_With his final cheer_, LINK _stumbles down from the
mound, brandishes in one hand his hat, in the other
the little flag, and stumps off toward the approaching
procession into the sunlight, joining his old cracked
voice, jubilant, with the singers:_)
"--ry hallelujah,
Glory, glory hallelujah,
His truth is marchin" on!"
[CURTAIN]
LONESOME-LIKE[1]
Harold Brighouse
[Footnote 1: Included by special permission of the author and of
the publishers, Messrs. Gowans and Gray, of Glasgow.]
CHARACTERS
SAKAH ORMEHOD, An old woman
EMMA BRIERLEY, A young woman
THE REV. FRANK ALLEYNE, A curate
SAM HORROCKS, A young man
THE SCENE _represents the interior of a cottage in a Lancashire
village. Through the window at the back the gray row of cottages
opposite is just visible. The outside door is next to the window.
Door left. As regards furniture the room is very bare. The
suggestion is not of an empty room, but a stripped room. For
example, there are several square patches where the distemper of
the walls is of a darker shade than the rest, indicating the
places once occupied by pictures. There is an uncovered deal
the left wall is a dresser and a plate-rack above it containing a
few pots. The dresser has also one or two utensils upon it. A
blackened kettle rests on the top of the cooking-range, but the
room contains only the barest necessities. The floor is
uncarpeted. There are no window curtains, but a yard of cheap
muslin is fastened across the window, not coming, however, high
enough to prevent a passer-by from looking in, should he wish to
do so. On the floor, near the fire, is a battered black tin
trunk, the lid of which is raised. On a peg behind the door left
is a black silk skirt and bodice and an old-fashioned beaded
bonnet. The time is afternoon. As the curtain rises the room is
empty. Immediately, however, the door left opens and SARAH
ORMEROD, an old woman, enters, carrying clumsily in her arms a
couple of pink flannelette nightdresses, folded neatly. Her black
stuff dress is well worn, and her wedding-ring is her only
ornament. She wears elastic-sided boots, and her rather short
skirt shows a pair of gray worsted stockings. A small plaid shawl
covers her shoulders. SARAH crosses and puts the nightdresses on
the table, surveying the trunk ruefully. There is a knock at the
outside door and she looks up._
SARAH. Who's theer?
EMMA (_without_). It's me, Mrs. Ormerod, Emma Brierley.
SARAH. Eh, coom in, Emma, lass.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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