FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   3591   3592   3593   3594   3595   3596   3597   3598   3599   3600   3601   3602   3603   3604   3605   3606   3607   3608   3609   3610   3611   3612   3613   3614   3615  
3616   3617   3618   3619   3620   3621   3622   3623   3624   3625   3626   3627   3628   3629   3630   3631   3632   3633   3634   3635   3636   3637   3638   3639   3640   >>   >|  
and rushes to the door. But he stops there and comes back, magnetised, as it were, by that paper. He takes it up once more and thrusts it into his pocket.] [The footsteps of a Policeman pass, slow and regular, outside. His face crisps and quivers; he stands listening till they die away. Then he snatches the paper from his pocket, and goes past the foot of the couch to the fore.] All my----No! Let him hang! [He thrusts the paper into the fire, stamps it down with his foot, watches it writhe and blacken. Then suddenly clutching his head, he turns to the bodies on the couch. Panting and like a man demented, he recoils past the head of the couch, and rushing to the window, draws the curtains and throws the window up for air. Out in the darkness rises the witch-like skeleton tree, where a dark shape seems hanging. KEITH starts back.] What's that? What----! [He shuts the window and draws the dark curtains across it again.] Fool! Nothing! [Clenching his fists, he draws himself up, steadying himself with all his might. Then slowly he moves to the door, stands a second like a carved figure, his face hard as stone.] [Deliberately he turns out the light, opens the door, and goes.] [The still bodies lie there before the fire which is licking at the last blackened wafer.] CURTAIN THE LITTLE MAN A FARCICAL MORALITY IN THREE SCENES CHARACTERS THE LITTLE MAN. THE AMERICAN. THE ENGLISHMAN. THE ENGLISHWOMAN. THE GERMAN. THE DUTCH BOY. THE MOTHER. THE BABY. THE WAITER. THE STATION OFFICIAL. THE POLICEMAN. THE PORTER. SCENE I Afternoon, on the departure platform of an Austrian railway station. At several little tables outside the buffet persons are taking refreshment, served by a pale young waiter. On a seat against the wall of the buffet a woman of lowly station is sitting beside two large bundles, on one of which she has placed her baby, swathed in a black shawl. WAITER. [Approaching a table whereat sit an English traveller and his wife] Two coffee? ENGLISHMAN. [Paying] Thanks. [To his wife, in an Oxford voice] Sugar? ENGLISHWOMAN. [In a Cambridge voice] One. AMERICAN TRAVELLER. [With field-glasses and a pocket camera from another table] Waiter, I'd like to have you get my eggs. I've been sitting h
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   3591   3592   3593   3594   3595   3596   3597   3598   3599   3600   3601   3602   3603   3604   3605   3606   3607   3608   3609   3610   3611   3612   3613   3614   3615  
3616   3617   3618   3619   3620   3621   3622   3623   3624   3625   3626   3627   3628   3629   3630   3631   3632   3633   3634   3635   3636   3637   3638   3639   3640   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

window

 

pocket

 
bodies
 

curtains

 
buffet
 

station

 

ENGLISHWOMAN

 

thrusts

 

ENGLISHMAN

 

LITTLE


WAITER

 

sitting

 

AMERICAN

 

stands

 

tables

 
taking
 

refreshment

 

waiter

 

served

 
persons

PORTER

 

MOTHER

 

STATION

 

SCENES

 

CHARACTERS

 

GERMAN

 

OFFICIAL

 

POLICEMAN

 

railway

 

Austrian


platform

 

Afternoon

 

departure

 

swathed

 

TRAVELLER

 

Cambridge

 
Thanks
 

Oxford

 

glasses

 

camera


Waiter

 
Paying
 
coffee
 

bundles

 

English

 

traveller

 

whereat

 

Approaching

 

stamps

 
watches