The San Francisco call., 1896-06-21

novels, are to be seen all along the road
which winds up the mountain and fades
away in the distance. The aspect of the
country is rather forbidding, in spite of
the vivid green of occasional stretches
of grass. The chorus rushes on from both
sides of the stage; there is a rumor that
the soldiers are after Shamus with dogs.
Through all the confusion of voices the
repeated wall ''Ochone, and it's cruel,
cruel, wicked, wicked, is distinctly audi
bic. The appearance of Father O'Flynn,
the parish priest, is the signalfor renewed
excitement. He can but confirm the
rumor, and appeals to them to protect
Shamus by enumerating all his virtues:
III give ye to next Nfichaelmas to name US
a gossOon so presentabe and famous,
So loved in all the neighborhood, as Shamus-
Faith, We wouldn't find his match in twice as long.
At hurting, it's give in he bates the devil;
He'll lep yez either high or on the level;
He's the fairest, hardest drinker at revel,
And an ilIigant performer at a song.
The chorus then joins in:
If Romulus and Ramus
Had lived along with Shamus
They'd be Ike two puppy jackals with lion.
Spake up, now. can you blame US
1.-THE boys of Ballyhams
Shout "Faugh hallagh Shamus the o. Bren r' etc
(Clear the road y
The villain of the play is Mike Murphy,
impersonated by Joseph O'Mara, who,
actuated by jealousy and revenge, betrays
Shamus to the English captain who is
searching for him. Kitty O'Toole, the
sister of Shamus' wife, overhears the in
terview. manages to delay the captain by
employing all the arts and graces of viii
lage coquette and warns Shamus of his
danger. The villagers are aroused by the
sign of the ''creel,' or basket upon the
roof, and when the soldiers finally appear
there is but slight resistance. Shamus, in
the disguise of the Village MATERIAL" in
duces the soldiers to take him as guide
across the bog where Shamus himself is
supposed to be in hiding. After the dis
appearance Of the soldiers the villagers in
dulge in revel, the piper has come and
plays them a reel and the dance is carried
on with delightful spirit and en- Djoyment.
Nora, the wife of Shamus, is unable to
dismiss her fears, and confdes to the vii
lage priest the reason of her terrors-
for two nights she has heard the BAN
shee wall. The temperance of Shamus
puts momentary end to her misgivings,
but her terror is turned to despair when
she hears third cry, the long and melan-
Choly wall of the banshee. To Shamus
and Nora it is the knelI of doom, and tn he
act closes with the sudden descent of the
soldiers, who have been assisted to return
by Mike Murphy and who, in spite of the
resistance of Shamus and the villagers; in
spite OF the pleadings and shrilI cries of
the women, finally effect the capture.
The second act opens on the court yard
of the barracks, closed by a great iron
gate, showing when it is opened a charm
ing bit of scene painting, the fresh and
vivid Irish landscape, Kittie O'Toole, who
has fascinated the English captain, comes
to plead with him to allow her poor sister
Nora to have last interview with Shamus,
her husband. The scene between the rebel
and his wife is touching in the extreme,
and during the court-martial, when the
terror-stricken woman interrupts the pro-
ceedings constantly in order to put in a
good word for her husband, the humor is
perilously close to tears. He is sentenced
to be hanged the following morning before
sunrise, aud the curtain falls with the
soldiers beating back the infuriated vii
layers, and Shamus struggling to reach his
wife. who has fallen forward upon her face
Will u cry ludL Is the ldSJ rite IN q scene
almost too poignant in its dramatic in
tensity. The second scene of this act
opens upon the morning of the execution;
the appearance of the villagers raising
their arms in fire movement and giving
vent to strange, unearthly walls of sor-
row, has the impressiveness of a Greek
chorus. Shamus is brought to execution
in a cart and the procession is stopped in
order to give the wife an opportunity to
say farewell and the village priest an op-
portunity to confess the hapless Shamus.
Shamus' bearing is that of a hero, and he
delivers a ''last speech" full of defiant
courage-until he suddenly perceiyes his
wife and child-when his great voice
breaks and he turns his head aside in
order to hide his overwhelming emotions.
Father O'FIynn in a sudden impulse seiZes
the moment when he is listening to the
confession to cut the cords and set Shamus
free The soldiers fire, but Mike Murphy,
who has thrown himself in the way of the
escaping rebel, receives the shots and
Shamus disappears, shouting: Good by
to you, captaini Good-by to your men!
When you next want guide you'll en-
ploy ME again!" while the villagers burst
into repetition of the rousing chorus of
the first act:
Oh, boys, listen to Shamus
Sarch, boys, sarch after Shamus!
And the curtain falls on the tumultuous
chorus and the wild, involuntary dance,
as the peasants toss up hats and sticks and
seize each other and weep and laugh and
shout with that irrepressible desire to
find vent for strong emotion that makes
of Irish men and women race of impetu-
Gus children.
A peculiar interest attached itself to the