KARMA KARMA A RE-INCARNATION PLAY IN PROLOGUE, EPILOGUE & THREE ACTS BY ALGERNON BLACKWOOD AUTHOR OF “JULIUS LE VALLON,” “THE WAVE,” ETC. AND VIOLET PEARN [Illustration] NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 681 FIFTH AVENUE COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS PAGE PROLOGUE. PRESENT DAY 3 ACT I. THEIR FIRST LIFE TOGETHER. TIME--2000 B.C. EGYPT 38 ACT II. THEIR SECOND LIFE TOGETHER. TIME--325 B.C. GREECE 81 ACT III. THEIR THIRD LIFE TOGETHER. TIME--FIFTEENTH CENTURY. ITALY 123 EPILOGUE. PRESENT DAY 189 PROLOGUE PRESENT DAY CHARACTERS PHILLIP LATTIN (45), British Agent in Egypt. MRS. LATTIN, his wife (40), mentally and physically ill; a woman of strong personality and exacting. THE DOCTOR, unpretentious, simple in bearing, gentle in manner. NURSE. PROLOGUE SCENE--_Room in LATTIN’S London house. MRS. LATTIN lies on sofa. A picture of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile, palms and temples on wall easily visible to her._ TIME--_Present day, evening._ _Mrs. Lattin_ What time is it, nurse--_now_? _Nurse_ Close on half-past five. _Mrs. Lattin_ (_With irritability of a sick woman._) Not later? Are you sure? It’s so dark. _Nurse_ (_Soothingly._) The dusk is closing in; I’ll light your lamp. _Mrs. Lattin_ Half-past five, you said? My husband expected to be back before this. Hasn’t he come? The appointment was for half-past two. _Nurse_ The Foreign Office takes its time. Mr. Lattin will come to you the moment he gets in. _Mrs. Lattin_ You’re sure? I thought I heard his step. _Nurse_ I’ll go and see the moment the lamp is lit. But he never forgets. He always comes in here first. _Mrs. Lattin_ But he’s so long to-day, longer than usual. And he looked so grave, nurse, when he left. He looked worried, I thought. You noticed it? _Nurse_ He _is_ taken up with these politics just now. It’s only natural, considering the crisis in Egypt. But he’s always so in earnest, isn’t he? I noticed nothing unusual. The Government is lucky to have him at such a time. No one could fill _his_ place. (_Brings lamp._) There’s the lamp. Is the shading right? _Mrs. Lattin_