The Land of Promise: A Comedy in Four Acts

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE [ She looks at him with consternation. His words give her a queer little twist of the heart-strings. ] Taylor. I know you now less than when you’d only been a week up at Ed’s. I’ve lost the trail and I’m just floundering around in the bush. Norah. [ In a low voice. ] I never knew you wanted love. Taylor. I guess I didn’t either. Norah. I suppose parting’s always rather painful. Taylor. If you go back to the Old Country, I guess—I guess you’ll never come back. Norah. [ Rather shyly. ] Perhaps you’ll come over to England one of these days. If you have a couple of good years you could easily shut the place up and run over for the winter. Taylor. I guess that would be a dangerous experiment. You’ll be a lady in England, and I guess I’d be just the hired man. Norah. You’d be my husband. Taylor. I guess I wouldn’t risk it. Norah. You’ll write to me now and then and tell me how you’re getting on, won’t you? Taylor. Will you want to know? Norah. [ Smiling. ] Why, yes. Taylor. I’ll write and tell you if I’m making good. If I ain’t, I guess I shan’t feel much like writing. Norah. But you’ll make good, Frank. I know you well enough for that. Taylor. Do you? Norah. I have learnt to respect you during these months we’ve lived together. All sorts of qualities which I used to value seem very unimportant to me now. You’ve taught me a great deal. Taylor. You’ll think of me sometimes, my girl, won’t you? Norah. [ Smiling. ] I don’t suppose I shall be able to prevent it. Taylor. I was an ignorant, uneducated man. I didn’t know how to treat you properly. I wanted to make you happy and I didn’t seem to know just how to do it. Norah. You’ve never been unkind to me, Frank. You’ve been very patient with me. Taylor. I guess you’ll be happier away from me. I’ll be able to think that you’re warm and comfortable at home and you’ve got plenty to eat. Norah. D’you think that’s all I want? [ He gives her a rapid glance, and then setting his teeth looks away. ] Taylor. I couldn’t expect you to stay on here, not when you got a chance of going back to the Old Country. This life is all new to you. And you know that one. Norah. Oh, yes, I know it—I should think I did. [ As she pictures to herself the daily round which awaits her, she is filled with a sort of mirthless scorn, and this presently, as she speaks, is mixed with hatred and dismay. ] At eight o’clock every morning a maid will bring me tea and hot water. And I shall get up, and I shall have breakfast, and I shall interview the cook. I shall order luncheon and dinner. And I shall brush the coats of Mrs. Hubbard’s poms and take them for a walk on the common. All the paths on the common are asphalted so that elderly gentlemen and lady’s companions shouldn’t get their feet wet. Taylor. Gee! Norah. And then I shall come in and lunch, and after luncheon I shall go for a drive, one day in this direction and one day in that. And then I shall have tea, and then I shall go out again on the nice neat asphalt paths to give the dogs another walk. And then I shall change my dress and come down to dinner. And after dinner I shall play bezique with my employer, and I must take care not to beat her because she doesn’t like being beaten. And at ten o’clock I shall go to bed.... [ She pauses a moment. ] At eight o’clock next morning a maid will bring in my tea and hot water, and the day will begin again. Every day will be just like every other. And there are hundreds of women in England, strong and capable, with blood in their veins, who would be eager to get the place that’s offered to me. Almost a lady and thirty-five pounds a year. [ Taylor has been gazing at her steadily. What she means begins to dawn on him, but he restrains himself. He will not look at her now. ] Taylor. I guess it’s a bit different from the life you’ve had here. Norah. [ Turning to him. ] And you will be clearing the scrub, cutting down trees, ploughing the land, sowing and reaping. You will be fighting every day, frost, hail, and weed; you will be fighting, but I know you’ll be conquering in the end. Where was wilderness will be cultivated land. And who knows what starving child may eat the bread that has been made from the wheat that you grew. My life will be ineffectual and useless, but you will have done something worth while. Taylor. Why, what’s the matter with you, Norah, Norah? [ He does not say the words to her, but rather to himself as though they were forced from him in agony of spirit. ] Norah. When I was talking to Mrs. Sharp just now I don’t know what I said, I was just trying to comfort her because she was crying, and it seemed to be someone else who was speaking, and I listened to myself. I thought I hated the prairie through the long winter months, and yet somehow it has caught hold of me. It was dreary and monotonous, and yet I can’t get it out of my heart. There’s a beauty and a romance in it which fill my soul with longing. Taylor. [ Quietly. ] I guess we all hate the prairie sometimes, but when you’ve once lived in it, it ain’t easy to live anywhere else. Norah. I know the life now. It’s not adventurous and exciting. For men and women it’s the same hard work from morning till night, and I know it’s the women who bear the greater burden. The men go into the towns, they have shooting now and then, and the different seasons bring them different work. But for the women it’s always the same, cooking, mending, washing, sweeping. And yet it’s all got a meaning. We, too, have our part in opening up the country. We are its mothers and the future is in us. We are building up the greatness of the nation. It needs our courage and strength and hope, and because it needs them, they come to us. Oh, Frank, I can’t go back to that petty, narrow life. What have you done to me? Taylor. [ Hoarsely. ] I guess if I asked you to stay now, you’d stay. Norah. [ In a low voice. ] You said you wanted my love. Don’t you know?... Love has been growing in me slowly, month by month, and I wouldn’t see it. I told myself I hated you. I was ashamed. It’s only to-day, when I had the means of leaving you for ever, that I knew I couldn’t live without you. I’m not ashamed any more. I love you. Taylor. I guess I loved you from the beginning, Norah. Norah. Why d’you say it as if...? What’s the matter, Frank? Taylor. I guess you’ll have to take that job in England. I can’t ask you to stay on. Norah. Why? Taylor. The inspector’s condemned the crop. I’m bust. Norah. Oh, why didn’t you tell me? Taylor. I guess I couldn’t. I made up my mind when I married you that I’d make good. I couldn’t expect you to see that it was just bad luck. Anyone can get the weed in his crop. But I guess a man oughtn’t to have bad luck. The odds are that it’s his own fault if he has. Norah. Now I understand about Eddie. Taylor. I wrote to him when I knew I’d been reported. Norah. What are you going to do? Taylor. It’s all right for me. I can hire out. It’s you I was thinking of. I felt pretty sure you wouldn’t go back to Ed’s. I didn’t fancy you taking a position as lady help. I didn’t know what was to become of you, my girl. And when you told me of the job in England, I thought I’d let you go. Norah. Without telling me you were in trouble? Taylor. Why, if I wasn’t smashed up, d’you think I’d let you go? By God, I wouldn’t. I’d have kep’ you—by God, I’d have kep’ you. Norah. Are you going to give the land up? Taylor. No, I guess I can’t do that. I’ve put too much work in it. And I’ve got my back up now. I shall hire out for the summer and next winter I can get work lumbering. The land’s my own now, and I’ll come back in time for the ploughing next year. Norah. Look. Taylor. What’s that? [ She hands him the cheque which she has received from Mr. Wynne. ] Norah. The nephew of the lady I was with has made me a present of it. Twenty-five hundred dollars. You can lake the quarter section next to this one and get all the machinery you want and some cows. It’s yours to do what you like with. Now will you keep me? Taylor. Oh, my girl, how shall I ever be able to thank you! Norah. Good heavens, I don’t want thanks. There’s nothing in the world so wonderful as to be able to give to someone you love.... Give me a kiss and try. Taylor. I guess it’s the first time you’ve asked me to do that. Norah. Oh, I’m so happy. THE END PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY BILLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE: A COMEDY IN FOUR ACTS *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. 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