUTH Then I'm afraid there's not much I can do for the Union. . . or you. SARAH Except. . . there are caves we go down to when shelling is real bad, and soldiers dug some tunnels we use sometimes. You could climb down and never go through the house. I could show you how. RUTH Now you're talking. SARAH And about the man you said who would come with the house? RUTH Think of him as a bonus. Now, I'll follow you. (RUTH and SARAH exit.) END OF SCENE Return to top of the page |
