Dominican College of San Rafael - Firebrand Yearbook (San Rafael, CA)

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THE HA.RD-HEARTED FEMALE CHARACTERS Harry Blain— A middle-aged convalescent; his at- titude is abrupt and he is known to be a card shark among his companions. Michael Davidson— Just twenty-one; sunny dispo- sition and a big heart. Henry Kline— A young professor of history; he spends most of his time reading. Thomas Dewey — Eighteen-year-old convalescent; he wants to die. Isabell Scott— Nurse. TIME The year nineteen hundred and forty-five. PLACE A ward for amputees in a Veterans ' hospital. SETTING A regular hospital ward, in which only the four beds facing the audience from upstage are occupied. Two beds on the left and two on the right are in readi- ness for newcomers. Beside each bed is a table with a water glass and several bottles on it. As the scene opens, the occupants of the first two beds are sitting up talking, the occupant of the third is reading, and 102

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mony everyone in the college laid a brick in the floor of the front porch. From the science building you can walk down Acacia Avenue to the front of Angelico Hall and vieXv the Spanish spruce tree, now grown so large, which was planted by the first graduating class in nineteen hundred and t v ' enty-t vo. It is a long walk from Angelico Hall to Edge Hill, but the Babcocks, who built Edge Hill, used to go up the avenue at a brisk trot in their horse-drawn car- riage. The Babcocks were very fond of dogs and they kept twenty dachshunds at Edge Hill. Legend has it that each dog had his o vn room, and you still can see the brass bar in the front window vhich was built for their leashes. There is even a rumor that you may stumble over the graveyard Avhere each dog has his o vn little tombstone. As you walk down a shady path in the present, re- member the days about a quarter of a centtiry after the time when the only taxi in San Rafael was a one- horse shay, when the ladies all wore bustles and big hats, and when Marin County was the playground of the most fashionable people in the West. College girls still vore their gym bloomers below their knees and Dominican College had only one building and five seniors . . . once upon a time. Barbara Alexander, ' 48 101

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the fourth bed is in darkness. Harry Blain, the occu- pant of the first bed, is speaking. Harry: Hey, Mike, how about a game, huh? Mike: Ah gee, Harry, you took practically my last cent last night. I ' m getting out of here pretty soon and I ' ve gotta save up. Harry: So what? (He shuffles the cards enticingly.) Besides, it ' s all in the cards, and you might win you know. Why I won a thousand bucks in a few weeks over there, and boy, oh boy, that ain ' t hay. Just think what you could buy with that, and I got it to lose too. Mike: Trouble is Harry, I ' m new at the game, and I don ' t want to take the chance. H-arry: What ' s that, son? I was new at it too when I started. Henry: (Looking up from his book) New at it thirty years ago you mean, don ' t you old chap? Harry: Shut up, Kline, you ' re ruining my good honest business. (He looks winningly at Mike.) Come on kid, just a few hands before we turn in. It ' s good for the brain, makes you think. Henry: May I give you a word of advice, Michael? Cards are a definite hindrance to the mind. They not only hinder it, but they actually degrade it. Here, (he offers a large book) I have a wonderful history on the diplomatic affairs of the American people from the 103