Camp-Fire costume made a little more elaborate by bead-embroidery and stencilling. Branch of Pine.]
BEAUTY. Do not weep, Everygirl! I come to bring you joy and happiness. They call me Beauty, and the queen of all The earth. All men look up to me, And smile upon me—beautiful am I, So shall you be, if I go with you. All the World will stoop to kiss your hand, And fairer shall you be than other maids.
EVERYGIRL. [_Taking_ BEAUTY _by the hand_.] And, Beauty, will you always stay with me? And be my friend, and never go away?
BEAUTY. Ah, that I cannot do. You know that I must sometime leave you.
EVERYGIRL. Beauty, stay always with me, never go away.
BEAUTY. Ah, no! I cannot be your friend forever. [_Exit_ BEAUTY.]
[_Enter_ KNOWLEDGE, _clothed in black_. EVERYGIRL _shrinks from her_.]
KNOWLEDGE. You must not fear me, Everygirl, I am your friend. Always we are friends. Was it not I Who taught you once the names of all the flowers? Men call me Knowledge, but I do not show So fair a face as Beauty; mine is stern And grim. No easy master am I, But, if you now will take me for your friend, I’ll show you all the wonders of the world— Yea, and of many other worlds, also— The magic of the deep and of the skies. If you would have me with you, You must search for knowledge and ever Shall you be filled with wild desires Never quite fulfilled. I’ll tell you all The secrets of the world, even the thoughts Of men and women shall be opened to you; And those who pass along in busy throngs Shall feel the mystic knowledge you possess.
Frock of thin white cotton or China silk: angel sleeves shirred at shoulder: gold paper heart on left side. Gold fillet in hair.]
EVERYGIRL. And will this knowledge help them too, as well As me? Will it bring pleasure to sad hearts And joy to tired lives?
[KNOWLEDGE _turns sorrowfully away_. EVERYGIRL _kneels, her face in her hands_.]
EVERYGIRL. I know not what to do, nor whom to choose!
White cotton frock: points of yellow from neck, with gilded bells: wreath of daisies, and skipping rope wound with the same.]
[_Enter_ WORK, HEALTH, _and_ LOVE _at the back of the garden_. WORK, _advancing, touches_ EVERYGIRL _upon the shoulder_.]
WORK. It is I, Everygirl, who am the solace And those who toil with me, though hard their lot, Find gladness in the joy of working. I would go with you. The World cares not For idle hands. So take me, though I promise not Delights and wild excesses of emotion. For the great joy of labor and of toil I bring, And you shall learn to glorify the work Whate’er it be!