The Old West in the Old World: Lost Plays by Bret Harte and Sam Davis

The Luck of Roaring Camp in One Prologue and Two Acts

— —฀฀22 / Part One฀฀— — The฀Luck฀of฀Roaring฀Camp in฀One฀Prologue฀and฀Two฀Acts by฀Bret฀Harte฀and฀M.฀de฀Seigneur Characters฀in฀Prologue Original฀Members฀of฀Roaring฀Camp Jack฀Oakhurst Boston Stumpy Kentuck Dublin฀Bay Dungaree฀Jack Sydney฀Duck Miners Mrs.฀Smith฀฀฀฀Wife฀of฀Stumpy A฀Baby Locality Roaring฀Camp,฀Calaveras฀County,฀California Time 1852 scharnhorst-berkove.indd 22 3/22/06 9:30:26 AM — —฀฀23฀฀— — Prologue Roaring฀Camp.฀A฀Cañon,฀rocks,฀pine฀trees,฀water฀fall,฀camp฀fires฀on฀ Left.฀Stumpy’s฀Cabin฀disclosing฀interior฀when฀door฀is฀open.฀Distant฀ view฀of฀snow฀capped฀Sierra.฀Kentuck,฀Stumpy,฀Boston,฀Dublin฀Bay,฀ French฀ Pete฀ and฀ miners฀ in฀ rough฀ working฀ picturesque฀ costumes฀ discovered฀in฀groups,฀smoking,฀drinking,฀card฀playing. Oakhurst฀ centre฀ beside฀ barrel:฀ Order,฀ gentlemen!฀ French฀ Pete,฀ Stumpy฀and฀Kentuck฀turn฀quick฀towards฀Oakhurst฀half฀rising.฀ Boston,฀Dublin฀Bay,฀Skaggs฀and฀other฀miners฀continue฀their฀ occupations฀without฀heeding. Oakhurst:฀ Order!฀ French฀ Pete,฀ Stumpy฀ and฀ Kentuck฀ try฀ to฀ enlist฀ attention฀of฀others,฀but฀vainly.฀After฀a฀pause฀Oakhurst฀draws฀ pistol฀and฀fires฀it฀in฀the฀air.฀All฀spring฀to฀their฀feet,฀grasping฀ rifles฀and฀revolvers,฀and฀turn฀excitedly฀toward฀Oakhurst. Oakhurst฀ quietly฀ returning฀ the฀ pistol฀ to฀ pocket:฀ I฀ said฀ Order!฀ Gentlemen!฀All฀slowly฀resume฀their฀places฀with฀faces฀turned฀ toward฀Oakhurst. Skaggs—regretfully:฀It฀wasn’t฀a฀free฀fight฀after฀all. Oakhurst:฀It฀has฀been฀the฀custom฀of฀this฀camp,฀gentlemen,฀to฀call฀ a฀ meeting฀ to฀ discuss฀ any฀ matter฀ involving฀ the฀ common฀ interests฀of฀its฀members.฀A฀circumstance฀has฀just฀occurred฀ which฀ concerns฀ not฀ only฀ the฀ present,฀ but฀ the฀ future฀ of฀ Roaring฀Camp.฀Cries฀of฀Hear!฀Hear!฀Three฀days฀ago฀a฀strange฀ woman฀arrived฀here฀in฀this฀camp฀in฀a฀fainting฀condition,฀ and฀died฀in฀giving฀birth฀to฀a฀child.฀Death฀has฀perhaps฀been฀ frequent฀here,฀owing฀to฀the฀liberality฀of฀our฀institutions,฀but฀ I฀believe฀this฀is฀the฀first฀record฀of฀a฀birth฀in฀it.฀I฀call฀this฀ meeting฀to฀know฀what฀steps฀shall฀be฀taken฀in฀this฀matter. scharnhorst-berkove.indd 23 3/22/06 9:30:26 AM — —฀฀24 / Part One฀฀— — French฀Pete฀(with฀foreign฀accent):฀I฀move฀that฀Mr.฀John฀Oakhurst฀ take฀the฀chair. Kentuck:฀I฀second฀the฀motion. Oakhurst:฀It฀is฀moved฀and฀seconded฀that฀the฀speaker฀take฀the฀chair.฀ Those฀who฀are฀in฀favour฀of฀that฀motion฀please฀say฀Aye. All฀except฀Boston:฀Aye! Oakhurst:฀Those฀to฀the฀contrary฀No. Boston:฀No.฀All฀start.฀Some฀gather฀angrily฀around฀Boston.฀Business.฀ Skaggs฀is฀seen฀expostulating. Oakhurst:฀ The฀ Ayes฀ have฀ it.฀ Significantly.฀ When฀ this฀ meeting฀ has฀ adjourned,฀ the฀ Chairman฀ will฀ remain฀ to฀ receive฀ an฀ explanation฀from฀the฀“nos.” Boston฀attempting฀to฀rise฀but฀held฀down฀by฀Skaggs฀and฀others:฀But!฀ I’ll฀give฀it฀right฀here.฀I฀rise฀to฀a฀question฀of฀principle.฀By฀the฀ laws฀of฀the฀community฀no฀woman฀of฀the฀female฀persuasion฀ is฀ allowed฀ to฀ find฀ shelter฀ in฀ Roaring฀ Camp.฀ The฀ rule฀ excluding฀women฀is฀written฀in฀the฀Constitution.฀Cries฀of฀ “Hear,฀hear!”฀It฀is฀an฀iron฀rule.฀Self฀preservation฀is฀the฀first฀ law฀of฀nature. Stumpy:฀The฀gentleman฀from฀Red฀Dog฀reports฀that฀the฀woman฀is฀ dead,฀and฀no฀longer฀subject฀to฀debate. Oakhurst:฀I฀take฀a฀note฀of฀the฀objection. All:฀Order!฀Order! Skaggs฀interposing:฀One฀moment฀boys.฀The฀gentlemen฀from฀Red฀ Dog฀ allows฀ he฀ meant฀ no฀ offence฀ to฀ the฀ chair,฀ but฀ the฀ fact฀being฀that฀the฀chair฀bet฀him฀seventy฀dollars฀yesterday฀ that฀this฀same฀baby฀would฀stay฀in฀this฀camp฀as฀long฀as฀he฀ would,฀it฀looks฀to฀him฀as฀if฀the฀odds฀were฀agin฀him,฀if฀Mr.฀ Oakhurst฀has฀the฀chair.฀It’s฀a฀question฀of฀privilege,฀that’s฀all฀ gentlemen. French฀Pete฀to฀Oakhurst฀with฀slight฀French฀accent:฀Perhaps฀it฀might฀ be฀ a฀ leetle฀ more฀ parliamentary฀ if฀ the฀ honourable฀ Chair฀ would฀decide฀that฀.฀.฀. scharnhorst-berkove.indd 24 3/22/06 9:30:27 AM — —฀฀฀The Luck of Roaring Camp, by Bret Harte / 25฀฀— — Oakhurst:฀ The฀ bet’s฀ off.฀ And,฀ gentlemen,฀ we฀ will฀ proceed฀ to฀ business. French฀Pete:฀I฀move฀that฀our฀distinguished฀fellow฀citizen฀Mr.฀Stumpy,฀ who฀has฀resolved฀himself฀out฀the฀Committee฀of฀the฀whole฀ in฀charge฀of฀the฀Bebe,฀be฀invited฀to฀address฀the฀meeting. All:฀Stumpy!฀Stumpy! Oakhurst:฀Order!฀Pause.฀It฀is฀moved฀and฀seconded฀that฀Mr.฀Stumpy฀ address฀the฀meeting.฀Stumpy฀who฀has฀been฀endeavoring฀to฀ slip฀away฀is฀dragged฀forward฀and฀placed฀beside฀Oakhurst.฀He฀ laboriously฀shakes฀hands฀with฀everybody฀and฀wipes฀his฀face฀ with฀his฀handkerchief.฀He฀is...