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 notll 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).