The Shadow - 259 - The Hydra by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1942-12-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XII

INTO THE BASKET

A SPOT of light picked out a figure on the left side of the stage, an actor attired in royal regalia of the Seventeenth Century. He represented King Louis of France, complete to ruffles and ornamental wig. In stentorian tone, King Louis announced his identity and proceeded to recount what he had done for

France.

At the finish, the actor solemnly declared:

“These were my crimes -“

A great crash sounded from the rear of the stage. Its clangor was unmistakable. It was the dropping of a guillotine ax, its echoes chilling as they rang through the startled audience.

Then the spotlight was picking up another man, to the right of the stage.

He, too, was made up in Seventeenth Century style, though his garb was simpler than court dress. He was the famous Danton, great sponsor of revolution. He declaimed upon his deeds, and finished:

“These were my crimes -“

Again the smash of the unseen ax, bringing new shudders to the audience.

Each fall of the hidden chopper seemed to be wrenching a human life. Whoever designed this prologue knew his stagecraft.

The lighted circle reached the center of the stage. There stood Robespierre, a hunched man with his chin buried in the ruffle of a more fastidious garb than Danton’s. A good touch, this, for Robespierre was usually portrayed as chinless, and the neckpiece was a token of his vanity.

A man of oratory, this Robespierre. He told his tale as had the others, and finished with the guillotine cue:

“These were my crimes -“

The third whack of the ax brought more than clatter. It produced light that flooded the entire stage. A grim scene, this, with an actual guillotine its back drop. A huge frame more than twenty feet in height, with a broad, sharp blade climbing slowly up the vertical tracks, to preen itself for a swoop

upon another victim!

Onto the stage stepped other actors, one by one. Characters male and female, all from the pages of horrible history. Silent, these, which made their

appearance all the more impressive, now that the guillotine had been unveiled.

For each newcomer was hardly posted before the ax descended with its furious slash, to cut off any words that might have been said.

The allegory was excellent. These characters were to appear in the ensuing

acts of “Robespierre,” and their fate was predetermined. The audience was to remember throughout the play that over each person in the drama loomed the hideous specter of the guillotine. They would disappear from the cast one by one, always to the tune of an off-stage crash of the mammoth chopper.

In front of the guillotine, and below its pedestal, lay a shallow basket, the common receptacle for the heads of the doomed. Somehow, that wicker container was more terrible than the mighty cleaver - at least to Margo Lane, who was staring, transfixed, like the rest of the audience. Even Weston and Bardell were impressed, forgetful of the things that they had intended to discuss during the prologue.

One person in the box was speaking, now that the heavier dramatics were through.

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