THE DEVIL AND - Plays for Young Audiencesplaysforyoungaudiences.org/wp-content/files_mf/devildaniel... · guide to the inside; ... other side and into Jabez's arms. ABIGAIL Jabez!

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The Devil and Daniel Webster

Story by

Stephen Vincent Benet

Adaptation by Robert Schenkkan

The Devil and Daniel Webster was first presented by Seattle Children’s Theatre for the 2005-2006 season. All Rights Reserved.

Cast of Characters: Male Spark Daniel Webster Jabez Stone Mr. Stevens Scratch (Devil) Man #1 Man #2 Man #3 Minister Speaker General Benedict Arnold Edward Teach (Blackbeard) General Sheridan General Nathan Bedford Forest John Wilkes Booth Al Capone Judge Hawthorne Female Abigail Stevens Neighbor Woman Lizzie Borden Ensemble Includes: crowd, devils

The Devil and Daniel Webster 1

ACT ONE SCENE ONE

At rise: In the darkness, the haunting SOUND of a VIOLIN which moves in its location, first behind the audience, then to either side, OS, and then... LIGHTS UP on SPARK, standing in the back of the auditorium. He's a rather shabby looking creature in old clothes which smoke and carry just the slightest whiff of brimstone. He's friendly, maybe a tad nervous, like a schoolboy playing hookey. SPARK finishes with a bravura show on the violin and BOWS grandly to the audience. As he makes his way on stage.

SPARK Welcome! Welcome, one and all, to our cautionary tale of Rise and Fall, of Powers gained and Souls lost! A reminder that every purchase has its cost. This is "THE...

SPARK looks around nervously before whispering the word, "Devil."

SPARK (CONT'D) ...devil...AND DANIEL WEBSTER!" Spark's my name and I'll be your guide to the inside; provide musical bits, and play the odd part, oddly. To start, Daniel Webster! He... (looks at audience) You do know who...? Oh, dear. How queer that everyone knows the...other fella in the title but not ole Daniel. Ain't that so like you humans, though? So eager to give the devil his due but the good you forget. "Daniel Webster." Nary a clue? Well, he's naught to do with the dictionary, though he was a mighty man with words.

Onstage, a cemetery with a prominent headstone. SPARK goes to the stone and KNOCKS.

SPARK (CONT') They say if you go to his grave in Marshfield, New Hampshire and speak out loud and clear so's even the dead can hear: "Dan'l Webster! Dan'l Webster!"

Storm clouds roll in and thunder sounds. A BOLT of lightening and DANIEL WEBSTER appears out of the ground!


DANIEL WEBSTER Neighbor, how stands the Union?! Is she rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed, one and indivisible!

SPARK (very obsequious) She stands as she did in your own day, the noblest promise ever made...if only partially fulfilled.

DANIEL WEBSTER Is that why you've disturbed my sleep?!

SPARK nods and gestures to the audience.

SPARK Your story they've not heard.

DANIEL WEBSTER Not heard...?!

SPARK I know. Absurd! Not heard of poor Jabez Stone and Abigail, the maid he loved, and the deal he made for the maid he loved, and the greatest trial to ever stand since Pontius Pilate washed his hands and...

DANIEL WEBSTER BLASPHEMER! No more.

SPARK Sorry. It's just... (whispering) They don't know who you are.

DANIEL WEBSTER Don't know...? (laughs ruefully) So, he was right, after all, your master. Well, no matter, tell'm who I was...once upon a time. And see you tell'm all of it! The good and the bad.

SPARK Once upon a time, around 1849, Senator Daniel Webster was the most important man in this whole star-spangled land. A voice loud like thunder, or soft as a kitten's purr...

DANIEL WEBSTER Flatterer. Go ahead, over-rate...

SPARK Au contraire, I adulate. Some said he was heaven sent. (like a small knife)


But he was never President.

DANIEL WEBSTER (grudgingly) No. Never that.

SPARK Ran three times but never won.

DANIEL WEBSTER They get the point!

SPARK Nose out of joint? You said, "tell all."

DANIEL WEBSTER Then do and be done with it!

SPARK So great was his mystique that when Daniel Webster stood to speak the stars and stripes fell out of the sky. And once, I heard, or so it was said around, he spoke 'gainst a river and it sank into the ground. When he went fishing in the lake, the fish would meekly take their place in the pockets of his jacket. Why make a fuss or raise a racket? It being understood there was no use putting up a fight; when Daniel argued a case, he was always right.

DANIEL WEBSTER (to the audience) His kind always exaggerates. A little.

SPARK Not a jot or a tittle!

DANIEL WEBSTER Wake me when my turn comes.

DANIEL descends back into his grave.

SPARK But the biggest case he ever took never got written down in books 'cause he argued it, this is on the level, night and day against the...well, I'd rather not say his name aloud in front of such an innocent crowd.

DANIEL WEBSTER (interrupting) Get on with it, man. Farmer Stone.

The ground closes over Daniel's head.


SPARK Yes, Jabez Stone.

SPARK plays a phrase on his violin and JABEZ STONE runs on. He's a young man, 18 years old and handsome. At his side is his dog, SCOUT.

SPARK (CONT'D) With a face that could grace a marquee, he's young and strong and quite the hottie. Poor as a church mouse, pure as a dove, works like a dog and desperately... (great contempt) "...in looooove."

JABEZ Abigail? Abigail?!

ABIGAIL STEVENS, sixteen, beautiful and headstrong, runs on from the other side and into Jabez's arms.

ABIGAIL Jabez! Where were ya?! I waited by the spring house as long as I dared. Pa's been watchin' me like a hawk the whole morning.

JABEZ I couldn't get away, Abigail. Just as I was startin' to plow, my darn horse came down lame.

ABIGAIL No! He gonna be alright?

JABEZ Doctor says it don't look too good.

ABIGAIL Oh, Jabez. What'd he say it was?

JABEZ Spavins. Or Staggers. Somethin' that costs money I don't have. I swear, if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all. (smiling at her) 'Cept for you. You're the best thing ever happened to me. Sorry, I missed you.

ABIGAIL I was so worried when you didn't come. I think I'd go clear outta my mind if I couldn't see ya.

JABEZ I'm right here, sweetheart.


ABIGAIL I can only sneak away for a few minutes now; My pa'll be snoopin' after me before you know it.

JABEZ hugs ABIGAIL again.

JABEZ I missed you.

ABIGAIL Oh, me, too.

SPARK (to the audience) I didn't; did you?

JABEZ You talk to your pa again? About us?

ABIGAIL pulls away a little guiltily.

ABIGAIL Might just as well save my breath to cool my porridge.

JABEZ What'd he say?

ABIGAIL (lying) Oh, you know...same as always.

JABEZ It ain't my fault I'm poor! I work hard.

ABIGAIL Nobody can say you don't. Not even my pa can say that.

JABEZ I just got the dadblamndest bad luck that ever was! If I plant corn I get borers and if I plant potatoes I get blight. I'm mortgaged up to my...well, I'm mortgaged a lot, and with my horse sick now, if I can't get a crop in this year...I don't know. I might lose my farm.

ABIGAIL No!

JABEZ Ole banker in town got him a heart as cold as your pa's.

ABIGAIL That's sayin' somethin'.


JABEZ Mebbe losing this farm wouldn't be such a bad thing. It doesn't grow anything but rocks. Lord knows, I get a bumper crop of those ever year.

ABIGAIL You don't mean that. Do you? You wouldn't go away, would ya?

JABEZ (smiling at her) And leave my heart here? No.

ABIGAIL You'll figure somethin' out, Jabez. I know you will.

ABIGAIL hugs him.

JABEZ Everything's alright when you hug me like that.

ABIGAIL Bad luck don't run forever; it's gotta change someday.

JABEZ (brightening) That's right. And when it does, you'll see, I'll be rich as some old Caesar; rich enough to buy and sell your pa two times over!

ABIGAIL Wouldn't his old eyes bug out then!

JABEZ We'd live in a house so big you'd need a compass to find the kitchen. Not that you'd ever need to go to the kitchen.

ABIGAIL Not with all the servants running all over the house.

JABEZ Another grape!

ABIGAIL Peel me another grape!

JABEZ You'd be all dressed in silk and lace.

ABIGAIL I'd buy you a blue wool coat with brass buttons as big as church plates.

JABEZ We'd drive to town in a coach and four.


ABIGAIL And wouldn't the swells fall all over themselves to entertain us?

JABEZ M'lady.

ABIGAIL M'lord. We'd got to fancy parties!

JABEZ Poker games! (off her look) Small stakes.

ABIGAIL Lunch with the ladies.

JABEZ Dinner with the Governor.

ABIGAIL Dinner as the Governor.

JABEZ You think?

ABIGAIL You're right; not grand enough. May I present, New Hampshire's youngest Senator, Jabez Stone!

JABEZ (wistful) Senator Stone.

ABIGAIL And then home to our mansion on the hill.

JABEZ Kiss the boys good night.

ABIGAIL And our two daughters.

JABEZ Two?

ABIGAIL Twins.

JABEZ Then retire upstairs.


ABIGAIL The fire in the bedroom fireplace already lit.

JABEZ And the down filled quilts on our four-poster bed as tall as the White mountains.

ABIGAIL Asleep in your arms 'till the sun rises.

JABEZ Asleep in your arms.

A moment.

ABIGAIL I know that will all come true, someday, but Jabez...it's gotta be sooner, rather then later.

JABEZ Why? What's happened? Something's happened, hasn't it!

ABIGAIL Pa's talkin' about marryin' me off to some wrinkled old moneybags in Boston!

JABEZ No!

ABIGAIL I told him I'd rather be dead and he laughed in my face; said alive or dead it didn't matter to him.

JABEZ Run away with me, Abigail!

ABIGAIL Run away?

JABEZ Today. Right now. Right this minute!

ABIGAIL Today? Well, I would, you know, I really would, only...

JABEZ Only what?

ABIGAIL Where'd we go, with no money? Living on the road?

JABEZ We'd have each other.


ABIGAIL And our kids? What about them? Kids need a lot, Jabez; a roof over their heads and clothing and food on the table, and all that takes money.

STEVENS (O.S.) Daughter!

ABIGAIL It's my pa. You better go!

JABEZ This is my property. I'm not running off like some beggar.

ABIGAIL He'll work some mischief against you!

JABEZ I'd like to see him try.

SPARK Enter Abigail's father, oh he's a rich, sour-faced, lemon-sucking son of a...gun. "Miser" Stevens could squeeze a dollar so that ole George Washington would stand up and holler.

SPARK plays a riff on his violin and MISER STEVENS strides on - thin, tight-lipped and self-righteous

STEVENS Daughter! What are you doing talking to that riffraff!

JABEZ I ain't riff-raff.

STEVENS I stand corrected; Riff-raff to be.

JABEZ Just 'cause I'm poorer'n you?

STEVENS You make that sound like a small thing, boy.

ABIGAIL I love him, Pa!

STEVENS "Love?" There's no profit in love.

ABIGAIL The Bible teaches us to love.


STEVENS You want scripture? How about, "Honor thy father!" Get on to home, Abigail.

JABEZ Mr. Stevens, I love your daughter and she loves me and we intend to get married.

STEVENS You do, do you? You "intend." Come near her and I'll put you in jail and throw away the key. You can marry my daughter, boy, when rain falls up and water's no longer wet.

JABEZ Give me a fair challenge and I'll meet it!

STEVENS "A fair challenge," you say?

JABEZ Anything.

ABIGAIL (warning) Jabez.

STEVENS Quiet, daughter! Your young man and I are talking business. You count her a valuable thing, do ya?

JABEZ Worth the world. More'n the world.

STEVENS "More'n the world?" It's obvious you've never seen her early in the mornin'. Hair like a banshee and breath that would kill a cow across the yard.

ABIGAIL He's just makin' sport of ya, Jabez; he won't take you serious.

STEVENS Won't I? Jabez Stone, If I give you a fair price for my only child will that make an end of it?

JABEZ What do you mean?

STEVENS I mean, you quit sneakin' 'round my back, or tryin' to talk her into running off with ya. Like an honest man, you either come up with the goods, or you leave her be entirely.


JABEZ I have your word - you'd let her go?

STEVENS And dance at her wedding.

ABIGAIL pulls JABEZ aside.

ABIGAIL It's a trick, Jabez! He's a man who saves the rind off his cheese. He'll never give me up.

JABEZ If he gives me his word, he wouldn't have a choice.

STEVENS What do you say, neighbor, Stone? Do we have a deal?

JABEZ A fair price?

STEVENS What she's worth, by your own reckonin'. And I'll even sweeten the pot - when I die, all that's mine becomes hers.

JABEZ Deal.

STEVENS Deal.

Both men spit in their hands and then shake.

JABEZ Her price?

ABIGAIL You both talk like I'm some milking cow at the county fair.

STEVENS Not true, daughter; on a good Guernsey I get a fair return on my investment. I warrant no parent can make that claim about their child. Food and clothing and a roof over your head for sixteen years and what do I get in return? Your sharp tongue and boundless ingratitude.

ABIGAIL Hah! I was more slave then daughter. A servant, at least, you'd have to pay.


STEVENS "How sharper then a serpents tooth it is to have a thankless child." (to JABEZ) You sure you want this shrew as your own?

ABIGAIL I won't be sold. Or bought.

STEVENS You hear that, Jabez, how light she holds your manhood? I reckon she don't have any faith in you.

ABIGAIL I know your tricks is all.

STEVENS (very pious) I'll not force my daughter on any man.

ABIGAIL Can I have your word on that?

STEVENS (quickly to JABEZ) Her price! You said she was worth the world to you...

ABIGAIL See! I warned you!

STEVENS The world'd cost a fair penny; how to reckon the price of the world? It'd take a Solomon to do that.

JABEZ 'Twas just a figure of speech.

STEVENS You're dropping in value, daughter, you hear?

JABEZ You said a "fair price!"

STEVENS I did. And I mean to give you one. As tall as she is, give me that in gold coin and she's yours.

JABEZ (blanching) Gold coin?


STEVENS I'll make it easy on ya, the gold needn't be milled. I'll accept raw ore, but not an inch less then her height.

ABIGAIL (weeping) I told you. I told you and you wouldn't listen.

JABEZ You didn't put no time on it!

STEVENS Indeed I didn't. An oversight to be sure. Well, you're a sly one, neighbor Stone, taking advantage of an old man. Fair enough, take your time. Ten years. Twenty years. Forty years. But you can't see her until you have my gold. Come, daughter!

ABIGAIL Jabez!

STEVENS grabs ABIGAIL by the hair and drags her off.

STEVENS Step foot on my property and I'll let the dogs on ya and the law can have what's left!

JABEZ watches them go, his heart aching. JABEZ slumps to the ground, grief-stricken. His DOG licks his face.

JABEZ Oh, Scout, what've I done? I'll never marry Abigail now!

The DOG tugs on JABEZ's sleeve, indicating the plowing still to be done. JABEZ rises and makes his way upstage. JABEZ picks up the plow harness and considers the DOG - the DOG pointedly looks away. JABEZ shrugs wryly and hitches himself to his old, heavy wooden plow and begins to work his fields. SPARK talks through-out.

SPARK I think you'll agree when all was said and done, Miser Stevens took Round One, proving the old adage right, that Youth and Might are no match, as you can plainly see, for Old Age and Treachery. Of two bad deals Jabez would make that day, that was the first - but by no means his worst. Heart sore, Jabez trudged back to his rocky fields whose parched, thin soil promised meager yields.


Horseless now, he hitched himself to his own plow determined to triumph, somehow, and win his Abigail back. And so he set to work - our young, heroic...jerk.

SPARK plays a riff from "The Volga Boat Men" as JABEZ strains and struggles to drag his plow across the field. The plow SNAGS on something and JABEZ pulls. The plow refuses to move. Furious, JABEZ yanks on the plow...and it BREAKS.

JABEZ No!

Frantically, JABEZ tries to fit the pieces back together but it's no good.

JABEZ (CONT'D) No! No! No! Noooooooooo!

JABEZ jumps up and down on the plow, beats it against the ground, and finally THROWS it offstage!

JABEZ (CONT'D) (in a frenzy of desperation) It ain't fair! It ain't...By God Almighty, it's enough to make a man sell his soul to the Devil, and I would, too, for two darn cents!

SPARK Whoops.

There is an ominous RUMBLE of thunder in the distance, the sky grows DARK, and the ground TREMBLES underfoot. JABEZ looks about him in terror.

JABEZ (to himself) I didn't mean that.

The RUMBLING sound builds.

SPARK (nervously) I'm so sorry, but it seems I forgot an urgent appointment; have to trot. Got to run, toodle-oo, see you later, maybe Act II!


SPARK snaps his fingers and DISAPPEARS in a cloud of smoke. Meanwhile, the Stage gets darker and the rumbling gets louder until JABEZ falls to his knees in terror and covers his ears. The SOUND builds to an unbelievable crescendo and then STOPS. Silence. LIGHT begins to filter back in. JABEZ cautiously raises his head. Nothing seems different. He rises slowly and looks around. He LAUGHS in relief.

SCRATCH (O.S.) What's the joke, neighbor?

JABEZ whips around. SCRATCH steps out of the shadows at the back of the stage; soft-spoken, dark dressed in an elegant suit with hand-tooled leather boots on his feet.

JABEZ Who...who are you?

SCRATCH Why ask what you already know?

JABEZ's DOG runs howling off the stage.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) Dogs don't like me much. Pity. I'm fond of animals myself.

JABEZ What do you want?

SCRATCH I think the question is, what do you want? More'n two cents, I bet.

JABEZ You really think I'd sell my soul?!

SCRATCH Plenty have. I've done business with some of the grandest men in the Republic. Captains of industry. Church leaders. Even Politicians - hard to believe as that is.

JABEZ I won't do it!


SCRATCH Good for you; a man of character. And good luck with your harvest. Shame about that plow.

SCRATCH starts to walk off.

JABEZ Does it...does it hurt much?

SCRATCH Hmmm? Oh, that. A pin prick. A scratch. Most of my customers say they never notice its absence at all.

JABEZ You could be lying.

SCRATCH I have that reputation, "Father of Lies" and all. Perfect nonsense. But the question of Pain is relative, don't you think? Having a child is all worry and care but most parents count it worthwhile at the end of the day. All great accomplishments require some cost. (JABEZ says nothing) Good day, neighbor.

SCRATCH starts to walk off again.

JABEZ I'm in love!

SCRATCH Ah, "Amore." Congratulations! The experience is foreign to me but comes highly recommended. Many of my best customers started that way.

JABEZ It'd be 'cause of her...if I...was to...

SCRATCH Self-sacrifice. Hardly a sin. Indeed... (glancing heavenward) ...highly thought of in some circles.

JABEZ I don't know.

SCRATCH No business decision should be entered into lightly. I believe that is the lesson of this morning.

JABEZ You saw what Miser Stevens did to me?!


SCRATCH Shocking.

JABEZ It wasn't fair!

SCRATCH Think what he'd say if you came back tomorrow and laid all that gold down on the table.

JABEZ I bet his eyes would bug out!

SCRATCH I'd like to see that!

The two men laugh. SCRATCH pulls a document out of the air and offers it to JABEZ.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) Maybe you'd like to read it over - just in case? No commitment either way. It's boring, really; mostly boilerplate. You get what you want, and after seven years, I get a little something in return.

JABEZ Most folks don't...don't miss it?

SCRATCH Tell me, Jabez, where is your soul? What does it look like? Have you ever seen it? Ever seen anyone's? How do you know it even exists?

JABEZ (skeptically) If it don't, how come it's so important to you?

SCRATCH Good point! Jumpin' Jehosephat, I like your style, neighbor Stone. You're a shrewd man, aren't ya? I bet not much gets by you! Your young lady's right, you'd do well in the Senate, alongside that other fella...

As though he can't remember the name.

JABEZ ...Daniel Webster?

SCRATCH That's the one. You know'em?


JABEZ Everybody around here knows Daniel Webster. He just lives down the road a bit and... (a sudden thought) He didn't sell...?

SCRATCH ...Good heavens, no! (almost to himself) But a man can dream, can't he? (back to business) To answer your question, the "soul", per se, is actually not that important to me but I didn't make the rules. Like you, I have to play the hand I'm dealt. As for why it's so important to...others, I suppose it's just a way of keeping track. One could use toes. Or fingers. Or heads. But that would be awkward for all the obvious reasons.

JABEZ (quietly) How much would I get?

SCRATCH Oh, feel free to fill in your own number. And don't stint yourself on the zero's!

JABEZ Do I...sign in blood?

SCRATCH What, slash open an artery? (laughing) Please! It's the Nineteenth Century for goodness sakes, the Age of Enlightenment: The cotton gin; the repeating rifle; The Missouri Compromise. Here, have a pen.

SCRATCH pulls a pen out of the air and offers it. JABEZ examines the contract and starts to fill it in.

JABEZ I want power, too!

SCRATCH Yes!

JABEZ And standin' in society!

SCRATCH Excellent!


JABEZ I'm tired of people lookin' down on me all the time!

SCRATCH Well, money will take care of that... (glancing over Jabez's shoulder) ...and I'm pleased to see you've not been modest there! But write it all in, if you've any doubts. Power. Prestige. And anything else you want.

JABEZ (genuinely surprised) There's more?

SCRATCH You'd be amazed at the mundane demands to which I'm subjected. Land. Jewelry. A woman. Helen of Troy still does an incredible amount of business and Salome remains popular for reasons I won't try to understand but lucky you, you've found your true love already, and right. Next. Door. A lovely woman, that Abigail. Many congratulations.

JABEZ hands the contract back.

JABEZ That's it?

SCRATCH Tradition demands a drop of blood. Spark!

Spark appears with a silver tray on which lies a small gold POCKET KNIFE. SCRATCH opens the knife.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) I know, it's barbaric, and I've been complaining to Management for years that we need to modernize but you know how He is; in one ear and out the other. It's almost painless, I assure you, and quite sanitary.

Reluctantly, JABEZ offers his hand and SCRATCH quickly and deftly pricks his thumb...

JABEZ Ow!

SCRATCH Oh, don't tell me that hurt.

SCRATCH quickly presses JABEZ' thumb against the contract; then releases it.


SCRATCH (CONT'D) A pleasure doing business with you, neighbor Stone. I'll see you again in seven years.

JABEZ Wait a minute! Where's my riches? Where's my gold?!

SCRATCH You're standing on it.

SCRATCH exits. JABEZ looks down at the ground. Doesn't look any different. He KICKS at the ground and something gleams. Excited, he bends down and begins to dig. Everywhere he digs, he finds gold. GOLD NUGGETS. Gold coins. Gold bars! SPARK plays a lively reel on his violin and JABEZ starts laughing and dancing for joy.

SPARK Jabez' second deal brought all for which he yearned, proving the wisdom of leaving no Stone un-turned. And if "Failure" has no friends, then "Success" breeds them without end. As news spread of his sudden riches, his star ascended without hitches. Congratulations fell like Noah's flood; everyone, it seems, would be his bud, including some unlikely folk who used to treat him raw.

MISER STEVENS runs on-stage, arms open wide.

MISER STEVENS Give me a hug, SON IN LAW!

JABEZ resists the hug but shakes STEVEN'S hand. SPARK plays a quick wedding march and ABIGAIL enters wearing a white bridal veil. She and JABEZ embrace warmly. The stage is flooded with WELL-WISHERS.

SPARK Miser Stevens kept his vow, setting new records here-to-for unheard, for the public consumption of one's own word.

MISER STEVENS I always knew that boy had it in him! From the very start!

The CROWD cheers.


JABEZ Abigail and I are so glad you all could be here with us today but we have a very special guest. To folks around here, he's just a neighbor and a friend, but to the world he's our Senator, the Conscience of the Congress, and the next President of the United States, Daniel Webster! DANIEL WEBSTER enters and the crowd cheers lustily. DANIEL raises his hands for silence.

DANIEL WEBSTER Thank you, friends, thank you!

CROWD Speech! Speech!

DANIEL WEBSTER Now, now, I'm not here to run for office! Just home for a quick visit to take care of things, fix my fences, clean my stables. A senator in Washington needs to be a fair hand cleaning out the muck, or he's like to drown in it!

The CROWD laughs and applauds.

WOMAN#1 Daniel Webster for President!

CROWD President Webster! President Webster!

DANIEL WEBSTER You flatter me. But decisions like that, as we all know, rest in the hands of a Higher Power - the people of the United States! Today, I'm just here like yourselves to honor these two fine young people in our community. Jabez Stone, congratulations on your good fortune and I'm not talking about gold. There's a greater treasure clings to your arm right now that will outlast all precious metals. Treat her with respect and love, knowing that a good marriage is as close to heaven as a man can get to in this life.

SPARK And a bad one?

DANIEL WEBSTER As close to hell as you can come! (to ABIGAIL) Abigail Stevens. Dear girl, if God had seen fit to bless me with a daughter, instead of the two fine sons I have, I would wish her like you. Love your young man with all your soul and keep him on a straight road. A woman's heart is the hearth of the home, around which every living thing takes warmth. Bank your fire. Tend it close. I wish you both, Long Life...!


CROWD Long life!

DANIEL WEBSTER Enduring love!

CROWD Enduring love!

DANIEL WEBSTER And the great gift of children!

CROWD Children!

SPARK (to the audience) Did I tell you straight, the man casts spells; he could talk oysters out of their shells.

SPARK begins to play the wedding march and the crowd quickly divides into two groups. A MINISTER, his face hidden, stands at the end of the aisle. DANIEL WEBSTER as Best Man, walks JABEZ down the aisle, shakes his hand, and leaves him at the altar. MISER STEVENS walks ABIGAIL down to JABEZ. MISER STEVENS kisses his daughter but remains standing at the altar.

DANIEL WEBSTER Farmer Stevens. It's time to let go, sir!

The CROWD laughs and STEVENS retreats, blushing. JABEZ and ABIGAIL link arms and turn to the MINISTER. It is SCRATCH. JABEZ starts violently and steps back.

JABEZ What are you doin' here?!

The CROWD rises in confusion and concern, temporarily blocking our view of the MINISTER.

ABIGAIL Are you alright, Jabez?

JABEZ What's he doin' here? What's he...


But when he turns back to the MINISTER he's just an ordinary man. DANIEL WEBSTER puts a reassuring arm around JABEZ and turns to the crowd.

DANIEL WEBSTER Just a little case of nerves, that's all! What soldier as the trumpet calls, or bridegroom as he seals his vows, hasn't felt a little jittery.

MAN#3 (hoisting a jug) Need a little Dutch courage, there, Jabez?!

DANIEL WEBSTER I think we can make it through the ceremony without liberal application of home brewed libations. But see me directly after the service! What do you say, Jabez? Shall we go on?

JABEZ I'm fine.

DANIEL WEBSTER Minister, if you please.

MINISTER Do you, Jabez Stone, take this woman, Abigail Stevens, as your lawful wife...

JABEZ (interrupting) I do!

The MINISTER smiles and the CROWD laughs as JABEZ realizes he's jumped the gun in his eagerness.

MINISTER To have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?

JABEZ I do.

MINISTER And you, Abigail Stevens, do you take this man, Jabez Stone, as your lawful husband to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?

ABIGAIL I do.


MINISTER Then by the power vested in me by the great state of New Hampshire, I now declare you man and wife!

SPARK begins a lively reel and the COMPANY begins dancing. The dancing and the music builds and builds and then EVERYONE freezes except JABEZ. He looks around in confusion. SCRATCH stands SR in a tight spotlight. SCRATCH smiles at JABEZ.

SCRATCH Seven years.

SCRATCH waves his hand and the scene changes. The wedding guests exit. SCRATCH smiles at the audience and disappears. SPARK plays a little music on his violin. As SPARK talks, the set changes behind him. Giant CORN STALKS spring up. JABEZ's house re-appears but bigger and grander. Fat SHEEP and PIGS wander on and off.

SPARK Six years flew past like swallows on the wind and Jabez Stone's good fortune seems to have no end. His barns are big, likewise his pigs, his cows give the sweetest milk. His corn's so high it blocks the sky and his sheep's wool feels like silk.

ABIGAIL and JABEZ, expensively dressed, come out of the house with a load of wash which THEY proceed to hang up.

SPARK (CONT'D) His wealth increases, more and more, and Abigail bears him children...

ABIGAIL and JABEZ hang up four pairs of increasingly small underwear: two pairs of long johns and two petticoats.

...One. Two. Three. Four! Two girls! Two boys! What bliss. What joy.

ABIGAIL kisses JABEZ and goes back inside. A line of BEGGARS approach JABEZ shyly but he helps them all with a free and a generous heart - a hug, a handful of coins, etc.


THEY all thank him with a quiet "God Bless you."

SPARK (CONT'D) Men now sought his counsel and he gave it freely; a Solomon was he. And with his wisdom so also grew his generosity. No hungry man was ever denied a meal at his door. The sick was doctored. The widow consoled. And money given to the poor.

The BEGGARS move away.

SPARK (CONT'D) You'd think he'd be a contented man, upon his lips a song. You'd think he'd be a happy man, but you'd be wrong.

JABEZ looks at his thumb where the devil marked him and scratches at the scar frowning. One last BEGGAR approaches, limping, his hat pulled down low over his head.

BEGGAR Alms, sir? Alms for the poor.

JABEZ Whatever you need, friend, you will find it here.

BEGGAR Anything?

The BEGGAR drops his hat and stands upright to reveal SCRATCH!

SCRATCH (O.S.) Evenin', Mr. Stone.

Startled, JABEZ steps back.

JABEZ What are you doing here?!

SCRATCH smiles. He magically takes a cigar out of the air and trims the end with a sharp knife.

SCRATCH Just a little visit...from an old friend.

JABEZ "Friend?" I wouldn't go that far.

SCRATCH How far would you go, Jabez?


(JABEZ says nothing) You've become a mighty generous man, I see. I wouldn't have guessed that of you, way back when.

JABEZ I like to help folks when I can.

SCRATCH I know the feeling well.

JABEZ It's not the same!

SCRATCH No?

JABEZ is silent. SCRATCH glances around appreciatively.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) Well, Mr. Stone, I have to say, you're a hummer. It's a very pretty property you've got.

JABEZ Some might favor it; others might not.

SCRATCH Spoken like a a true New Hampshire man. But there's no need to decry your industry. After all, we know what's been done and it's all according to our contract. So, when the mortgage falls due one year from today, you shouldn't have any regrets.

JABEZ Speaking of that...mortgage, I'm beginning to have one or two doubts about it.

SCRATCH magically lights his cigar.

SCRATCH Doubts?

JABEZ This being the United States and me always havin' been a religious man... (SCRATCH laughs) ...I'm beginning to have considerable doubts as to that mortgage holding up in court.

SCRATCH As to your religious fervor, I can't say I noticed it when first we met, although its not uncommon for men to see the light just before night falls. As to legal matters, we can have a look at the original document, just to put your mind at ease.


SCRATCH gestures and SPARK appears dressed as a satanic file clerk

SCRATCH (CONT'D) "Jabez Stone."

SPARK "Jabez Stone." Yes, sir, right away, sir!

SPARK reaches offstage and pulls on a huge file cabinet drawer. He begins to rifle through the considerable number of files.

SPARK (CONT'D) Sherwin. Slater. Stevens. Stevens, Adams. Stevens, Andrew. Stevens, Arthur.

JABEZ (nervous) Are all those...clients of yours?

SCRATCH You're in good company, I assure you.

SPARK Found it!

SPARK retrieves a still smoking document and hands it to SCRATCH, who takes a case out of his coat pocket and puts on a pair of reading glasses.

SCRATCH (reading) "I, Jabez Stone, for a term of seven years...wealth...sell my soul...etc" No, it all seems to be in order.

JABEZ Let me see that!

SCRATCH Of course.

SCRATCH hands the paper to JABEZ and starts to put his glasses away. Suddenly, a small WHITE WINGED CREATURE springs out of the glasses case and flutters frantically about the stage, crying out in MISER STEVEN'S voice.


WINGED CREATURE Jabez! Help me! Dear son in law, for God's sake help me!

SCRATCH Oh, my. Spark!

SPARK whips out a megaphone.

SPARK Code Red! Repeat, Code Red. We've got a runaway!

Several grotesque DEVILS appear and begin CHASING the WINGED CREATURE around the stage.

WINGED CREATURE Help me, Jabez! Pleeeease, don't let him take me! Jabez! If you ever loved my daughter, help me now! No! No! NO! Help me, Jabez! Help me, please! Heeeeeelllllpppp Meeeeee!

Cackling with glee, the DEVILS catch the WINGED CREATURE and bring it to SCRATCH.

SCRATCH Get me the box!

SPARK runs over with a large BOX and opens it. Pinned inside are several other WINGED CREATURES of various colors, all struggling feebly. SCRATCH pulls a sharp PIN out of the air and STABS the WINGED CREATURE, fixing it to the box. The WINGED CREATURE shrieks in pain. The DEVILS exit.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) Sorry for the interruption. As I was saying...

JABEZ That was Miser Steven's voice! And you've got him in that...that thing!

SCRATCH (embarrassed) Yes, I really should have transferred him to the collecting box right away but there were some rather unusual specimens there and I didn't want them crowded. Well, these little accidents will happen.


JABEZ That was Miser Stevens and he ain't dead! You can't tell me he is! He was just as spry and mean as a woodchuck yesterday!

SCRATCH He was, he was. He was.

Somewhere a church bell starts TOLLING.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) "In the midst of life, we are in the midst of death" as the poet says. These long-standing accounts. One really hates to close them but business is business.

JABEZ You and...Miser Stevens had a deal?

SCRATCH (smiling) He wasn't always rich... (re: the box) ...were you, you little dickens!

JABEZ (horrified) Are they all...as small as that?

SCRATCH "Small?" Oh, they vary. (studying Jabez) Don't worry, Jabez, you'll go a very good grade; I wouldn't trust you outside the collecting box. But now a man like...like...

SPARK Daniel Webster?

SCRATCH Daniel Webster. Hmmmm. I imagine the wing spread would astonish you. (practically salivating) We'd have to build a special container for him, and even at that...

SPARK clears his throat discreetly. SCRATCH recovers.

SCRATCH (CONT'D) ...but, in your case, as I was saying...

JABEZ ...Put it away!


SCRATCH One more year, Jabez. Three hundred and sixty-five days.

JABEZ Ain't there anything I can do?

SCRATCH I'm always open for business. (Examining the children's clothing on the line) What have you got for sale?

JABEZ NOTHING! Get out! Get out of here!

SCRATCH Tend to your wife, Jabez. She needs you.

JABEZ GET OUT!

A very shaken ABIGAIL comes out of the house, helped by a NEIGHBOR WOMAN.

ABIGAIL Jabez!

JABEZ What is it, Abby? Are the kids alright?

ABIGAIL It's my father - he's dead.

LIGHTS SHIFT. SPOT up on SPARK while in the background a FUNERAL PROCESSION forms ending in the burial of MISER STEVENS.

SPARK One more year. Time is such a relative thing; it can make you weep, it can make you sing. A minute embracing your love goes fast while that same minute seems to last forever when the object in your hands is a blistering, red-hot brand. And so, for poor Jabez Stone, his last few days flew past and his heart groaned under the weight of a doom forecast - damnation for all eternity - with no way out that he could see. But the devil was as good as his word, and increasingly Jabez's name was heard bandied about for positions great, including Governor of the State!

Banners fall from the rafters proclaiming, "Jabez Stone for Governor!" CITIZENS surge onstage


CHEERING and throwing confetti. A SPEAKER mounts a crate and harangues the crowd.

SPEAKER Citizens of New Hampshire! We're gathered here to nominate a candidate for Governor. You all know our neighbor, Jabez Stone. Now, I admit, he doesn't have a lot of political experience but if you think about it, it's the politicians who got us into this mess in the first place! I think we need to send an honest man to the Statehouse. A man of integrity! A man of honor! I give you, the next Governor of the State of New Hampshire, Jabez Stone!

The CROWD cheers loudly as JABEZ and ABIGAIL mount the platform.

JABEZ Neighbors! Friends! You're too generous! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! (CROWD quiets) "Governor?" I don't know.

MAN#1 We do!

The CROWD laughs.

JABEZ I'm honored, of course. Humbled, really. Just that you might think me worthy is enough to fulfill any dream...

SCRATCH appears in the CROWD and JABEZ stops cold. No one else ever sees SCRATCH.

SCRATCH You were saying, "Any dream?"

JABEZ Any...dream...I might have...

ABIGAIL Jabez?

MAN#2 Go on, Jabez!

JABEZ Just that you might think me worthy is enough to fulfill any dream I might have had as a young boy. Now, I'm not going to...to stand up here and make a lot of empty promises.


SCRATCH Keep your promises, do you? You've got my vote then.

JABEZ I don't want your vote!

The CROWD looks at him in confusion.

MAN#3 What'd he say?

MAN#2 He doesn't want our vote.

MAN#1 Why not?

JABEZ I don't want your vote...unless...I'm worthy of it. You know me. I'm just a simple farmer, like you.

SCRATCH So modest!

JABEZ You SHUT UP back there!

The CROWD can't figure out who JABEZ is talking to.

ABIGAIL Who are you talking to?

JABEZ I'm talking to him! Can't you see him?! He's right there, big as life, staring at me with those awful eyes! Make him go AWAY!

SCRATCH See you tonight, Jabez. Midnight. Sweet dreams.

SCRATCH vanishes.

ABIGAIL Ladies and gentlemen! My husband isn't...feeling well this afternoon. If you'll forgive us, we're gonna go on to home now and get a little rest. We thank you for your support and I urge you to help yourself to the picnic that's spread out by the river. And be sure and try the cider! Thank you.

The CROWD disperses leaving ABIGAIL and JABEZ alone. A moment.


ABIGAIL (CONT'D) Are you ill, Jabez.

JABEZ To my soul.

ABIGAIL Shall I go get the doctor?

JABEZ No mortal man can cure what I got.

ABIGAIL Then we'll ask God's help. Kneel down and pray with me.

ABIGAIL kneels down. JABEZ kneels beside her and bows his head. They begin to pray silently. Suddenly JABEZ rises, more panicked then before...

JABEZ I can't! I can't say the words.

ABIGAIL Why not?

JABEZ I've done a terrible thing, Abby. The most terrible thing a man can do.

ABIGAIL What did you do?

JABEZ I'm so ashamed.

ABIGAIL You can tell me, Jabez.

JABEZ I'm afraid you'll hate me forever!

ABIGAIL Hush now, I could never do that.

JABEZ You don't know!

ABIGAIL Have you...met somebody else?


JABEZ No! I could never love nobody but you.

ABIGAIL Something to do with the kids?

JABEZ No.

ABIGAIL Whatever it is, Jabez, if we face it together we'll get through it.

JABEZ You don't know.

ABIGAIL (exasperated) I don't know because you haven't told me, so JUST TELL ME!

JABEZ leans over and WHISPERS into her ear. HER eyes grow wide and she GASPS.

ABIGAIL (CONT'D) Lord have mercy.

JABEZ I can't say, "Amen." Why is that? Because I'm damned to hell, that's why!

ABIGAIL Don't you say that!

JABEZ Nobody can help me.

ABIGAIL There's one person who might.

LIGHTS SHIFT and DANIEL WEBSTER enters, wrestling his prize ram, GOLIATH.

DANIEL WEBSTER Well...You've certainly...given yourself the Devil's own row to hoe, Neighbor Stone.

JABEZ I have, sir.

DANIEL WEBSTER Come on, Goliath; is that all you've got?!


The RAM charges DANIEL but he gracefully sidesteps the animal and FLIPS him over and PINS him.

DANIEL WEBSTER (CONT'D) Give up?

The RAM taps the ground, "yes."

DANIEL WEBSTER (CONT'D) Two out of three?

The RAM ruefully shakes his head.

DANIEL WEBSTER (CONT'D) You sure?

The RAM nods very emphatically.

DANIEL WEBSTER (CONT'D) Well, get on then.

GOLIATH limps offstage. DANIEL turns to JABEZ/ABIGAIL

DANIEL WEBSTER (CONT'D) As much time as I spend in Washington these days I find the livestock tends to get a little lazy in my absence. As to your situation, Jabez, I have to say I don't argue many cases anymore, 'cept in front of the Supreme Court, of course.

JABEZ (depressed) Of course.

DANIEL WEBSTER And I haven't plead a mortgage case in donkey's years.

JABEZ (despairing) No, sir.

DANIEL WEBSTER On the other hand...

ABIGAIL (interrupting) ...What is it about New Hampshire men takes'm so long to get to the blasted point?

DANIEL WEBSTER (smiling) I don't know but we can always count on New Hampshire women to straighten us out.


ABIGAIL Will you take our case?

DANIEL WEBSTER I will.

JABEZ You will?!

ABIGAIL Thank you, Mr. Webster!

ABIGAIL hugs him fiercely and begins to cry. DANIEL is moved; embarrassed.

DANIEL WEBSTER There, there now. It'll be alright. I've got about seventy-five other things to do, especially beating back these darn Secessionists, but if three New Hampshire citizens aren't a match for the Devil, then we might as well give this country back to the bears and the bobcats! When is this...foreclosure due?

JABEZ Midnight, tonight.

DANIEL WEBSTER Midnight it is.

SPARK plays a quick phrase on his violin and with a simple hand gesture, brings the stage lights OUT!

END OF ACT ONE


Documents

THE DEVIL AND - Plays for Young Audiencesplaysforyoungaudiences.org/wp-content/files_mf/devildaniel... · guide to the inside; ... other side and into Jabez's arms. ABIGAIL Jabez!