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Detailed Contents
Preface
Exercises and Activities
Ancillaries
Acknowledgments
1. What Is Organization Development?
Organization Development Defined
Making the Case for Organization Development
What Organization Development Looks Like
What Organization Development Is Not
Who This Book Is For
Overview of the Book
Analyzing Case Studies
Summary
2. History of Organization Development
Laboratory Training and T-Groups
Action Research, Survey Feedback, and Sociotechnical Systems
Management Practices
Quality and Employee Involvement
Organizational Culture
Change Management, Strategic Change, and Reengineering
Organizational Learning
Organizational Effectiveness and Employee Engagement
Summary
3. Core Values and Ethics of Organization Development
Defining Values
Why Are Values Important to the OD Practitioner?
Core Values of Organization Development
Changes to OD Values Over Time and the Values Debate
Challenges to Holding Organization Development Values
Statement of Organization Development Ethics
Summary
Appendix
Case Study 1: Analyzing Opportunities for Organization Development Work
at Northern County Legal Services
4. Foundations of Organizational Change
Levels and Characteristics of Organizational Change
Models of Organizational Change: Systems Theory and Social Construction
 Approaches
Organizations as Systems
Organizations as Socially Constructed
Summary
5. The Organization Development Practitioner and the OD Process
The Consulting Relationship and Types of Consulting
The Organization Development Consulting Model
OD Practitioners: Who Are They and Where Do They Work?
The Organization Development Consulting Profession
The OD Consulting Process and Action Research
A Dialogic Approach to OD
Summary
6. Entry and Contracting
Entry
Contracting
Summary
7. Data Gathering
The Importance of Data Gathering
Presenting Problems and Underlying Problems
Data Gathering Process
Data Gathering Methods
Creating a Data Gathering Strategy and Proposing an Approach
Ethical Issues With Data Gathering
Summary
Case Study 2: Proposing a Data Gathering Strategy at TLG Solutions
8. Diagnosis and Feedback
Diagnosis: Discovery, Assessment, Analysis, and Interpretation
Finding Patterns by Analyzing Data
Interpreting Data
Selecting and Prioritizing Themes
Feedback
Resistance
Ethical Issues With Diagnosis and Giving Feedback
Summary
Case Study 3: Sorting Through the Data From Logan Elementary School
9. An Introduction to Interventions
Interventions Defined
Why Interventions Fail
Considerations in Selecting the Right Intervention Strategy
Structuring and Planning Interventions for Success
 The Change Agent’s Role in the Intervention
Ethical Issues With Interventions
Overview of Intervention Techniques
Summary
10. Individual Interventions
Individual Change and Reactions to Change
Individual Instruments and Assessments
Coaching
Mentoring
360 Feedback
Career Planning and Development
Summary
Case Study 4: Individual Type Styles at the Parks Department
11. Team Interventions
Defining Teams
What Makes a Successful Team?
Special Types of Teams
Team Development
Team-Building Interventions
Intergroup Interventions
Summary
Case Study 5: Solving Team Challenges at DocSystems Billing, Inc.
12. Whole Organization and Multiple Organization Interventions (Part 1)
Characteristics of Contemporary Large-Scale Interventions
Organizational Culture Assessment and Change
Organization Design and Structure
Directional Interventions
Summary
Case Study 6: Reorganizing Human Resources at ASP Software
13. Whole Organization and Multiple Organization Interventions (Part 2)
Quality and Productivity Interventions
Interventions in Mergers and Acquisitions
Transorganization or Interorganization Development
Dialogic OD Consultation and Interventions
Summary
Case Study 7: The Future of the Crossroads Center
14. Sustaining Change, Evaluating, and Ending an Engagement
Sustaining Change After the Intervention
Evaluation
Ending an Engagement: Separation and Exit
 Summary
15. Global Issues in Organization Development
OD’s Challenges in a Global Environment
Dimensions of Global Cultural Difference
OD Values, Interventions, and Culture
Case Examples and Research Findings
Advice for the Global OD Practitioner
Summary
Case Study 8: A Global Partnership at GFAC Consulting
16. The Future of Organization Development
Increasing Complexity of Change
Changing Workforce Demographics
Changing Nature of Work
The Current State of OD: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities
Conclusion: The Future of OD
Summary
References
Author Index
Subject Index
About the Author
Preface

It seems that every few years, the field of organization development (OD) finds itself at
a crossroads. Some feel that the field has strayed too far from its founding humanistic
values of democracy, diversity, autonomy, collaboration, and choice. They argue that
OD is in danger of being diluted or collapsed into human resources roles, leadership
development, and talent management. Others feel that the “touchy feely” old values
deserve a fresh update and that OD practitioners have a great deal to contribute to
organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and enhanced performance. They see the role
of the practitioner as a business adviser who can incorporate humanistic values without
being hypocritical.

I wrote (and continue to update) this book because I firmly believe that OD as a field of
research and practice has much to offer to people in contemporary organizations who
are struggling with an incredible amount of change. Old management styles no longer fit
the needs of today’s workplace and workers. New organizational forms are emerging to
cope with the increasing pace of change, globalization, digitization and the latest
technologies, economic pressures, and the expectations of the contemporary workforce.
Managers struggle to engage employees despite ever-present threats of downsizing and
outsourcing. In such an environment, many employees find work to be less personally
satisfying than they did before.

Skilled OD practitioners understand the dynamics of human systems and can intervene
to encourage a healthy, engaging, and productive environment. Unfortunately, it has been
challenging for many students to develop these skills. It generally requires “breaking
in” to an OD department, finding a (hopefully skilled) mentor, and learning as much as
possible through academic courses or self-discovery. While they are regularly tested on
the job, managers and executives have few opportunities to develop their skills as
change agents as well. Project managers, IT professionals, educators, and health care
administrators all report that the skills of OD are applicable to their jobs.

My hope is that this book will provide theoretical and practical background in OD to
give you an introduction to the basic processes of organization development and
change. It will also give you a chance to practice in a safe environment where you can
develop your skills. I hope you find the book to be readable but rigorous—practical
and relevant but with a solid academic foundation—and comprehensive enough without
being exhausting.

For this fourth edition, I have updated many sections of the book to reflect recent
research and advances in practice while retaining classic approaches and foundational
theories with which most practitioners ought to be familiar. Highlights of this new
edition include the following:

A new case study after Chapter 7 that can be used as a multipart case (additional
parts are located on the companion website)
Additional examples of global issues in organization development
Enhanced coverage of recent theory and practice in dialogic approaches to OD
Discussion questions at the end of each chapter
Activities, exercises, and role plays following most chapters
New readings at the end of each chapter, where appropriate

My continued thanks to the students at the University of Denver as well as the clients
who share with me their struggles in achieving change at work. As always, I am grateful
to my family and friends, especially my wife, Jennifer, whose encouragement means
everything.
Exercises and Activities
Many chapters contain exercises, activities, and role plays that can be used to practice
skills and apply concepts developed in several chapters of the book. This chart details
which exercises and activities accompany which chapter and topic.
Ancillaries
Instructor Teaching Site
A password-protected instructor’s manual is available at
study.sagepub.com/andersonod4e to help instructors plan and teach their courses.
These resources have been designed to help instructors make the classes as practical
and interesting as possible for students.

An Overview for the Instructor offers the author’s insights on how to most
effectively use this book in a course on organization development and change.
PowerPoint Slides capture key concepts and terms for each chapter for use in
lectures and review.
Case Epilogues provide additional information about the organizations or
scenarios featured in the text.
Discussion Questions suggest additional topics to engage students during
classroom discussions and activities.
Sample Course Syllabi provide models for structuring your course.
A Test Bank includes multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay exam questions
for each chapter.
Video Resources for each chapter help launch class discussion.
Visit https://testbankfan.com
now to explore a rich
collection of testbank or
solution manual and enjoy
exciting offers!
Student Study Site
An open-access student study site can be found at study.sagepub.com/andersonod4e.
The site offers videos of the author discussing the major stages of organization
development, Web links to additional tools, and Learning From SAGE Journal
Articles, with access to recent, relevant, full-text articles from SAGE’s leading
research journals. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the
book. This feature also provides discussion questions to focus and guide student
interpretation.

This text is accompanied by Cases and Exercises in Organization Development &

Change, Second Edition (ISBN 978-1-5063-4447-8), which follows the same chapter
organization as this text. A bundle of this text with the cases and exercises book is also
available.
Acknowledgments

SAGE Publishing would like to thank the following reviewers for their contributions to
the manuscript:

Gerald D. Bouey, Lewis University

Carol A. Gravel, Binnacle Organizational and Learning Development, LLC
Michael A. Guerra, Lincoln University
Georgia L. Hampton, Jefferson County Public Schools
Melinda M. Howard, University of Oklahoma
Allen I. Kraut, Baruch College, CUNY
Helen Muyia, Texas A&M University, College Station
Tom J. Sanders, University of Montevallo
Jeffrey M. Zimmerman, Northern Kentucky University
Chapter 1 What Is Organization Development?

Think for a moment about the organizations to which you belong. You probably have
many to name, such as the company where you work, a school, perhaps a volunteer
organization, or a reading group. You are undoubtedly influenced by many other
organizations in your life, such as a health care organization like a doctor’s office or
hospital, a church group, a child’s school, a bank, or the local city council or state
government. Using an expansive definition of organization, you could name your own
family or a group of friends as an organization that you belong to as well. With just a
few moments’ reflection, you are likely to be able to name dozens of organizations that
you belong to or that influence you.

Now consider an organization that you currently do not belong to, but one that you were
dissatisfied with at some point in the past. What was it about that organization that
made the experience dissatisfying? Perhaps you left a job because you did not have the
opportunity to contribute that you would have liked. Maybe it was a dissatisfying team
atmosphere, or you were not appreciated or recognized for the time and energy that you
dedicated to the job. It could have been a change to your responsibilities, the team, or
the organization’s processes. Some people report that they did not feel a larger sense of
purpose at work, they did not have control or autonomy over their work, or they did not
find an acceptable path to growth and career development. Perhaps you’ve witnessed
or been part of an organization that has failed for some reason. Perhaps it went out of
business or it disbanded because it could no longer reach its goals.

You’ve likely had some excellent experiences in organizations, too. You may have had
a job that was especially fulfilling or where you learned a great deal and coworkers
became good friends. Maybe your local volunteer organization helped a number of
people through organized fundraisers or other social services activities. Perhaps you
joined or started a local community group to successfully campaign against the decision
of your local city council or school board.

All of this is to demonstrate what you already know intuitively, that we spend a great
deal of our lives working in, connected to, and affected by organizations. Some of these
organizations function quite well, whereas others struggle. Some are quite rewarding
environments in which to work or participate, but in others, organizational members are
frustrated, neglected, and disengaged.

The purpose of this book is to introduce you to the field of organization development,
an area of academic study and professional practice focused on making organizations
better—that is, more effective and productive and at the same time more rewarding,
satisfying, and engaging places in which to work and participate. By learning about the
field of organization development and the process by which it is conducted, you will be
a more effective change agent inside the organizations to which you belong.
Organization Development Defined
Organization development (OD) is an interdisciplinary field with contributions from
business, industrial/organizational psychology, human resources management,
communication, sociology, and many other disciplines. Not surprisingly, for a field with
such diverse intellectual roots, there are many definitions of organization development.
Definitions can be illuminating, as they point us in a direction and provide a shared
context for mutual discussion, but they can also be constraining, as certain concepts are
inevitably left out, with boundaries drawn to exclude some activities. What counts as
OD thus depends on the practitioner and the definition, and these definitions have
changed over time. In a study of 27 definitions of organization development published
since 1969, Egan (2002) found that there were as many as 60 different variables listed
in those definitions. Nonetheless, there are some points on which definitions converge.

One of the most frequently cited definitions of OD comes from Richard Beckhard
(1969), an early leader in the field of OD:

Organization development is an effort (1) planned, (2) organizationwide, and (3)

managed from the top, to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health
through (5) planned interventions in the organization’s “processes,” using
behavioral-science knowledge. (p. 9)

Beckhard’s definition has many points that have survived the test of time, including his
emphasis on organizational effectiveness, the use of behavioral science knowledge, and
the inclusion of planned interventions in the organization’s functions. Some critique this
definition, however, for its emphasis on planned change (many organizational changes,
and thus OD efforts, are in response to environmental threats that are not so neatly
planned) and its emphasis on the need to drive organizational change through top
management. Many contemporary OD activities do not necessarily happen at the top
management level, as increasingly organizations are developing less hierarchical
structures.

A more recent definition comes from Burke and Bradford (2005):

Based on (1) a set of values, largely humanistic; (2) application of the behavioral
sciences; and (3) open systems theory, organization development is a systemwide
process of planned change aimed toward improving overall organization
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beyond the Horizon
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Beyond the Horizon

Author: Eugene O'Neill

Release date: December 30, 2018 [eBook #58569]

Most recently updated: January 24, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Chuck Greif and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND THE

HORIZON ***
 Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Established by members of the Advisory Board
Dramatists’ Guild of the Authors’ SIDNEY HOWARD
League of America for GEORGE S. KAUFMAN
the handling of the non-professional JOHN HOWARD LAWSON
acting rights of members’ HOWARD LINDSAY
plays and the encouragement of ALBERT MALTZ
the non-professional theatre. KENYON NICHOLSON
BARRETT H. CLARK CLIFFORD ODETS
Executive Director EDWARD CHILDS CARPENTER

· EUGENE O’NEILL
PHILIP BARRY
The Dramatists Play Service, Inc., ELMER RICE
leases plays, including ROBERT E. SHERWOOD
Broadway successes, standard WALTER PRICHARD EATON
plays of the past, and new plays JOHN WEXLEY
not yet professionally produced, GEORGE ABBOTT
for the use of college and university MAXWELL ANDERSON
theatres, Little Theatres MARC CONNELLY
and other types of non-professionals RACHEL CROTHERS
in the United States,
MARTIN FLAVIN
Canada, and other English-speaking
SUSAN GLASPELL
countries. Please send
JOHN GOLDEN
for lists and other information.
ARTHUR HOPKINS
AUSTIN STRONG

6 EAST 39TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY

 Copyright, 1921, by Eugene O’Neill
Caution: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that Beyond the
Horizon, being fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States
of America, the British Empire, including the Dominion of Canada, and all
other countries of the copyright union, is subject to a royalty. All rights,
including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading,
radio broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are
strictly reserved. In its present form this play is dedicated to the reading
public only. All inquiries regarding this play should be addressed to Richard
J. Madden Play Company, at 1501 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
The non-professional acting rights of Beyond the Horizon are controlled
exclusively by the Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 6 East 39th Street, New
York, N. Y., without whose permission in writing no performance of it may
be made.
Manufactured in the United States of America
 CHARACTERS
James Mayo, a farmer
Kate Mayo, his wife
Captain Dick Scott, of the bark Sunda, her brother
Andrew Mayo son of James Mayo
Robert Mayo son of James Mayo
Ruth Atkins
Mrs. Atkins, her widowed mother
Mary
Ben, a farm hand
Doctor Fawcett
ACT I
Scene I: The Road. Sunset of a day in Spring.
Scene II: The Farm House. The same night.
ACT II
(Three years later)
Scene I: The Farm House. Noon of a Summer day.
The top of a hill on the farm overlooking the sea. The following
Scene II:
day.
ACT III
(Five years later)
Scene I: The Farm House. Dawn of a day in late Fall.
Scene II: The Road. Sunrise.
 BEYOND THE HORIZON

ACT ONE
Scene One
A section of country highway. The road runs diagonally from the left,
forward, to the right, rear, and can be seen in the distance winding toward
the horizon like a pale ribbon between the low, rolling hills with their
freshly plowed fields clearly divided from each other, checkerboard fashion,
by the lines of stone walls and rough snake fences.
The forward triangle cut off by the road is a section of a field from the
dark earth of which myriad bright-green blades of fall-sown rye are
sprouting. A straggling line of piled rocks, too low to be called a wall,
separates this field from the road.
To the rear of the road is a ditch with a sloping, grassy bank on the far
side. From the center of this an old, gnarled apple tree, just budding into
leaf, strains its twisted branches heavenwards, black against the pallor of
distance. A snake-fence sidles from left to right along the top of the bank,
passing beneath the apple tree.
The hushed twilight of a day in May is just beginning. The horizon hills
are still rimmed by a faint line of flame, and the sky above them glows with
the crimson flush of the sunset. This fades gradually as the action of the
scene progresses.
At the rise of the curtain, ROBERT MAYO is discovered sitting on the fence.
He is a tall, slender young man of twenty-three. There is a touch of the poet
about him expressed in his high forehead and wide, dark eyes. His features
are delicate and refined, leaning to weakness in the mouth and chin. He is
dressed in gray corduroy trousers pushed into high laced boots, and a blue
flannel shirt with a bright colored tie. He is reading a book by the fading
sunset light. He shuts this, keeping a finger in to mark the place, and turns
his head toward the horizon, gazing out over the fields and hills. His lips
move as if he were reciting something to himself.
 His brother ANDREW comes along the road from the right, returning from
his work in the fields. He is twenty-seven years old, an opposite type to
ROBERT—husky, sun-bronzed, handsome in a large-featured, manly fashion
—a son of the soil, intelligent in a shrewd way, but with nothing of the
intellectual about him. He wears overalls, leather boots, a gray flannel shirt
open at the neck, and a soft, mud-stained hat pushed back on his head. He
stops to talk to ROBERT, leaning on the hoe he carries.

ANDREW. (seeing ROBERT has not noticed his presence—in a loud shout)
Hey there! (ROBERT turns with a start. Seeing who it is, he smiles) Gosh,
you do take the prize for daydreaming! And I see you’ve toted one of the
old books along with you. (He crosses the ditch and sits on the fence near
his brother) What is it this time—poetry, I’ll bet. (He reaches for the book)
Let me see.
ROBERT. (handing it to him rather reluctantly) Look out you don’t get it
full of dirt.
ANDREW. (glancing at his hands) That isn’t dirt—it’s good clean earth.
(He turns over the pages. His eyes read something and he gives an
exclamation of disgust) Hump! (With a provoking grin at his brother he
reads aloud in a doleful, sing-song voice) “I have loved wind and light and
the bright sea. But holy and most sacred night, not as I love and have loved
thee.” (He hands the book back) Here! Take it and bury it. I suppose it’s that
year in college gave you a liking for that kind of stuff. I’m darn glad I
stopped at High School, or maybe I’d been crazy too. (He grins and slaps
ROBERT on the back affectionately) Imagine me reading poetry and plowing
at the same time! The team’d run away, I’ll bet.
ROBERT. (laughing) Or picture me plowing.
ANDREW. You should have gone back to college last fall, like I know you
wanted to. You’re fitted for that sort of thing—just as I ain’t.
ROBERT. You know why I didn’t go back, Andy. Pa didn’t like the idea,
even if he didn’t say so; and I know he wanted the money to use improving
the farm. And besides, I’m not keen on being a student, just because you see
me reading books all the time. What I want to do now is keep on moving so
that I won’t take root in any one place.
ANDREW. Well, the trip you’re leaving on tomorrow will keep you
moving all right. (At this mention of the trip they both fall silent. There is a
pause. Finally ANDREW goes on, awkwardly, attempting to speak casually)
Uncle says you’ll be gone three years.
ROBERT. About that, he figures.
ANDREW. (moodily) That’s a long time.
ROBERT. Not so long when you come to consider it. You know the Sunda
sails around the Horn for Yokohama first, and that’s a long voyage on a
sailing ship; and if we go to any of the other places Uncle Dick mentions—
India, or Australia, or South Africa, or South America—they’ll be long
voyages, too.
ANDREW. You can have all those foreign parts for all of me. (After a
pause) Ma’s going to miss you a lot, Rob.
ROBERT. Yes—and I’ll miss her.
ANDREW. And Pa ain’t feeling none too happy to have you go—though
he’s been trying not to show it.
ROBERT. I can see how he feels.
ANDREW. And you can bet that I’m not giving any cheers about it. (He
puts one hand on the fence near ROBERT).
ROBERT. (putting one hand on top of ANDREW’S with a gesture almost of
shyness) I know that, too, Andy.
ANDREW. I’ll miss you as much as anybody, I guess. You see, you and I
ain’t like most brothers—always fighting and separated a lot of the time,
while we’ve always been together—just the two of us. It’s different with us.
That’s why it hits so hard, I guess.
ROBERT. (with feeling) It’s just as hard for me, Andy—believe that! I hate
to leave you and the old folks—but—I feel I’ve got to. There’s something
calling me—— (He points to the horizon) Oh, I can’t just explain it to you,
Andy.
ANDREW. No need to, Rob. (Angry at himself) Hell! You want to go—
that’s all there is to it; and I wouldn’t have you miss this chance for the
world.
ROBERT. It’s fine of you to feel that way, Andy.
ANDREW. Huh! I’d be a nice son-of-a-gun if I didn’t, wouldn’t I? When I
know how you need this sea trip to make a new man of you—in the body, I
mean—and give you your full health back.
 ROBERT. (a trifle impatiently) All of you seem to keep harping on my
health. You were so used to seeing me lying around the house in the old
days that you never will get over the notion that I’m a chronic invalid. You
don’t realize how I’ve bucked up in the past few years. If I had no other
excuse for going on Uncle Dick’s ship but just my health, I’d stay right here
and start in plowing.
ANDREW. Can’t be done. Farming ain’t your nature. There’s all the
difference shown in just the way us two feel about the farm. You—well, you
like the home part of it, I expect; but as a place to work and grow things,
you hate it. Ain’t that right?
ROBERT. Yes, I suppose it is. For you it’s different. You’re a Mayo
through and through. You’re wedded to the soil. You’re as much a product
of it as an ear of corn is, or a tree. Father is the same. This farm is his life-
work, and he’s happy in knowing that another Mayo, inspired by the same
love, will take up the work where he leaves off. I can understand your
attitude, and Pa’s; and I think it’s wonderful and sincere. But I—well, I’m
not made that way.
ANDREW. No, you ain’t; but when it comes to understanding, I guess I
realize that you’ve got your own angle of looking at things.
ROBERT. (musingly) I wonder if you do, really.
ANDREW. (confidently) Sure I do. You’ve seen a bit of the world, enough
to make the farm seem small, and you’ve got the itch to see it all.
ROBERT. It’s more than that, Andy.
ANDREW. Oh, of course. I know you’re going to learn navigation, and all
about a ship, so’s you can be an officer. That’s natural, too. There’s fair pay
in it, I expect, when you consider that you’ve always got a home and grub
thrown in; and if you’re set on traveling, you can go anywhere you’re a
mind to without paying fare.
ROBERT. (with a smile that is half sad) It’s more than that, Andy.
ANDREW. Sure it is. There’s always a chance of a good thing coming your
way in some of those foreign ports or other. I’ve heard there are great
opportunities for a young fellow with his eyes open in some of those new
countries that are just being opened up. (Jovially) I’ll bet that’s what you’ve
been turning over in your mind under all your quietness! (He slaps his
brother on the back with a laugh) Well, if you get to be a millionaire all of a
sudden, call ’round once in a while and I’ll pass the plate to you. We could
use a lot of money right here on the farm without hurting it any.
ROBERT. (forced to laugh) I’ve never considered that practical side of it
for a minute, Andy.
ANDREW. Well, you ought to.
ROBERT. No, I oughtn’t. (Pointing to the horizon—dreamily) Supposing I
was to tell you that it’s just Beauty that’s calling me, the beauty of the far
off and unknown, the mystery and spell of the East which lures me in the
books I’ve read, the need of the freedom of great wide spaces, the joy of
wandering on and on—in quest of the secret which is hidden over there,
beyond the horizon? Suppose I told you that was the one and only reason
for my going?
ANDREW. I should say you were nutty.
ROBERT. (frowning) Don’t, Andy. I’m serious.
ANDREW. Then you might as well stay here, because we’ve got all you’re
looking for right on this farm. There’s wide space enough, Lord knows; and
you can have all the sea you want by walking a mile down to the beach; and
there’s plenty of horizon to look at, and beauty enough for anyone, except
in the winter. (He grins) As for the mystery and spell, I haven’t met ’em yet,
but they’re probably lying around somewheres. I’ll have you understand
this is a first class farm with all the fixings. (He laughs)
ROBERT. (joining in the laughter in spite of himself) It’s no use talking to
you, you chump!
ANDREW. You’d better not say anything to Uncle Dick about spells and
things when you’re on the ship. He’ll likely chuck you overboard for a
Jonah. (He jumps down from fence) I’d better run along. I’ve got to wash up
some as long as Ruth’s Ma is coming over for supper.
ROBERT. (pointedly—almost bitterly) And Ruth.
ANDREW. (confused—looking everywhere except at ROBERT—trying to
appear unconcerned) Yes, Ruth’ll be staying too. Well, I better hustle, I
guess, and—— (He steps over the ditch to the road while he is talking).
ROBERT. (who appears to be fighting some strong inward emotion—
impulsively) Wait a minute, Andy! (He jumps down from the fence) There is
something I want to—— (He stops abruptly, biting his lips, his face
coloring).
 ANDREW. (facing him; half-defiantly) Yes?
ROBERT. (confusedly) No—— never mind—— it doesn’t matter, it was
nothing.
ANDREW. (after a pause, during which he stares fixedly at ROBERT’S
averted face) Maybe I can guess—— what you were going to say—— but I
guess you’re right not to talk about it. (He pulls ROBERT’S hand from his side
and grips it tensely; the two brothers stand looking into each other’s eyes
for a minute) We can’t help those things, Rob. (He turns away, suddenly
releasing ROBERT’S hand) You’ll be coming along shortly, won’t you?
ROBERT. (dully) Yes.
ANDREW. See you later, then. (He walks of down the road to the left.
ROBERT stares after him for a moment; then climbs to the fence rail again,
and looks out over the hills, an expression of deep grief on his face. After a
moment or so, RUTH enters hurriedly from the left. She is a healthy, blonde,
out-of-door girl of twenty, with a graceful, slender figure. Her face, though
inclined to roundness, is undeniably pretty, its large eyes of a deep blue set
off strikingly by the sun-bronzed complexion. Her small, regular features
are marked by a certain strength—an underlying, stubborn fixity of purpose
hidden in the frankly-appealing charm of her fresh youthfulness. She wears
a simple white dress but no hat).
RUTH. (seeing him) Hello, Rob!
ROBERT. (startled) Hello, Ruth!
RUTH. (jumps the ditch and perches on the fence beside him) I was
looking for you.
ROBERT. (pointedly) Andy just left here.
RUTH. I know. I met him on the road a second ago. He told me you were
here. (Tenderly playful) I wasn’t looking for Andy, Smarty, if that’s what
you mean. I was looking for you.
ROBERT. Because I’m going away tomorrow?
RUTH. Because your mother was anxious to have you come home and
asked me to look for you. I just wheeled Ma over to your house.
ROBERT. (perfunctorily) How is your mother?
RUTH. (a shadow coming over her face) She’s about the same. She never
seems to get any better or any worse. Oh, Rob, I do wish she’d try to make
the best of things that can’t be helped.
 ROBERT. Has she been nagging at you again?
RUTH. (nods her head, and then breaks forth rebelliously) She never
stops nagging. No matter what I do for her she finds fault. If only Pa was
still living—— (She stops as if ashamed of her outburst) I suppose I
shouldn’t complain this way. (She sighs) Poor Ma, Lord knows it’s hard
enough for her. I suppose it’s natural to be cross when you’re not able ever
to walk a step. Oh, I’d like to be going away some place—like you!
ROBERT. It’s hard to stay—and equally hard to go, sometimes.
RUTH. There! If I’m not the stupid body! I swore I wasn’t going to speak
about your trip—until after you’d gone; and there I go, first thing!
ROBERT. Why didn’t you want to speak of it?
RUTH. Because I didn’t want to spoil this last night you’re here. Oh, Rob,
I’m going to—we’re all going to miss you so awfully. Your mother is going
around looking as if she’d burst out crying any minute. You ought to know
how I feel. Andy and you and I—why it seems as if we’d always been
together.
ROBERT. (with a wry attempt at a smile) You and Andy will still have each
other. It’ll be harder for me without anyone.
RUTH. But you’ll have new sights and new people to take your mind off;
while we’ll be here with the old, familiar place to remind us every minute
of the day. It’s a shame you’re going—just at this time, in spring, when
everything is getting so nice. (With a sigh) I oughtn’t to talk that way when
I know going’s the best thing for you. You’re bound to find all sorts of
opportunities to get on, your father says.
ROBERT. (heatedly) I don’t give a damn about that! I wouldn’t take a
voyage across the road for the best opportunity in the world of the kind Pa
thinks of. (He smiles at his own irritation) Excuse me, Ruth, for getting
worked up over it; but Andy gave me an overdose of the practical
considerations.
RUTH. (slowly, puzzled) Well, then, if it isn’t—— (With sudden intensity)
Oh, Rob, why do you want to go?
ROBERT. (turning to her quickly, in surprise—slowly) Why do you ask
that, Ruth?
RUTH. (dropping her eyes before his searching glance) Because——
(Lamely) It seems such a shame.
 ROBERT. (insistently) Why?
RUTH. Oh, because—everything.
ROBERT. I could hardly back out now, even if I wanted to. And I’ll be
forgotten before you know it.
RUTH. (indignantly) You won’t! I’ll never forget—— (She stops and
turns away to hide her confusion).
ROBERT. (softly) Will you promise me that?
RUTH. (evasively) Of course. It’s mean of you to think that any of us
would forget so easily.
ROBERT. (disappointedly) Oh!
RUTH. (with an attempt at lightness) But you haven’t told me your reason
for leaving yet?
ROBERT. (moodily) I doubt if you’ll understand. It’s difficult to explain,
even to myself. Either you feel it, or you don’t. I can remember being
conscious of it first when I was only a kid—you haven’t forgotten what a
sickly specimen I was then, in those days, have you?
RUTH. (with a shudder) Let’s not think about them.
ROBERT. You’ll have to, to understand. Well, in those days, when Ma was
fixing meals, she used to get me out of the way by pushing my chair to the
west window and telling me to look out and be quiet. That wasn’t hard. I
guess I was always quiet.
RUTH. (compassionately) Yes, you always were—and you suffering so
much, too!
ROBERT. (musingly) So I used to stare out over the fields to the hills, out
there—(He points to the horizon) and somehow after a time I’d forget any
pain I was in, and start dreaming. I knew the sea was over beyond those
hills,—the folks had told me—and I used to wonder what the sea was like,
and try to form a picture of it in my mind. (With a smile) There was all the
mystery in the world to me then about that—far-off sea—and there still is!
It called to me then just as it does now. (After a slight pause) And other
times my eyes would follow this road, winding off into the distance, toward
the hills, as if it, too, was searching for the sea. And I’d promise myself that
when I grew up and was strong, I’d follow that road, and it and I would find
the sea together. (With a smile) You see, my making this trip is only keeping
that promise of long ago.
 RUTH. (charmed by his low, musical voice telling the dreams of his
childhood) Yes, I see.
ROBERT. Those were the only happy moments of my life then, dreaming
there at the window. I liked to be all alone—those times. I got to know all
the different kinds of sunsets by heart. And all those sunsets took place over
there—(He points) beyond the horizon. So gradually I came to believe that
all the wonders of the world happened on the other side of those hills. There
was the home of the good fairies who performed beautiful miracles. I
believed in fairies then. (With a smile) Perhaps I still do believe in them.
Anyway, in those days they were real enough, and sometimes I could
actually hear them calling to me to come out and play with them, dance
with them down the road in the dusk in a game of hide-and-seek to find out
where the sun was hiding himself. They sang their little songs to me, songs
that told of all the wonderful things they had in their home on the other side
of the hills; and they promised to show me all of them, if I’d only come,
come! But I couldn’t come then, and I used to cry sometimes and Ma would
think I was in pain. (He breaks off suddenly with a laugh) That’s why I’m
going now, I suppose. For I can still hear them calling. But the horizon is as
far away and as luring as ever. (He turns to her—softly) Do you understand
now, Ruth?
RUTH. (spellbound, in a whisper) Yes.
ROBERT. You feel it then?
RUTH. Yes, yes, I do! (Unconsciously she snuggles close against his side.
His arm steals about her as if he were not aware of the action) Oh, Rob,
how could I help feeling it? You tell things so beautifully!
ROBERT. (suddenly realizing that his arm is around her, and that her head
is resting on his shoulder, gently takes his arm away. RUTH, brought back to
herself, is overcome with confusion) So now you know why I’m going. It’s
for that reason—that and one other.
RUTH. You’ve another? Then you must tell me that, too.
ROBERT. (looking at her searchingly. She drops her eyes before his gaze) I
wonder if I ought to! You’ll promise not to be angry—whatever it is?
RUTH. (softly, her face still averted) Yes, I promise.
ROBERT. (simply) I love you. That’s the other reason.
RUTH. (hiding her face in her hands) Oh, Rob!
 ROBERT. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I feel I have to. It can’t matter
now that I’m going so far away, and for so long—perhaps forever. I’ve
loved you all these years, but the realization never came ’til I agreed to go
away with Uncle Dick. Then I thought of leaving you, and the pain of that
thought revealed to me in a flash—that I loved you, had loved you as long
as I could remember. (He gently pulls one of RUTH’S hands away from her
face) You mustn’t mind my telling you this, Ruth. I realize how impossible
it all is—and I understand; for the revelation of my own love seemed to
open my eyes to the love of others. I saw Andy’s love for you—and I knew
that you must love him.
RUTH. (breaking out storming) I don’t! I don’t love Andy! I don’t!
(ROBERT stares at her in stupid astonishment. RUTH weeps hysterically)
Whatever—put such a fool notion into—into your head? (She suddenly
throws her arms about his neck and hides her head on his shoulder) Oh,
Rob! Don’t go away! Please! You mustn’t, now! You can’t! I won’t let you!
It’d break my—my heart!
ROBERT. (The expression of stupid bewilderment giving way to one of
overwhelming joy. He presses her close to him—slowly and tenderly) Do
you mean that—that you love me?
RUTH. (sobbing) Yes, yes—of course I do—what d’you s’pose? (She lifts
up her head and looks into his eyes with a tremulous smile) You stupid
thing! (He kisses her) I’ve loved you right along.
ROBERT. (mystified) But you and Andy were always together!
RUTH. Because you never seemed to want to go any place with me. You
were always reading an old book, and not paying any attention to me. I was
too proud to let you see I cared because I thought the year you had away to
college had made you stuck-up, and you thought yourself too educated to
waste any time on me.
ROBERT. (kissing her) And I was thinking—— (With a laugh) What fools
we’ve both been!
RUTH. (overcome by a sudden fear) You won’t go away on the trip, will
you, Rob? You’ll tell them you can’t go on account of me, won’t you? You
can’t go now! You can’t!
ROBERT. (bewildered) Perhaps—you can come too.
RUTH. Oh, Rob, don’t be so foolish. You know I can’t. Who’d take care
of ma? Don’t you see I couldn’t go—on her account? (She clings to him
imploringly) Please don’t go—not now. Tell them you’ve decided not to.
They won’t mind. I know your mother and father’ll be glad. They’ll all be.
They don’t want you to go so far away from them. Please, Rob! We’ll be so
happy here together where it’s natural and we know things. Please tell me
you won’t go!
ROBERT. (face to face with a definite, final decision, betrays the conflict
going on within him) But—Ruth—I—Uncle Dick——
RUTH. He won’t mind when he knows it’s for your happiness to stay.
How could he? (As ROBERT remains silent she bursts into sobs again) Oh,
Rob! And you said—you loved me!
ROBERT. (conquered by this appeal—an irrevocable decision in his voice)
I won’t go, Ruth. I promise you. There! Don’t cry! (He presses her to him,
stroking her hair tenderly. After a pause he speaks with happy hopefulness)
Perhaps after all Andy was right—righter than he knew—when he said I
could find all the things I was seeking for here, at home on the farm. I think
love must have been the secret—the secret that called to me from over the
world’s rim—the secret beyond every horizon; and when I did not come, it
came to me. (He clasps RUTH to him fiercely) Oh, Ruth, our love is sweeter
than any distant dream! (He kisses her passionately and steps to the ground,
lifting RUTH in his arms and carrying her to the road where he puts her
down).
RUTH. (with a happy laugh) My, but you’re strong!
ROBERT. Come! We’ll go and tell them at once.
RUTH. (dismayed) Oh, no, don’t, Rob, not ’til after I’ve gone. There’d be
bound to be such a scene with them all together.
ROBERT. (kissing her—gayly) As you like—Little Miss Common Sense!
RUTH. Let’s go, then. (She takes his hand, and they start to go off left.
ROBERT suddenly stops and turns as though for a last look at the hills and
the dying sunset flush).
ROBERT. (looking upward and pointing) See! The first star. (He bends
down and kisses her tenderly) Our star!
RUTH. (in a soft murmur) Yes. Our very own star. (They stand for a
moment looking up at it, their arms around each other. Then RUTH takes his
hand again and starts to lead him away) Come, Rob, let’s go. (His eyes are
fixed again on the horizon as he half turns to follow her. RUTH urges) We’ll
be late for supper, Rob.
ROBERT. (shakes his head impatiently, as though he were throwing off
some disturbing thought—with a laugh) All right. We’ll run then. Come on!
(They run of laughing as
(The Curtain Falls)

ACT ONE

Scene Two
The sitting room of the Mayo farm house about nine o’clock the same
night. On the left, two windows looking out on the fields. Against the wall
between the windows, an old-fashioned walnut desk. In the left corner, rear,
a sideboard with a mirror. In the rear wall to the right of the sideboard, a
window looking out on the road. Neat to the window a door leading out into
the yard. Farther right, a black horse-hair sofa, and another door opening
on a bedroom. In the corner, a straight-backed chair. In the right wall, near
the middle, an open doorway leading to the kitchen. Farther forward a
double-heater stove with coal scuttle, etc. In the center of the newly
carpeted floor, an oak dining-room table with a red cover. In the center of
the table, a large oil reading lamp. Four chairs, three rockers with
crocheted tidies on their backs, and one straight-backed, are placed about
the table. The walls are papered a dark red with a scrolly-figured pattern.
Everything in the room is clean, well-kept, and in its exact place, yet
there is no suggestion of primness about the whole. Rather the atmosphere
is one of the orderly comfort of a simple, hard-earned prosperity, enjoyed
and maintained by the family as a unit.
JAMES MAYO, his wife, her brother, CAPTAIN DICK SCOTT, and ANDREW are
discovered. MAYO is his son ANDREW over again in body and face—an
ANDREW sixty-five years old with a short, square, white beard. MRS. MAYO is
a slight, round-faced, rather prim-looking woman of fifty-five who had once
been a school teacher. The labors of a farmer’s wife have bent but not
broken her, and she retains a certain refinement of movement and
expression foreign to the MAYO part of the family. Whatever of resemblance
ROBERT has to his parents may be traced to her. Her brother, the CAPTAIN, is
short and stocky, with a weather-beaten, jovial face and a white mustache—
a typical old salt, loud of voice and given to gesture. He is fifty-eight years
old.
JAMES MAYO sits in front of the table. He wears spectacles, and a farm
journal which he has been reading lies in his lap. THE CAPTAIN leans
forward from a chair in the rear, his hands on the table in front of him.
ANDREW is tilted back on the straight-backed chair to the left, his chin sank
forward on his chest, staring at the carpet, preoccupied and frowning.
As the Curtain rises the CAPTAIN is just finishing the relation of some sea
episode. The others are pretending an interest which is belied by the absent-
minded expressions on their faces.

THE CAPTAIN. (chuckling) And that mission woman, she hails me on the
dock as I was acomin’ ashore, and she says—with her silly face all screwed
up serious as judgment—“Captain,” she says, “would you be so kind as to
tell me where the sea-gulls sleeps at nights?” Blow me if them warn’t her
exact words! (He slaps the table with the palm of his hands and laughs
loudly. The others force smiles) Ain’t that just like a fool woman’s question?
And I looks at her serious as I could, “Ma’m,” says I, “I couldn’t rightly
answer that question. I ain’t never seed a sea-gull in his bunk yet. The next
time I hears one snorin’,” I says, “I’ll make a note of where he’s turned in,
and write you a letter ’bout it.” And then she calls me a fool real spiteful
and tacks away from me quick. (He laughs again uproariously) So I got rid
of her that way. (The others smile but immediately relapse into expressions
of gloom again).
MRS. MAYO. (absent-mindedly—feeling that she has to say something) But
when it comes to that, where do sea-gulls sleep, Dick?
SCOTT. (slapping the table) Ho! Ho! Listen to her, James. ’Nother one!
Well, if that don’t beat all hell—’scuse me for cussin’, Kate.
MAYO. (with a twinkle in his eyes) They unhitch their wings, Katey, and
spreads ’em out on a wave for a bed.
SCOTT. And then they tells the fish to whistle to ’em when it’s time to turn
out. Ho! Ho!
MRS. MAYO. (with a forced smile) You men folks are too smart to live,
aren’t you? (She resumes her knitting. MAYO pretends to read his paper;
ANDREW stares at the floor).
 SCOTT. (looks from one to the other of them with a puzzled air. Finally he
is unable to bear the thick silence a minute longer, and blurts out): You
folks look as if you was settin’ up with a corpse. (With exaggerated
concern) God A’mighty, there ain’t anyone dead, be there?
MAYO. (sharply) Don’t play the dunce, Dick! You know as well as we do
there ain’t no great cause to be feelin’ chipper.
SCOTT. (argumentatively) And there ain’t no cause to be wearin’
mourning, either, I can make out.
MRS. MAYO. (indignantly) How can you talk that way, Dick Scott, when
you’re taking our Robbie away from us, in the middle of the night, you
might say, just to get on that old boat of yours on time! I think you might
wait until morning when he’s had his breakfast.
SCOTT. (appealing to the others hopelessly) Ain’t that a woman’s way o’
seein’ things for you? God A’mighty, Kate, I can’t give orders to the tide
that it’s got to be high just when it suits me to have it. I ain’t gettin’ no fun
out o’ missin’ sleep and leavin’ here at six bells myself. (Protestingly) And
the Sunda ain’t an old ship—leastways, not very old—and she’s good’s she
ever was.
MRS. MAYO. (her lips trembling) I wish Robbie weren’t going.
MAYO. (looking at her over his glasses—consolingly) There, Katey!
MRS. MAYO. (rebelliously) Well, I do wish he wasn’t!
SCOTT. You shouldn’t be taking it so hard, ’s far as I kin see. This vige’ll
make a man of him. I’ll see to it he learns how to navigate, ’n’ study for a
mate’s c’tificate right off—and it’ll give him a trade for the rest of his life,
if he wants to travel.
MRS. MAYO. But I don’t want him to travel all his life. You’ve got to see
he comes home when this trip is over. Then he’ll be all well, and he’ll want
to—to marry—(ANDREW sits forward in his chair with an abrupt movement)
—and settle down right here. (She stares down at the knitting in her lap—
after a pause) I never realized how hard it was going to be for me to have
Robbie go—or I wouldn’t have considered it a minute.
SCOTT. It ain’t no good goin’ on that way, Kate, now it’s all settled.
MRS. MAYO. (on the verge of tears) It’s all right for you to talk. You’ve
never had any children. You don’t know what it means to be parted from
them—and Robbie my youngest, too. (ANDREW frowns and fidgets in his
chair).
ANDREW. (suddenly turning to them) There’s one thing none of you seem
to take into consideration—that Rob wants to go. He’s dead set on it. He’s
been dreaming over this trip ever since it was first talked about. It wouldn’t
be fair to him not to have him go. (A sudden uneasiness seems to strike him)
At least, not if he still feels the same way about it he did when he was
talking to me this evening.
MAYO. (with an air of decision) Andy’s right, Katey. That ends all
argyment, you can see that. (Looking at his big silver watch) Wonder what’s
happened to Robert? He’s been gone long enough to wheel the widder to
home, certain. He can’t be out dreamin’ at the stars his last night.
MRS. MAYO. (a bit reproachfully) Why didn’t you wheel Mrs. Atkins back
tonight, Andy? You usually do when she and Ruth come over.
ANDREW. (avoiding her eyes) I thought maybe Robert wanted to tonight.
He offered to go right away when they were leaving.
MRS. MAYO. He only wanted to be polite.
ANDREW. (gets to his feet) Well, he’ll be right back, I guess. (He turns to
his father) Guess I’ll go take a look at the black cow, Pa—see if she’s ailing
any.
MAYO. Yes—better had, son. (ANDREW goes into the kitchen on the right).
SCOTT. (as he goes out—in a low tone) There’s the boy that would make a
good, strong sea-farin’ man—if he’d a mind to.
MAYO. (sharply) Don’t you put no such fool notions in Andy’s head, Dick
—or you ’n’ me’s goin’ to fall out. (Then he smiles) You couldn’t tempt
him, no ways. Andy’s a Mayo bred in the bone, and he’s a born farmer, and
a damn good one, too. He’ll live and die right here on this farm, like I
expect to. (With proud confidence) And he’ll make this one of the slickest,
best-payin’ farms in the state, too, afore he gits through!
SCOTT. Seems to me it’s a pretty slick place right now.
MAYO. (shaking his head) It’s too small. We need more land to make it
amount to much, and we ain’t got the capital to buy it. (ANDREW enters from
the kitchen. His hat is on, and he carries a lighted lantern in his hand. He
goes to the door in the rear leading out).
 ANDREW. (opens the door and pauses) Anything else you can think of to
be done, Pa?
MAYO. No, nothin’ I know of. (ANDREW goes out, shutting the door).
MRS. MAYO. (after a pause) What’s come over Andy tonight, I wonder?
He acts so strange.
MAYO. He does seem sort o’ glum and out of sorts. It’s ’count o’ Robert
leavin’, I s’pose. (To SCOTT) Dick, you wouldn’t believe how them boys o’
mine sticks together. They ain’t like most brothers. They’ve been thick as
thieves all their lives, with nary a quarrel I kin remember.
SCOTT. No need to tell me that. I can see how they take to each other.
MRS. MAYO. (pursuing her train of thought) Did you notice, James, how
queer everyone was at supper? Robert seemed stirred up about something;
and Ruth was so flustered and giggly; and Andy sat there dumb, looking as
if he’d lost his best friend; and all of them only nibbled at their food.
MAYO. Guess they was all thinkin’ about tomorrow, same as us.
MRS. MAYO. (shaking her head) No. I’m afraid somethin’s happened—
somethin’ else.
MAYO. You mean—’bout Ruth?
MRS. MAYO. Yes.
MAYO. (after a pause—frowning) I hope her and Andy ain’t had a serious
fallin’-out. I always sorter hoped they’d hitch up together sooner or later.
What d’you say, Dick? Don’t you think them two’d pair up well?
SCOTT. (nodding his head approvingly) A sweet, wholesome couple
they’d make.
MAYO. It’d be a good thing for Andy in more ways than one. I ain’t what
you’d call calculatin’ generally, and I b’lieve in lettin’ young folks run their
affairs to suit themselves; but there’s advantages for both o’ them in this
match you can’t overlook in reason. The Atkins farm is right next to ourn.
Jined together they’d make a jim-dandy of a place, with plenty o’ room to
work in. And bein’ a widder with only a daughter, and laid up all the time to
boot, Mrs. Atkins can’t do nothin’ with the place as it ought to be done. She
needs a man, a first-class farmer, to take hold o’ things; and Andy’s just the
one.
MRS. MAYO. (abruptly) I don’t think Ruth loves Andy.
 MAYO. You don’t? Well, maybe a woman’s eyes is sharper in such things,
but—they’re always together. And if she don’t love him now, she’ll likely
come around to it in time. (As MRS. MAYO shakes her head) You seem
mighty fixed in your opinion, Katey. How d’you know?
MRS. MAYO. It’s just—what I feel.
MAYO. (a light breaking over him) You don’t mean to say—(MRS. MAYO
nods. MAYO chuckles scornfully) Shucks! I’m losin’ my respect for your
eyesight, Katey. Why, Robert ain’t got no time for Ruth, ’cept as a friend!
MRS. MAYO. (warningly) Sss-h-h! (The door from the yard opens, and
ROBERT enters. He is smiling happily, and humming a song to himself, but as
he comes into the room an undercurrent of nervous uneasiness manifests
itself in his bearing).
MAYO. So here you be at last! (ROBERT comes forward and sits on ANDY’S
chair. MAYO smiles slyly at his wife) What have you been doin’ all this time
—countin’ the stars to see if they all come out right and proper?
ROBERT. There’s only one I’ll ever look for any more, Pa.
MAYO. (reproachfully) You might’ve even not wasted time lookin’ for
that one—your last night.
MRS. MAYO. (as if she were speaking to a child) You ought to have worn
your coat a sharp night like this, Robbie.
SCOTT. (disgustedly) God A’mighty, Kate, you treat Robert as if he was
one year old!
MRS. MAYO. (notices ROBERT’S nervous uneasiness) You look all worked
up over something, Robbie. What is it?
ROBERT. (swallowing hard, looks quickly from one to the other of them—
then begins determinedly) Yes, there is something—something I must tell
you—all of you. (As he begins to talk ANDREW enters quietly from the rear,
closing the door behind him, and setting the lighted lantern on the floor. He
remains standing by the door, his arms folded, listening to ROBERT with a
repressed expression of pain on his face. ROBERT is so much taken up with
what he is going to say that he does not notice ANDREW’S presence.)
Something I discovered only this evening—very beautiful and wonderful—
something I did not take into consideration previously because I hadn’t
dared to hope that such happiness could ever come to me. (Appealingly)
You must all remember that fact, won’t you?
 MAYO. (frowning) Let’s get to the point, son.
ROBERT. (with a trace of defiance) Well, the point is this, Pa: I’m not
going—I mean—I can’t go tomorrow with Uncle Dick—or at any future
time, either.
MRS. MAYO. (with a sharp sigh of joyful relief) Oh, Robbie, I’m so glad!
MAYO. (astounded) You ain’t serious, be you, Robert? (Severely) Seems
to me it’s a pretty late hour in the day for you to be upsettin’ all your plans
so sudden!
ROBERT. I asked you to remember that until this evening I didn’t know
myself. I had never dared to dream——
MAYO. (irritably) What is this foolishness you’re talkin’ of?
ROBERT. (flushing) Ruth told me this evening that—she loved me. It was
after I’d confessed I loved her. I told her I hadn’t been conscious of my love
until after the trip had been arranged, and I realized it would mean—leaving
her. That was the truth. I didn’t know until then. (As if justifying himself to
the others) I hadn’t intended telling her anything but—suddenly—I felt I
must. I didn’t think it would matter, because I was going away. And I
thought she loved—someone else. (Slowly—his eyes shining) And then she
cried and said it was I she’d loved all the time, but I hadn’t seen it.
MRS. MAYO. (rushes over and throws her arms about him) I knew it! I was
just telling your father when you came in—and, Oh, Robbie, I’m so happy
you’re not going!
ROBERT. (kissing her) I knew you’d be glad, Ma.
MAYO. (bewilderedly) Well, I’ll be damned! You do beat all for gettin’
folks’ minds all tangled up, Robert. And Ruth too! Whatever got into her of
a sudden? Why, I was thinkin’——
MRS. MAYO. (hurriedly—in a tone of warning) Never mind what you were
thinking, James. It wouldn’t be any use telling us that now. (Meaningly)
And what you were hoping for turns out just the same almost, doesn’t it?
MAYO. (thoughtfully—beginning to see this side of the argument) Yes; I
suppose you’re right, Katey. (Scratching his head in puzzlement) But how it
ever come about! It do beat anything ever I heard. (Finally he gets up with a
sheepish grin and walks over to ROBERT) We’re glad you ain’t goin’, your
Ma and I, for we’d have missed you terrible, that’s certain and sure; and
we’re glad you’ve found happiness. Ruth’s a fine girl and’ll make a good
wife to you.
ROBERT. (much moved) Thank you, Pa. (He grips his father’s hand in his).
ANDREW. (his face tense and drawn comes forward and holds out his
hand, forcing a smile) I guess it’s my turn to offer congratulations, isn’t it?
ROBERT. (with a startled cry when his brother appears before him so
suddenly) Andy! (Confused) Why—I—I didn’t see you. Were you here
when——
ANDREW. I heard everything you said; and here’s wishing you every
happiness, you and Ruth. You both deserve the best there is.
ROBERT. (taking his hand) Thanks, Andy, it’s fine of you to—— (His
voice dies away as he sees the pain in ANDREW’S eyes).
ANDREW. (giving his brother’s hand a final grip) Good luck to you both!
(He turns away and goes back to the rear where he bends over the lantern,
fumbling with it to hide his emotion from the others).
MRS. MAYO. (to the CAPTAIN, who has been too flabbergasted by ROBERT’S
decision to say a word) What’s the matter, Dick? Aren’t you going to
congratulate Robbie?
SCOTT. (embarrassed) Of course I be! (He gets to his feet and shakes
ROBERT’S hand, muttering a vague) Luck to you, boy. (He stands beside
ROBERT as if he wanted to say something more but doesn’t know how to go
about it).
ROBERT. Thanks, Uncle Dick.
SCOTT. So you’re not acomin’ on the Sunda with me? (His voice indicates
disbelief).
ROBERT. I can’t, Uncle—not now. I wouldn’t miss it for anything else in
the world under any other circumstances. (He sighs unconsciously) But you
see I’ve found—a bigger dream. (Then with joyous high spirits) I want you
all to understand one thing—I’m not going to be a loafer on your hands any
longer. This means the beginning of a new life for me in every way. I’m
going to settle right down and take a real interest in the farm, and do my
share. I’ll prove to you, Pa, that I’m as good a Mayo as you are—or Andy,
when I want to be.
MAYO. (kindly but skeptically) That’s the right spirit, Robert. Ain’t none
of us doubts your willin’ness, but you ain’t never learned——
 ROBERT. Then I’m going to start learning right away, and you’ll teach me,
won’t you?
MAYO. (mollifyingly) Of course I will, boy, and be glad to, only you’d
best go easy at first.
SCOTT. (who has listened to this conversation in mingled consternation
and amazement) You don’t mean to tell me you’re goin’ to let him stay, do
you, James?
MAYO. Why, things bein’ as they be, Robert’s free to do as he’s a mind to.
MRS. MAYO. Let him! The very idea!
SCOTT. (more and more ruffled) Then all I got to say is, you’re a soft,
weak-willed critter to be permittin’ a boy—and women, too—to be layin’
your course for you wherever they damn pleases.
MAYO. (slyly amused) It’s just the same with me as ’twas with you, Dick.
You can’t order the tides on the seas to suit you, and I ain’t pretendin’ I can
reg’late love for young folks.
SCOTT. (scornfully) Love! They ain’t old enough to know love when they
sight it! Love! I’m ashamed of you, Robert, to go lettin’ a little huggin’ and
kissin’ in the dark spile your chances to make a man out o’ yourself. It ain’t
common sense—no siree, it ain’t—not by a hell of a sight! (He pounds the
table with his fists in exasperation).
MRS. MAYO. (laughing provokingly at her brother) A fine one you are to
be talking about love, Dick—an old cranky bachelor like you. Goodness
sakes!
SCOTT. (exasperated by their joking) I’ve never been a damn fool like
most, if that’s what you’re steerin’ at.
MRS. MAYO. (tauntingly) Sour grapes, aren’t they, Dick? (She laughs.
ROBERT and his father chuckle. SCOTT sputters with annoyance) Good
gracious, Dick, you do act silly, flying into a temper over nothing.
SCOTT. (indignantly) Nothin’! You talk as if I wasn’t concerned nohow in
this here business. Seems to me I’ve got a right to have my say. Ain’t I
made all arrangements with the owners and stocked up with some special
grub all on Robert’s account?
ROBERT. You’ve been fine, Uncle Dick; and I appreciate it. Truly.
MAYO. ’Course; we all does, Dick.
 SCOTT. (unplacated) I’ve been countin’ sure on havin’ Robert for
company on this vige—to sorta talk to and show things to, and teach, kinda,
and I got my mind so set on havin’ him I’m goin’ to be double lonesome
this vige. (He pounds on the table, attempting to cover up this confession of
weakness) Darn all this silly lovin’ business, anyway. (Irritably) But all this
talk ain’t tellin’ me what I’m to do with that sta’b’d cabin I fixed up. It’s all
painted white, an’ a bran new mattress on the bunk, ’n’ new sheets ’n’
blankets ’n’ things. And Chips built in a book-case so’s Robert could take
his books along—with a slidin’ bar fixed across’t it, mind, so’s they
couldn’t fall out no matter how she rolled. (With excited consternation)
What d’you suppose my officers is goin’ to think when there’s no one
comes aboard to occupy that sta’b’d cabin? And the men what did the work
on it—what’ll they think? (He shakes his finger indignantly) They’re liable
as not to suspicion it was a woman I’d planned to ship along, and that she
gave me the go-by at the last moment! (He wipes his perspiring brow in
anguish at this thought). Gawd A’mighty! They’re only lookin’ to have the
laugh on me for something like that. They’re liable to b’lieve anything,
those fellers is!
MAYO. (with a wink) Then there’s nothing to it but for you to get right out
and hunt up a wife somewheres for that spick ’n’ span cabin. She’ll have to
be a pretty one, too, to match it. (He looks at his watch with exaggerated
concern) You ain’t got much time to find her, Dick.
SCOTT. (as the others smile—sulkily) You kin go to thunder, Jim Mayo!
ANDREW. (comes forward from where he has been standing by the door,
rear, brooding. His face is set in a look of grim determination) You needn’t
worry about that spare cabin, Uncle Dick, if you’ve a mind to take me in
Robert’s place.
ROBERT. (turning to him quickly) Andy! (He sees at once the fixed resolve
in his brother’s eyes, and realizes immediately the reason for it—in
consternation) Andy, you mustn’t!
ANDREW. You’ve made your decision, Rob, and now I’ve made mine.
You’re out of this, remember.
ROBERT. (hurt by his brother’s tone) But Andy——
ANDREW. Don’t interfere, Rob—that’s all I ask. (Turning to his uncle)
You haven’t answered my question, Uncle Dick.
 SCOTT. (clearing his throat, with an uneasy side glance at JAMES MAYO
who is staring at his elder son as if he thought he had suddenly gone mad)
O’ course, I’d be glad to have you, Andy.
ANDREW. It’s settled then. I can pack the little I want to take in a few
minutes.
MRS. MAYO. Don’t be a fool, Dick. Andy’s only joking you.
SCOTT. (disgruntedly) It’s hard to tell who’s jokin’ and who’s not in this
house.
ANDREW. (firmly) I’m not joking, Uncle Dick. (As SCOTT looks at him
uncertainly) You needn’t be afraid I’ll go back on my word.
ROBERT. (hurt by the insinuation he feels in ANDREW’S tone) Andy! That
isn’t fair!
MAYO. (frowning) Seems to me this ain’t no subject to joke over—not for
Andy.
ANDREW. (facing his father) I agree with you, Pa, and I tell you again,
once and for all, that I’ve made up my mind to go.
MAYO. (dumbfounded—unable to doubt the determination in ANDREW’S
voice—helplessly) But why, son? Why?
ANDREW. (evasively) I’ve always wanted to go.
ROBERT. Andy!
ANDREW. (half angrily) You shut up, Rob! (Turning to his father again) I
didn’t ever mention it because as long as Rob was going I knew it was no
use; but now Rob’s staying on here, there isn’t any reason for me not to go.
MAYO. (breathing hard) No reason? Can you stand there and say that to
me, Andrew?
MRS. MAYO. (hastily—seeing the gathering storm) He doesn’t mean a
word of it, James.
MAYO. (making a gesture to her to keep silence) Let me talk, Katey. (In a
more kindly tone) What’s come over you so sudden, Andy? You know’s
well as I do that it wouldn’t be fair o’ you to run off at a moment’s notice
right now when we’re up to our necks in hard work.
ANDREW. (avoiding his eyes) Rob’ll hold his end up as soon as he learns.
MAYO. Robert was never cut out for a farmer, and you was.
ANDREW. You can easily get a man to do my work.
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