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Read Ebook: Within the Gates by Phelps Elizabeth Stuart
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Ebook has 66 lines and 5142 words, and 2 pages
THE GATES AJAR. 16mo, .50.
BEYOND THE GATES. 16mo, .25.
THE GATES BETWEEN. 16mo, .25.
WITHIN THE GATES. A Drama. 12mo, .25.
MEN, WOMEN, AND GHOSTS. Stories. 16mo, .50.
HEDGED IN. 16mo, .50.
THE SILENT PARTNER. 16mo, .50.
THE STORY OF AVIS. 16mo, .50.
SEALED ORDERS, and Other Stories. 16mo, .50.
FRIENDS: A Duet. 16mo, .25; paper, 50 cents.
DOCTOR ZAY. 16mo, .25.
AN OLD MAID'S PARADISE, and BURGLARS IN PARADISE. 16mo, .25.
THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS. Collaborated with HERBERT D. WARD. 16mo, .25; paper, 50 cents.
COME FORTH! Collaborated with HERBERT D. WARD. 16mo, .25; paper, 50 cents.
FOURTEEN TO ONE. Short Stories. 16mo, .25.
DONALD MARCY. 16mo, .25.
A SINGULAR LIFE. 16mo, .25.
THE SUPPLY AT SAINT AGATHA'S. Illustrated. Square 12mo, .00.
THE MADONNA OF THE TUBS. Illustrated. Square 12mo, boards, 75 cents.
JACK THE FISHERMAN. Illustrated. Square 12mo, boards, 50 cents.
THE SUCCESSORS OF MARY THE FIRST. Illustrated. 12mo, .50.
LOVELINESS: A Story. Illustrated. Square 12mo, .00.
CHAPTERS FROM A LIFE. Illustrated. 12mo, .50.
THE STORY OF JESUS CHRIST: An Interpretation. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, .00.
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK
WITHIN THE GATES
ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS
BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1901
This drama has so departed from the plan of the original story, "The Gates Between," published by me long ago, that it is, in fact, a new work, and has therefore received a new title.--E. S. P. W.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
A Priest, Nurses, Patients, Servants, People in the Street, Spirits, the Angel Azrael.
WITHIN THE GATES
A library in a city house. A dining-room opens beyond a porti?re. The dinner-table is set. The library is furnished in red leather and dark wood. Books run to the ceiling. The carpet is indeterminate in tone. The heavy curtains are of a rich, dark crimson. A window is to be seen. The library is littered a little with the signs of feminine occupation. At one of the tables sits Mrs. Thorne. She is a young and beautiful woman, of stately presence and modest, high-bred manner. She is well-dressed--but not over-dressed--in a tea-gown such as a lady might wear in her own home when guests are not expected. The dress is cream-white; it falls open over a crimson skirt. The lamps are shaded with lace of red or of white. One with a white shade is on the table by which she sits. Her sewing materials are lying about, among books and magazines half-cut. She tries to sew upon a little boy's lace collar, but throws her work down restlessly. Her face wears a troubled expression.
MRS. THORNE. It is not so very late! Hardly past six o'clock yet. What can be the matter with me? I must not become a worrier. A doctor's wife can never afford to be that.
MAGGIE. Shall I serve dinner, ma'am?
MRS. THORNE. The Doctor has not come, Maggie. We must wait--Jane will be careful not to burn the soup.
Maggie!
MAGGIE. Ma'am?
MRS. THORNE. When you went up to light the Doctor's candles, how did Laddie seem? Did Molly say?
MAGGIE. Just the same, she said. He does seem sort of miser'ble.
DR. THORNE . I see nothing!--No one! I am blind--blind!
"Thou that takest away The sins of the world!" ...
The distance is full of radiance and of happy social life. In the foreground is seen a dim and desolate place. It is cavernous and mountainous. Its extreme edge yawns over a black space, like a gulf or pit, or it might be the mouth of an underground river. Here and there is a stark, dead tree. A narrow footpath winds among the crags. The path turns a sharp corner between boulders; and the fair contrast of a sunny country smiles beyond it. Rosebushes in full bloom peer above the top of the rocks. The annunciation lily is still prominent among the flowers. No sign of life appears in the mountainous foreground.
Suddenly, silently, and swiftly, moving from the sunny land, around the sharp turn in the pathway, feet and face set toward the cavernous region,
ECHO . Azrael!
DR. THORNE . Azrael, Angel of Death!
DR. THORNE. In the name of Him who strove with thee, and conquered thee--whither goest thou, Azrael?
DR. THORNE . It seems like an underground river. Horrible! Azrael! Tell me thine errand--in this fearful place!
DR. THORNE. How brave you are! Keep courage.
HELEN THORNE . Will it last long?
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