Page:Armistice Day.djvu/429

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THE UNSEEN HOST[1]

BY PERCIVAL WILDE

At an improvised American hospital in Paris. A large room, with the traces of former magnificence, now serving as living-room to the surgeon in charge. At the rear, tall Gothic windows of leaded glass—heavily curtained. At the right, two doors, huge, ancient—that nearer the audience leading into an interior room; that farther off opening on the upper landing of a staircase. At the left, an enormous fireplace. What little furniture there is, is massive and ornate. The most conspicuous piece is a heavy table near the center of the room. On the table is a bronze desk lamp.
It is evening. In the room itself no lights are burning, and there is semi-darkness.
The first door opens, and a uniformed orderly enters quietly. He is a middle-aged man who lacks an arm; the medal on his breast may explain why. He deposits a sheaf of papers on the table; proceeds to the windows and closes the curtains.
  1. From "The Unseen Host and Other War Plays," Little, Brown and Company, Boston, publishers. Copyright, 1917, by Percival Wilde. All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages. No performance—professional or amateur—may be given without the written permission of the author's agents, Walter H. Baker Company, 41 Winter Street, Boston.