NARRATOR: (entering)
One of the men had the gray seal of death upon him. His hands were
bloody from where he had pressed them upon his wound.
(HENRY moves in from of
JIM. JIM puts his hand on HENRY. HENRY jumps as if he had been
touched by a ghost. HENRY turns to the man, sees it is JIM.)
HENRY: Gawd! Jim Conklin!
JIM: Hello, Henry.
(a vacant stare, ahead)
HENRY: (horrified,
gulping back tears) Oh Jim... oh, Jim... oh, Jim...
JIM: (eyes fixed ahead)
Where you been. Henry? I thought maybe you got keeled over. There's
been thunder to pay today.
HENRY: Oh, Jim... oh,
Jim... oh, Jim...
JIM: You know, I was
out there. And Lord, what a circus! And by jiminey, I got shot.
JIM: (leans to speak
confidentially to HENRY) I tell you what I'm afraid of, Henry,
I'll tell you what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid I'll fall down and then,
you know, them dumb artillery wagons — they like as not’ll
run over me. That's what I'm afraid of.
HENRY: (hysterical)
I'll take care of you, Jim! I'll take care of you. I swear to God I will.
JIM: Will you, Henry?
HENRY: Yes! Yes! I tell
you... I'll take care of you, Jim.
JIM: Just pull me out
of the road. I'd do it for you, wouldn't I, Henry?
HENRY: (awkwardly
wiping tears away with his sleeve) Lean on me, Jim, just lean on me.
JIM: (pushes him away)
No... no... no, leave me be, leave me be...
HENRY: I better take
you out of the road, Jim. There's a battery coming.
HENRY: I better take
you out of the road, Jim. There's a battery coming.
(JIM is vacant.)
HENRY: Gawd, Jim, how
can you keep walking like this?
(JIM keeps walking
doggedly. HENRY is exasperated.)
HENRY: JIM! JIM!
JIM: (thinking he understands)
Oh! In the fields! Oh!
HENRY: Gawd! Don't run, Jim!
(HENRY grasps JIM, crying.)
HENRY: Jim, what makes
you do this way? You're hurt bad, Jim!
(SOUND CUE #5:
"Jim's Death".)
JIM: No, no, no, don't
touch me, leave me be, leave me be...
(JIM pushes HENRY away and
falls unto cube. NARRATOR enters. SHE and HENRY quickly move
downstage "following" JIM. HENRY and NARRATOR play the
scene as if seeing JIM out front. JIM remains on cube.)
NARRATOR: Turning his
head swiftly, the youth saw his friend running in a staggering and
stumbling way toward a little clump of bushes.
HENRY: Where you going,
Jim? What are you thinking about? Where you going? Tell me, won't
you, Jim?
NARRATOR: The tall
soldier turned and lurching dangerously, went on.
HENRY: JIM!
NARRATOR: The youth followed.
JIM: Leave me be for a
minute. Leave me be...
NARRATOR: At last.
Henry saw him stop and stand motionless.
HENRY: Jim, what's the
matter with you, Jim?
NARRATOR: There was a silence.
JIM: Leave me be...
NARRATOR: Finally, the
chest of the doomed soldier began to heave. For a moment the tremor
of his legs caused him to dance a hideous sort of jig. His arms beat
wildly about his head. The tall soldier stretched to his full height,
then fell to the ground.
(JIM stands, staggers
downstage and falls into HENRY'S arms.)
HENRY: (sobs)
JIM!! Oh, Gawd, oh Gawd, oh Gawd!!
NARRATOR: As the flap
of the blue jacket fell away from the body, Henry could see that his
side looked as if it had been chewed by wolves.
(pause)
NARRATOR: The youth
turned toward the battlefield.
HENRY: (raising his
fist, furious) DAMNATION!!!!
Note: This is a
sample from the actual script. To review the entire play, order
the PERUSAL SCRIPT (online instant download).
"We were more than pleased with The Red Badge of Courage."
