That Day of The Speaking Leaves

by

Kester Berwick

(1955)

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CHARACTERS

FRED BROOKS

MRS. BROOKS

MR. ARCHIBALD

MARIE-LOUISE

RUBY

Scene: The interior of a roadhouse on the way to Canberra. A door on the left opens on to a verandah. Another door at the back, and to the right of centre, is marked "Kitchen." A few chairs have been stood on the top of the small tables, indicating that it is after closing time. On a dresser some flamboyant knitting is lying. Bottles of soft-drink are displayed on an otherwise rather bare counter. Posters brighten the greyish walls. In an armchair and with a rug about his knees, Fred Brooks sits motionless, and gazes out of a big open window on the right.

A car is heard rapidly approaching and coming to a sudden stop outside. These sounds bring no reaction whatever from Fred Brooks; but Mrs. Brooks comes from the kitchen. Tiredly but with resignation, she crosses the room and goes to the door leading to the verandah. She is elderly with faded, reddish hair and wears an apron. She half opens the door, and stands peering out.

Mrs. Brooks:  (calling clearly and slowly) I'm afraid we’re closed… We're closed, I said... Everything sold out!

Mr. Archibald:  (off) Archibald here. On my way again to Canberra to a sitting of the House... Don't say, Mrs. Brooks, that you could not let us have at least a pot of tea.

Mrs. Brooks:  You, Mr. Archibald? Well, of course, Ruby and I will find something. Come along up... Mind the steps!

Mr. Archibald:  Thank you. Five, are there not?

Mrs. Brooks:  That's right.

(She hurries back and disappears through the door marked "Kitchen," closing it behind her.)

Mr. Archibald:  (his voice coming nearer, and speaking to Marie-Louise who is with him) Careful now, Mademoiselle. One... Two... Three... Four... Five!

(Mr. Archibald emerges. He is a somewhat pompous and pedantic man nearing sixty, with a dust-coat over one arm. He is holding Marie-Louise by the hand. She is a sensitive-looking person about forty, and is carrying a small briefcase with travel-labels stuck on it.)

Mr. Archibald:  (indicating the kitchen-door through which there now come sounds of cups, plates etc.) I thought it would be all right. You see, that is what comes of knowing these people.

Marie-Louise:  (her voice musical and foreign) Truly, it is agreeable to have friends to receive one in such an isolated place.

Mr. Archibald:  (hailing Fred Brooks in the armchair) Good evening, Fred. (louder) Good evening, Fred!

(slight pause)

Marie-Louise:  (puzzled) He does not seem to be aware of us.

Mr. Archibald:  That does not surprise me. He is always in a daze, and spends most of his time gazing down that avenue, (going behind Fred and peering past him) Very pleasant it is too! You must have thought so yourself as we were driving along it. Bid you notice how that double row of flowering gumtrees reaches without a break all the way back to Paringa Flat—that last bit of a township we passed through?

Marie-Louise:  (joining him) Yes! Yes! A ceaseless symposium of speaking leaves!

Mr. Archibald:  Speaking?

Marie-Louise:  Listen! (There is a vague rustling and creaking with a slight moan of wind.) Ah, what are they saying, those speaking leaves? Alas, we poor humans are too confused and tortured to understand... And see what happens now! This Australian sunset is changing them to spears of gold.

Mr. Archibald:  Come, Mademoiselle. Get out your map, and I shall show you exactly where we are.

(Marie-Louise opens her briefcase. She takes out a road-map and unfolds it.)

Mr. Archibald:  (as they both study it by the window) Look. There is Melbourne from where we started after lunch. There is Canberra, our destination. And Paringa Flat? Can you see it somewhere about three-quarters along the way?

Marie-Louise:  Mm— Oui! In very small letters. (She puts her finger on it.) There!

Mr. Archibald:  Ha-ha! Quite right, and that is where that brass-band was playing you perhaps remember. Then now we are— (He is about to indicate on the map when Mrs Brooks with a tablecloth in her hands bustles in.)

Mrs. Brooks:  I must say, this is a nice- surprise, Mr. Archibald!

Mr. Archibald:  Ah, Mrs. Brooks! I trust you will pardon us. I did not wish to put you to a lot of trouble.

Mrs. Brooks:  No trouble at all for you, Mr. Archibald. Besides, you've still got a fair stretch to go.

Mr. Archibald:  Indeed, yes. I fear this lady I have with me may find the journey tiring... (introducing her) Mademoiselle Marie-Louise, Mrs. Brooks. Mademoiselle is from over-seas.

Mrs. Brooks:  (after she and Marie-Louise have exchanged nods and smiles) Your coming will interest my Fred, Miss. (She glances towards the man by the window.) Besides, any friend of Mr. Archibald's is very welcome. (then putting the cloth on the table from which she first removes the chairs) And here's a fresh clean cloth for you both so that the place won't seem so shabby.

Marie-Louise:  (sitting and putting her briefcase with the map on the floor near her) But it is wonderful. The painted chairs and tables. Everything!

Mrs. Brooks:  It's kind of you to say so. You're a tourist I gather, Miss. You must be!

Mr. Archibald:  (as he also sits) Yes; at present Mademoiselle is a tourist; (putting his hand on hers) but I am sure I hope that she will not be one for much longer! (The door to the kitchen opens again, and Ruby, who is considerably younger than Marie-Louise, comes in with a tray with tea-things on it. She walks in a languid, haughty way. Her reddish hair is like the unfaded parts of Mrs. Brooks'.)

Mr. Archibald: (familiarly) Hallo, Sweety-pie!

Ruby:  (coldly) Good evening, Mr. Archibald.

Mrs. Brooks:  Ruby, just leave those tea-things to me, and give an eye to your father. He seems to have slipped forwards in his chair.

(Ruby puts down the tray and crosses to Fred.)

Mr. Archibald:  Is there anything for Fred that I should have brought you from the city, Mrs. Brooks?

Mrs. Brooks:  Oh, thank you. Before long we shall be needing another bottle of that stimulant that so helps him with his breathing.

Mr. Archibald:  (taking out his pocket-book) Hm! I had better write it down. Nota bene.

Mrs. Brooks:  (to Marie-Louise) Mr. Archibald never forgets, Miss, that he and my husband are very old friends. "Jerry" my husband always called him.

Ruby:  (while adjusting Fred) Mum! Mr. Archibald doesn't want to be reminded of things like that before a visitor  – not now that he's learnt a lot of fancy words and become an oh-so-successful politician!

Mr. Archibald:  (reproachfully) Tut-tut, Ruby!

(With a sigh, Mrs. Brooks begins to pour the tea. The light is noticeably fading.)

Mrs. Brooks:  I don't see a cup for your father, Ruby.

Ruby:  (taking up the knitting from the dresser) He won't want one!

Mrs. Brooks:  But he might by this time, Ruby, (to the others) What with all the excitement, today, he has hardly touched a thing since breakfast.

Mr. Archibald:  Not even tea? Dear me! That is very grave. Then you have had a lot of customers?

Mrs. Brooks:  People dropping in continually. It was the goings-on at Paringa Plat that brought them this way.

Mr. Archibald:  Yes; we saw something of that, did we not, Mademoiselle? I think I mentioned that celebrations have been taking place around here today.

Marie-Louise:  You did. I remember.

Mrs. Brooks:  Memorial tablets, Miss. They've been setting them up for ages; but the official dedication took place only this morning.

Mr. Archibald:  (preferring to change the subject) Yes; that is so, Mrs. Brooks. Pro patria!

Mrs. Brooks:  Hundred of such tablets, they tell me.

Ruby:  (with angry bitterness) Thousands!

Mrs. Brooks:  And think of it. There’s now one at the foot of each tree out there in the avenue.

Ruby:  And everyone with the name of a fallen soldier on it!

Marie-Louise:  (stabbed) A-ah!

Ruby:  Evidently you didn't make that clear to your friend, Mr. Archibald.

Mr. Archibald:  Be quiet, Ruby. We were driving rather fast. Besides, it is a subject that is painful to some of us—as you well know.

Mrs. Brooks:  Excuse Ruby, Miss. Her father—my Fred over there—was gassed in the first world-war, and her husband—young Barry---was lost in the fighting in the Pacific in the second one. She can't forget it.

(Everyone is momentarily gripped in silence. Then the rustling and creaking with a slight moan of wind are heard again as before.)

Mrs. Brooks:  Get on with your knitting, Ruby. Don't stand there idle… Mr. Archibald and you, Miss, you are not drinking your tea.

(Mr. Archibald and Marie-Louise mechanically take up their cups.)

Ruby:  (after knitting a few stitches) Mum, we need some light.

Mrs. Brooks:  So we do, Ruby. Soon Mr. Archibald won't be able to tell his plate from the biscuits.

Ruby:  Such a pity for the plate!

Mrs. Brooks:  (ignoring this) Get the lamp from the kitchen.

Marie-Louise:  (gazing around as Ruby puts her knitting back on the dresser and exits) Yes; how quickly it has become dark! The manner in which night falls in Australia is something that I would never get used to.

Mr. Archibald:  Oh, yes you would! Anyway, the moon will be up soon—that orbe of heaven.

Marie-Louise:  (to Mrs. Brooks) Do you not find it lonely here, Madame?

Mrs. Brooks:  Lonely, Miss?

Marie-Louise:  Having for neighbors nothing but these speaking leaves.

Mr. Archibald:  Mademoiselle will have it that the gumtrees in the avenue are speaking, Mrs. Brooks.

Mrs. Brooks:  Oh, one gets used to it. I admit that at first I found the place pretty creepy, and of course I know that poor Ruby still hates it. She is always hankering to go back to the sea and Cockle Creek. Just a straggly, wind-swept sort of little settlement where she spent her childhood and the first months of her marriage. But it's way up the North Coast, and she agrees that while her father is—well, as he is—we should stay here. We are tied, you might say.

Mr. Archibald:  Yet, taking over this roadhouse has proved to be for the best, I think, Mrs. Brooks.

Mrs. Brooks:  Thanks to you, Mr. Archibald.

Mr. Archibald:  It was I who first proposed it, Mademoiselle, as a pro tem measure, you understand. Indeed, I was able to arrange it. The end of the war was not in sight. We were going through some of our darkest hours.

Marie-Louise:  Ah, then!

Mrs. Brooks:  That's right. Many of the trees out there in the avenue weren't nearly so tall those days. You see, Ruby and I had to do what we could to help each other. You ask Mr. Archibald! My hands were full with Fred, and Ruby's loss had—What would you say, Mr. Archibald?

Mr. Archibald:  Frankly, it had unbalanced her.

Mrs. Brooks:  Yes; unbalanced her.

Mr. Archibald:  (lowering his voice) Is she still so fond of that toy horse, Mrs. Brooks?

Mrs. Brooks:  Oh, '’Dapple"? She never likes to be long without "Dapple.” Her husband won it in a raffle at Cockle Creek, Miss, when he was home on his last leave.

Mr. Archibald:  Just a trifling thing.

Mrs. Brooks:  (pointing) That knitting she's doing, that's for "Dapple.”

Mr. Archibald:  Bless my soul! I thought it might be. (going to it) A garment of some kind? Another one? And for a horse on wheels! Really—

Mrs. Brooks:  But if it occupies her mind?

Marie-Louise:  (gently) Then, why not?

Mrs. Brooks:  I see you understand, Miss.

Mr. Archibald:  (resuming his chair) Mademoiselle also suffered a sad bereavement, Mrs. Brooks.

Mrs. Brooks:  You as well, Miss?

Marie-Louise:  Alas, my only brother, and—and this morning Mr. Archibald told me that he had sometimes passed this way.

Mrs. Brooks:  But how, Miss? You mean he was going to Canberra? Then your brother too was in Australia!

Mr. Archibald:  Indeed he was. Several times. It is more than likely that he was even here.

Mrs. Brooks:  At this roadhouse! (staring at Marie-Louise as if trying to recognised her)  Did he look like you, Miss? (then giving it up) But we've all changed so.

Marie-Louise:  Yes; my brother was a young man then.

Mrs: Brooks:  Like Ruby's Barry.

Mr. Archibald:  Yet, I am sure that I can see a resemblance between Mademoiselle Marie-Louise and her brother—even after so many years. Not only had he a good command of English like Mademoiselle; but he had the same steady light-brown eyes—eyes that you do not forget easily.

Mrs. Brooks:  I certainly recollect that some of the uniformed foreigners in official cars, who called in occasionally, spoke with the funny little twang you have, Miss.

Mr. Archibald:  There! You see, Mademoiselle, you have now, as it were, contacted your brother.

Marie-Louise:  (greatly moved, and rising) Oh! Oh! That would be a miracle!

Mr. Archibald:  Not at all! In this vast country you will meet with many things more extraordinary than that

Marie-Louise:  (repeating in a whisper to herself) A miracle!

(Ruby with a lighted lamp has appeared at the door to the kitchen and remains there listening. Under one arm she is holding a toy horse.)

Mr. Archibald:  (continuing what he was saying, and at the same time going behind Marie-Louise and caressingly pushing her down into her chair) Mademoiselle’s brother, Mrs. Brooks, did some outstanding work for the Free French in the islands. Associated with the Intelligence Department as I was at that time, I was of some help to him. In return he gave us in Canberra information of value about what was happening in France during those critical days.

Marie-Louise:  And to us in France—our parents and myself who prayed for his safety—he spoke much, oh, so much, about you all here.

Mr. Archibald:  (returning to his chair) So in Canberra—as it is the seat of the Federal Government—I am going to show Mademoiselle the National War Museum. The trophies. The records.

Marie-Louise:  (turning away, indicating that for her these are not the important things) To find something of my brother in this land to which I know he became attached—that is what I desire most of all, and why I have come.

Mr. Archibald:  (quietly) Yes; Mrs. Brooks. The enemy eventually caught him. He perished in an internment camp.

(Pause)

Ruby:  (harshly breaking in, her face grim in the yellow light of the lamp) What did you do, Miss, when they told you?

Mrs. Brooks:  Goodness, Ruby! You did give us a start. I didn’t notice you come in again. Well, put the lamp here on the table.

Mr. Archibald:  (aside to Marie-Louise) Look. She has brought the toy horse too.

Ruby:  (approaching) I was asking, Miss, what you did when you learnt your brother had died.

Marie-Louise:  Why, what I was already doing! I had just begun teaching. I was only about your age then, Madame Ruby.

Ruby:  Teaching?

Marie-Louise:  There was a great shortage of school-teachers, and I knew that my brother would have wished me to continue with my work. And so I did—in fact, until quite recently.

Mrs. Brooks:  (Firmly, and crossing to Fred) You did right, Miss. It’s just what my husband has often told Ruby. He says none of the fallen men would want us to feel empty and useless. (Stroking his head) Isn’t that so, Fred?

Ruby:  Pull down that blind, Mum, while you’re there.

(Fred puts out a protesting hand.)

Ruby:  Pull it down, I say! (with a slight shudder) There’s nothing but darkness down the avenue at this time.

Mrs. Brooks:  Yes; there’s nothing to see out there now, Fred. Ruby would like the blind down.

Fred:  (faintly) No... No.

Mrs. Brooks:  He seems to want it specially left up tonight, Ruby.

Ruby:  Oh, Dad! (She runs to the blind and impatiently lowers it. At once it goes up again by itself —  a way that roller-blinds often have. Again Ruby pulls it down, this time more violently. Now it stays down. There is an uncomfortable silence. Fred Brooks crumples further into his chair.)

Mrs. Brooks:  Never mind about the old blind, Fred. You should be saying something to Mr. Archibald and the lady from France he has with him. From France, Fred. Do you hear? Where you were once in the trenches. All that mud and "Mademoiselle from Armentières"! (She croaks pathetically the first few bars of it.) You used to tell me endlessly about it.

Fred:  (looking round for the first tirme, and pointing a trembling finger at Marie-Louise) You? You are from France, L-L-Lady?

Marie-Louise:  (springing up and smiling) Oui, Monsieur. Mais oui! (Fighting for his breath, Fred lurches forward.)

Mrs. Brooks:  (with a little scream) Quick, Ruby. Catch him. Don't let him fall on the floor!

Mr. Archibald:  (as Ruby and Mrs. Brooks are getting Fred back into his chair) Dear, dear! Poor Fred! Had I not better slip away and get the doctor, Mrs. Brooks? It is just a mile or so back towards Paringa Flat, unless I am mistaken.

Ruby:  (harshly) Dr. Benson's is the first big house you come to—with a light over the gate.

(Mr. Archibald hastens out. Fred is gasping. Then Mr. Archibald is heard starting up his car and speeding into the distance… Suddenly, and with a loud clatter, the blind again goes up by itself.)

Mrs. Brooks:  That blind! It's always doing it—going up by itself. It scares the life out of you.

Fred: (struggling to his feet) Look! They’re coming!

Ruby:  (tense) Who's coming? What's coming?

(The rustling and moan of wind are heard as before.)

Mrs. Brooks:  (drawn to the window and crying out in amazement) Well I never! There's the moon that Mr. Archibald promised us rising over the avenue, and there's a kind of haze. It's as if the trees out there were drifting. Drifting this way!

Marie-Louise:  (going beside her) Yes; they appear to be approaching.

Ruby:  (sarcastically) Maybe they will call out the names on their tablets as they are passing. (thrusting herself between them) Let me see. (She peers out a moment and then turns abruptly away. Now the brass-band music also—in march tempo from Paringa Flat—can be heard faintly.)

Fred:  (swaying and indicating) That's the boys. All the boys together!

Mrs. Brooks:  (partly to humor him and partly believing) My! It could be that too, Fred. Then, wherever are they going?

Ruby:  (sarcastically as before) To Canberra, of course! To have it out with the politicians—with Mr. Archibald and his like. Or that's where they ought to be going!

Fred:  (veering round to her) They’re not. They’re not, Ruby. Don't you believe it!

Marie-Louise: (with sympathy) Where then, Monsieur? Won’t you tell us?

Fred:  (his voice strengthening with conviction) They aren't going anywhere. Not anywhere. When we remember them, they just ARE!

(There is a louder surge of brass-band music, and then what sounds like a distinct knock — a summons — on the door. It swings open. The lamp-flame flickers and is nearly extinguished.)

Mrs. Brooks:  The lamp, Ruby! Close the door. It's blown open. Mr. Archibald couldn't have fastened it properly.

(But Fred has already begun to stagger through the wavering light. The others draw back, too awed to stop him, as he crosses the floor and goes out into the night. Then Ruby darts to the door and slams it behind him. The lamp is at once still as before.)

Ruby:  (with her back to the door) What are you both staring at?

Mrs. Brooks:  Dad! He went out. You saw him!

Ruby:  So what?

Mrs. Brooks:  He's gone to—to hob-nob with his old pals, Ruby.

Ruby:  Oh, don't be crazy, Mum. He's only gone out to attend to something—to stop the windmill.

Mrs. Brooks:  Stop the windmill?

Ruby:  Or to see if the possums are getting into the tool-shed, or if somebody has left the panels down.

Mrs. Brooks:  Just then, and feeling as he was? He looked so peculiar. He was somehow shining. Ruby, you must have noticed.

Ruby:  Listen, Mum. He'll be back in a minute, you'll see.

Mrs. Brooks:  (wavering, and then giving in to Ruby) Yes; I suppose you're right and that I shouldn't worry. We've let Mr. Archibald rush off to the doctor's for nothing, if you ask me! Put on the kettle again, Ruby. Your father might really like a cup of tea by this time. And I'll shake up his cushions.

(Ruby goes to the kitchen. Mrs. Brooks busies herself at Fred's chair. Marie-Louise returns to the table and reflectively sits down.)

Marie-Louise:  (hesitantly) Madame... Mrs. Brooks.

Mrs. Brooks:  Yes, Miss?

Marie-Louise:  Did you remark anything?

Mrs. Brooks:  What did you say, Miss?

Marie-Louise:  Did you remark anything?

Mrs. Brooks:  Oh, did I notice anything? I don't suppose I did really, except for those faint snatches of music from Paringa Flat. It's wonderful how sound travels when the wind is blowing this way... But—              

Marie-Louise:  Pardon?

Mrs. Brooks:  Well, I did seem to feel something.

Marie-Louise:  I know. I felt it too. It was as if—as if someone came to the door and waited there for Monsieur, your husband.

Mrs. Brooks:  That's right. Something of that sort, Miss. I think I understand what you mean.

(The sound of a car returning brings Ruby promptly from the kitchen.)

Ruby:  (speaking as she enters) Here's our politician back again! Is his car a great big yellow contraption, Miss?

Marie-Louise:  Yellow? Ah no, not yellow. It is grey. Silver-grey.

Ruby:  Silver-grey? Huh! A new car just about everytime he calls!

Mrs. Brooks:  Goodness, Ruby! Need you sound so unfriendly?

Ruby:  Could I ever feel differently towards—        !

(A hurried knock checks her. Mr. Archibald bursts in.)

Mr. Archibald:  (flustered) Unfortunately, Dr. Benson had not yet returned from Paringa Flat. Like so many others—

Ruby:  (cutting him short) What did you see?

Mr. Archibald:  I was telling you that like so many others, Dr. Benson had gone to Paringa Flat to take part in the dedication celebrations. The brass-band there is still playing, and I gather that things have become rather lively. I could go back and try to locate him, if you think it is still necessary; but it might take a little time.

Ruby:  We don’t need the doctor now!

Mr. Archibald:  We do not need him? Oh, I am immensely relieved.

Mrs. Brooks:  Fred seemed to take a sudden turn for the better, Mr. Archibald.

Ruby:  I asked what did you see!

Mrs. Brooks:  Ruby means did you see anyone on the road—a lot of soldiers marching?

Mr. Archibald:  Out here? Now? The place is absolutely deserted. To the best of my knowledge, I did not see a soul.

Ruby:  Of course, you didn’t, Mr. Archibald. You wouldn’t!

Mr. Archibald:  (suddenly blazing up) I am ignorant of what you are driving at, Ruby; but I do realise that you are being abominably rude. Naturally, you have to blame someone for your misfortunes, and what more convenient scapegoat than myself? But I too have misfortunes, have I not? You seem to overlook it. My boy, did he not fall in Crete, and my wife, was she not put in a mental-asylum because of it? She carried on like you, and that is where it got her. You will be going the same way, if you are not careful. Do not think that I have no feelings? Julian was my only son. Barely more than a lad. But I keep sane, Ruby. Sane!

Ruby:  (her voice high in derision) Sane? You?

Mr. Archibald:  Of course I am sane. (subsiding and looking towards Marie-Louise) At least I hope so. Compos mentis.

(Ruby answers with a peal of scornful laughter)

Mrs. Brooks:  Ruby, control yourself!

Mr. Archibald:  Oh, it is all right, Mrs. Brooks. After all these years I should know better than to let her upset me... But where is Fred? I see he is no longer in his chair.

Mrs. Brooks:  He went outside for a few minutes.

Mr. Archibald:  (starting back) Outside? Oh, dear me! Believe me, I never thought— I mean, I was not expecting anything like that.

Ruby:  (confronting him) What are you babbling about? You mean you did see something?

Mr. Archibald:  Not far from the steps. Just now. Just after I had turned in here. It was not very clear. My headlights fell on it only for an instant.

Mrs. Brooks:  (hardly daring to ask) What was it?

Mr. Archibald: I thought it was an animal of some kind. A sheep that had got in, or—well, I know not what. It was just lyin there.

(With a choking sound, Mrs. Brooks rushes out.)

Ruby:  It was Dad, of course, Mr. Archibald. Are you sure you didn't run him dorm?

Mr. Archibald:  (in a shocked whisper) Ruby, you know no limits.

Mrs. Brooks:  (from outside) Quick! Come and help me someone!

Mr. Archibald:  (as they plunge out, Ruby preceding) Yes; we are coming, Mrs. Brooks. But this is terrible!

(Marie-Louise remains in the doorway looking out. There come confused murmurs, and night sounds, including the melancholy cry of a night bird. Then, Mr. Archibald enters backwards, carrying Fred by the shoulders. Mrs. Brooks and Ruby are holding his legs.)

Mr. Archibald:  (pausing) Where ought we to put him?

Ruby:  What do you think, Ruby?

(Ruby keeps silent.)

Mr. Archibald:  Oh, never mind about her, if she does not want to speak. We can put Fred back in his chair while we bring him round.

Mrs. Brooks:  Yes; in his chair. Sitting-up is always best for him.

(They move on to the chair with Marie-Louise now assisting.)

There! Now he is once more facing towards the avenue as he most liked to be.

Mr. Archibald:  And looking very much as he always did, that is, except for—

Mrs. Brooks:  (practically, and kneeling beside him) Except for all that dust and dirt on him. On his face too! Just the same, this can only be another of his black-outs. I know them. Ruby, bring that medicine bottle and spoon on the dresser, will you.

(Ruby goes to the dresser.)

Mr. Archibald:  True, he has been like this before. I have seen it. Well, I hope he will soon come round... Unfortunately, I have to point out to you, Mrs. Brooks, that Mademoiselle and I must be pushing on.

Mrs. Brooks:  We've kept you too long as it is, Mr. -Archibald. It certainly is a shame that Fred should get like this again today—today when you and this young lady from France are here. I'm more than sorry. I'm sure all that business with those memorial tablets has had a lot to do with it. (Ruby, who is returning with the bottle and spoon, stops abruptly at the mention of the tablets, and bursts into tears.) But what's the matter now, Ruby? Hand me that stuff, do! While I’m giving it to your father, you could build up that fire again. Soon we'll be needing a real lot of hot water to wash him properly.

(Ruby flings herself into a chair and goes on sobbing.)

Mr. Archibald:  (humbly) I shall attend to the fire, Mrs. Brooks.

(He goes to the kitchen.)

Mrs. Brooks:  Ruby, for goodness sake don’t carry on so. Haven't we had enough already?

(Ruby responds with still more weeping.)

Mrs. Brooks:  (pouring some of the stimulant into the spoon) Please give her "Dapple," the toy horse, Miss. There by the lamp on the table.

(As soon as Ruby feels the toy horse thrust into her arms she is quieter. The lamp is burning down somewhat.)

Mrs. Brooks:  There! I got that between his teeth nicely. I fancy he just moved a little.

Ruby:  (brokenly, and looking up) Why shouldn’t I carry on like this? Why shouldn’t I? Mr. Archibald didn't see anything of what you both saw, even though he was out in the avenue when it was happening. (She stops as if unable to continue.)

Mrs. Brooks:  Come, Ruby. Get it off your mind. What next?

Ruby:  And I—I didn’t see anything either!

Marie-Louise:  (gently) Oh, my poor Madame Ruby. What we both saw, it was only some effect of the night, and of all those those speaking leaves.

Mrs. Brooks:  Of course it was, Ruby. You know the fancies we get living out here.

Ruby:  But I wanted to see. (whispering) To see my Barry. Today especially.

(The light from the now fully-risen moon streams on them through the window.)

Mr. Archibald:  (returning and speaking quietly) You and I seem to be on the same side in this, Ruby. Just now out there in the kitchen, I could overhear the three of you talking. I do not know what it was all about, although I heard my name mentioned. But it suddenly occurred to me, Ruby, that I should tell you something that apparently you had never guessed. I had to be what you called "oh-so-successful", Ruby. I had to. You understand? After my Julian fell, it seemed the only thing left to me. But now? Well, since meeting Mademoiselle Marie-Louise I see the possibility of a change of some kind. A change. That is what you need too, Ruby. A change. We have gone on this way long enough, (pause. Ruby stands silent with the toy horse pressed into her cheek.) Well, if there is anything I can do about it, you can count on my assistance.

Mrs. Brooks:  (springing up) Fred! Oh, it hasn’t gone down what I gave him.

Mr. Archibald:  (hurrying to her) You mean he is not swallowing? Dear me! I do not like the look of this at all.

Mrs. Brooks:  Fred! Fred!

Mr. Archibald:  (quickly feeling Fred’s face and hands) Why, he has grown cold! Quite cold!

Mrs. Brooks:  Oh, Fred, you haven't— You haven't really joined your old pals?

Mr. Archibald:  I fear that is what it amounts to, although it grieves me deeply to have to say it. Yes; he has gone. I am convinced now that he was dead when we brought him in.

(Mrs. Brooks sways incredulously. Then with a smothered cry she sinks down beside Fred, burying her face against his knees.)

Ruby:  (approaching slowly, like some one emerging from a trance) Dead? (She considers her father.) You said my father is dead, Mr. Archibald? You are certain?

Mr. Archibald:  Unfortunately, I am, Ruby. I wish I could believe otherwise.

Ruby:  Poor Dad. (Slight pause as she assimilates this.) But it’s better for him— better for all of us. (in suddenly warm and urgent tones to her mother) Dear Mum, I’m so sorry. So very sorry. Mum, do you hear? I know how you feel. Oh, I do! But don't let this get you down, Mum. It wouldn't be like you. Remember what you've always said to me. Besides, everything is now going to be different. From now on different!

Mr. Archibald:  (relieved that she is taking it this way) Why, yes. That is true, Ruby. Different.

Ruby:  (tugging her mother by the shoulder) And look, Mum. Look. Just look at what I'm doing. I'm going to be different too.

Mr. Archibald:  (muttering to himself in amazement) Bless my soul! She has thrown the toy horse out the window. Clean out the window. An absolute volte face. This is another person, (then loudly) Splendid! That is splendid! But, Ruby, for the moment let your mother be.

Ruby:  (persisting) We’ll soon go away from here, Mum. Think of that!

Mr. Archibald:  True again, Ruby, and I shall help you. I have already told you.

Ruby:  Mum, at last we are free!

Mr. Archibald:  Yes, yes. Free... But, Ruby, I beg you let your mother be. Depend on it, she will be ready to talk about all this a little later. If I know your mother she will adjust to the situation in no time. You agree, Mademoiselle Marie-Louise? I am sure you do.

Marie-Louise:  (with simple conviction) I have no doubt. No doubt what-ever. Through my brother, I already knew of such people as these.

(Pause)

Mr. Archibald:  (fussing softly) Where did I leave my dust-coat, Mademoiselle?

Marie-Louise:  There. Over there on the chair where you were sitting.

Mr. Archibald: Of course, (as he goes to get it) Do not forget your map and your briefcase.

Marie-Louise:  We are departing?

Mr. .Archibald:  We positively must. Even now, we shall be travelling until after midnight. Moreover, this time I shall really have to contact that doctor. Pro forma.

Marie-Louise:  I understand.

(He goes to the door and opens it.)

Mr. Archibald:  (raising his voice) Ruby! (She looks round.) I shall telephone the doctor from along the road somewhere. Leave it to me.

Ruby:  (in friendly, practical tones, as she goes to the lamp and turns it up) Thank you. Dr. Benson will have to come now to give us a Death Certificate, won't he?

Mr. Archibald:  Indeed he will... And, Ruby, that was a terrible thing you said when you suggested that I had run down your father. Most hurtful! Actually, I was nowhere near him, and you will not find a mark on him. Good Lord! Fred and I have known each other since we were boys in the bush together with hardly any seats to our backsides. Your words deeply shocked me.

Ruby:  I didn’t mean it. Believe me, I didn't. Nor any of the other horrid things I've ever said! Forgive me.

Mr. Archibald:  Of course. Now the past must be past. There. Shake on it. (They shake hands.) Well, you know where to reach me as soon as you need me in connection with new plans. Just Gerald Archibald, M.P., Parliament House, Canberra.

Ruby:  (smiling a little for the first time) We know!

Mr. Archibald:  Goodbye.

Ruby:  Goodbye

(He goes quietly out as Marie-Louise approaches Ruby.)

Marie-Louise:  Yes; Goodbye, Madame Ruby. I shall often be thinking of you, and of your mother and of this special day.

Ruby:  Shall we meet again?

Marie-Louise:  I— Please, may I ask you something?

Ruby:  Why not?

Marie-Louise:  Was it quite exact what Mr. Archibald told us? I mean about his only son, Julian, being killed and his wife going to a mental-asylum?

Ruby:  It’s true all right. Didn't you know?

Marie-Louise:  He had confided to me that his wife was dead; but nothing of the circumstances.

Ruby:  Yes; she died there. Just went to a shadow and pined away.

Marie-Louise:  Ah, the poor, poor woman—and poor, poor Mr. Archibald!

Ruby:  That's what Mum always says... Could you stay here in Australia, Miss?

Marie-Louise:  Perhaps. I have no one in France now.

Ruby:  Then why not stay because of your brother, and because too it could help Mr. Archibald, that is, if you don't mind the difference in your ages;

Marie-Louise:  When we share our sorrows, many barriers break down. He asked me to marry him on the way here today.

Ruby:  He did? And what did you answer?

Marie-Louise:  I said that I must reflect on it.

Ruby:  Marry him and stay! That would be for him the change he spoke of. With Dad's death it has already happened for me... I hope the new Mrs. Archibald will often make her husband bring her to see us. With those flash cars of his it should be no problem. Promise me you will marry him. Say that you will.

Marie-Louise:  Very well. I promise.

(They take each other's hands, and remain gazing at one another.)

Mr. Archibald:  (urgently from just outside) Do come along! Terapus fugit.

(They separate, and Marie-Louise hurries to overtake Mr. Archibald. Ruby stands looking out after them.)

Mr. Archibald:  (his voice getting fainter) Careful now, Mademoiselle, One... Two... Three... Pour... Five!

(Ruby softly closes the door. The car is heard starting up and rushing away. Then Ruby moves a little towards her mother who is still at Fred's feet; but sitting bolt upright. She is no longer weeping, and is like someone turned to stone.)

Ruby:  (reminding her) Mum, if Dad is now with his old pals and my Barry, you know that’s what he wanted. Hear, Mum?               

Mrs. Brooks:  (stirring slightly) What?    

Ruby:  (louder) If Dad is now with his old pals and my Barry, you know that’s what he wanted.              

Mrs. Brooks:  (with a sigh) Yes; that’s right. He did. He sometimes said so. I mustn’t forget it. (She turns her head towards the window and appears to be listening.) 

Ruby:  And, Mum, there's so much to do. So much to see to. Such a terrible lot of things to get on with!

Mrs. Brooks:  (getting to her feet and looking about vaguely) I know that too, Ruby. You needn't tell me.

Ruby:  Mum, Mr. Archibald and that French lady are going to get married. What do you think of that?

Mrs. Brooks:  (more in possession of herself) It's no more than I was hoping. I'm sure we both wish them well. (still obviously shaken, but suddenly sounding almost as usual) Now you can start clearing away those tea-things, Ruby, while I set about laying-out your father.

Ruby:  (over her shoulder as she goes towards the table) And, Mum, you and I— we’ll go back to the sea and Cockle Creek won’t we? Mr. Archibald will help us.

Mrs. Brooks:  (nodding reflectively) Yes; Ruby, I think we will. (then decidedly) Of course, we will. That's just what we'll do. Back to the sea and Cockle Creek!

The End