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

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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

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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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Revolutionary War on. If you are very careful and promise not to crease the pages— I simply cannot tol- erate creased pages— I ' ll lend it to you. Mike: Thanks, Mr. Kline, ah . . . but ... I was never too good at history and, well . . . ah . . . Harry: Ya know. Prof, what I read in the noospaper the other day? It was about this professor, see? And he kept givin ' his students homework, homework, and all the time more homework, see? He kept forcin ' more and more on them all the time, see? Ya know what happened? One day they found him down by the crick (he looks menacingly at Henry) all in little tiny pieces. See? Mike: Golly ... Henry: Well really, absurd. (He shrinks down in his blankets after a quick glance at Harry, and re- sumes his reading.) Harry: You cut, Mike. (He picks up his cards.) Ya know, I really can ' t place no blame on them kids. I couldn ' t stand homework either. I always had a mind for the business world. Boy, I let ' em know too, and walked out of school and left ' em flat in the second grade. Henry: (Looks up from his book.) I might be bold enough to add that, for once, your story is not hard to believe. 104