SCENE--The same. High noon of the following day--glaring sunlight on the beach, an atmosphere of oppressive heat and languor. The earth seems dead, preserved in some colorless, molten fluid. The forest is a matted green wall. The sound of the sea has the quality of immense exhaustion.
On the beach, a sort of makeshift altar is being erected--two round boulders supporting a flat slab of rock. On top of the slab is placed a shallow bowl made of bark. A group of Indians, under the direction of the Medicine Man, are hurriedly putting on the finishing touches to this shrine. They keep casting awed apprehensive glances seaward. The Medicine Man is binding two branches of a tree together in the form of a cross. All the Indians are feathered and painted as for an unusual solemn occasion.
THE INDIANS--(their eyes on the sea as they work--frightenedly) The small canoes leave the great winged ones. They are coming! The sun gleams on their shirts that arrows cannot pierce. Their fire-sticks glitter in the sun. Their faces are turned. Their faces are pale! They are watching us!
MEDICINE MAN--(finishing his work) Keep your hearts brave! (giving the cross to two Indians) Here. This is their totem pole. Stand it there. (They dig a hole in the sand before the altar and set the cross there; but they make the mistake of setting it head down. The Medicine Man grunts with satisfaction.) They will think we adore the same devil. They will leave us in peace.
INDIAN--(his eyes on the sea) The last canoe has left the great ships. (He gives a cry of fear echoed by the others.) Aie! Fire and smoke! (They cower. The hollow boom of a cannon fired in salute reverberates over the sea. They all shrink with terror, bowing their heads.)
INDIAN--(awe-struck) The Thunder fights with them!
INDIAN--They are white Gods!
MEDICINE MAN--(frightened himself, but rallying his followers sternly) You have the hearts of squaws. Quick! Where is the gold? (An Indian comes to him with an earthenware vessel. He empties it out on the bowl on the top of the altar. It is full of gold nuggets of different sizes. They form a heap glowing in the sun.)
INDIANS--They come! They come!
MEDICINE MAN--(sternly) Pretend to worship their gold devil but pray to our Great Father, the Sun. He can defeat all devils. Pray to him! (An Indian starts to beat rhythmically on the small drum. The Medicine Man lifts his shrill voice in the first strains of the chant. Immediately the others all join in as if hypnotized.) Great Father, Mighty One, Ruler of Earth. Maker of Days. Ripener of the Corn. Creator of Life. Look down upon us out of your Sky-Tent. Let our song rise to you. Let it enter your heart. Mighty One, hear us. Hide not your face in clouds. Bless us at the dawn. And at the day's end. (They form a circle and dance about the altar, their eyes raised to the sun overhead. Their chant hides the noise of the Spaniards landing. Then the Spaniards appear from the left, front. First comes Juan, his face wild and haggard, his eyes obsessed. He is accompanied by Luis. Following him are a squad of soldiers, guarding Nano, who is in chains. Then come four Franciscan monks, led by Quesada, who wears a sword and pistol over his robe. The others carry crosses. Following them is a group of nobles, richly dressed. Then come ranks of soldiers. They all stare at this Indian ceremony with contemptuous scorn.)
JUAN--(irritably) Make them cease their accursed noise, Luis. Let Nano speak to them.
LUIS--(advancing toward the Indians--in a loud but friendly voice, raising his right hand) Peace, brothers. (The Indians stop, petrified, staring with awe at the white men. The Medicine Man lifts his right hand and advances a step toward Luis. Quesada notices the cross, utters a furious exclamation, strides forward to verify his suspicion. When he sees that it is indeed upside down his face grows livid with fury.)
QUESADA--The cross head down! The black mass! (He pulls out his pistol.) Blaspheming dog! (He fires. The Medicine Man falls. The other Indians who have shrunk back toward the woods in terror at his first move, now turn tail in panic and flee.)
LUIS--(in horror) Stop, Quesada! (Quesada pulls up the cross and is setting it back upright when the Medicine Man, by a last dying effort, draws his knife, and writhing to his feet, plunges it into Quesada's back. They both fall together, the Indian dead. Quesada shudders and is still. A yell of rage goes up from the Spaniards. They rush forward toward the woods as if to pursue the Indians but Juan shouts a command.)
JUAN--Halt! Fools! (They stop prudently but sullenly. Juan turns to Luis, who is kneeling beside Quesada.) Is he dead?
LUIS--Yes. (crossing himself) May his soul rest in peace. (All echo this, crossing themselves.)
JUAN--An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. (mockingly) And now it is his eye, his tooth. (then with a shudder) Take him away. This is a bloody baptism for Cathay. (turning to Nano as the soldiers carry the bodies aside) Is this the land, Nano?
NANO--(his eyes smoldering with hate) Yes.
<!--pagebreak-->JUAN--You said it was a wonder land--a land of flowers. I see no flowers.
NANO--(in a sinister tone) In the forest--flowers grow by a spring--
JUAN--(harshly--with an apprehensive glance about) Silence!
A NOBLE--(from the group that has been stirring impatiently) Your Excellency. The banners of Castile and Aragon wait on your pleasure.
JUAN--(making a confused gesture as if wiping cobwebs from his brain) Yes--yes--I must take possession. Bring the banners. (He kneels on one knee. They all do likewise.) In the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and of his most gracious Majesty, the sovereign of Castile and Aragon, I do hereby annex to his dominions this land and all its environs. And I call the land Florida. (He bends and kisses the sand. The banners are planted in the ground, where they hang motionless from their poles. Juan, having made this effort, seems to fall into a stupor.)
A NOBLE--(in a mocking whisper) A pretty name!
A NOBLE--He has grown imbecile. Will he go spring-hunting here, too? My faith, with all the water he has drunk in the past four months, he must be flooded. (They all snicker at this.)
A NOBLE--(impatiently) Will he never get off his knees and let us rise?
LUIS--(sensing what is going on behind their backs--to Juan--who seems to be praying with bowed head--plucking his sleeve) Juan! Come!
JUAN--(vaguely) I was praying--to what God, who knows? (He rises to his feet weakly. At this, they all rise.)
A NOBLE--(pointing excitedly) Look! In that bowl on the stones. Is it not gold? (They all rush forward to the altar. The noble picks up a piece of it--his voice hoarse with greedy triumph) Gold! (They all grab at the bowl, upsetting its contents on the sand. They bend down and clutch for it crying) Gold! This must be a rich land! There must be more! The Golden Cities are near! Cathay at last! (The soldiers forget discipline, break ranks, form a disorderly, pushing crowd about their leaders. Even the monks edge forward inquisitively.)
LUIS--(urgently) Juan! Look! This is disgraceful!
JUAN--(coming to himself with a start--in a furious tone of command) Get back to your ranks! A brave example you set, nobles of Spain! (His personality is compelling. They all slink to their former order again, muttering rebelliously. Juan seems suddenly seized with a wild exultation.) Cathay! We have found Cathay! This is the land--the Flowery Land! Our dreams lie hidden here! Sing the Te Deum! Sing! (There is an oppressive silence for a moment, in which the heat, the sun glaring on the beach, the green of the forest, all nature seems to lay upon these men a mysterious spell, a sudden exhausted recognition of their own defeat. Then the Franciscan monks raise their voices mechanically and spiritlessly in the Te Deum. Other listless voices gradually join theirs as--
The Curtain Falls)
