Chapter 1

music of cradle-song type. Little fairies come out dancing in the darkness with firefly lamps and sing the following cradle song:_

Some one is sleeping Out in the dark Where fireflies glimmer Spark upon spark.

Some little stranger Come from afar Under the glory Of moon and of star.

Deep in the blossoms That drift as they fall Some one is sleeping And stirs not at all.

Sleep, little stranger! The night is near gone; Sleep, little stranger, But dream of the dawn!

_The dim light reveals a dark figure lying on the mosses at the foot of an old tree. As the light grows gradually stronger the dark object begins to move, to slowly take off one after another of black coverings, revealing a little girl of nine or ten years, dressed in white. She rubs her eyes, looks about wonderingly, and slowly rises to a standing position. Meanwhile the earth grows more luminous and roseate. The birds have begun to twitter now and then before the dawn, and their notes increase in number and variety with the approach of morning. The growing light reveals an orchard of old apple-trees near at hand in full bloom, with petals falling, and hills and mountains lifting and towering upward higher and higher into the blue distance. A path leads from the orchard up the near hills and toward the heights. The music has grown louder, and is sweet and tender, interspersed with bird notes. A number of children, girls and boys, come out and sing and dance under the blossoms of the apple-trees. They sing the children's song:_

We are of the sunrise Flower-breath and dew, Travelling wider circles Of blue beyond the blue,

Seeking strength of spirit, Happiness and joy-- Heritage decreed for Every girl and boy.

Music of the moonbeams And the orchard rain, Music of the meadows Waving with the grain,

Mountains in the sunlight, Colors of the flowers, Trailing cloud and shadow-- All of these are ours.

We are of the sunrise Flower-breath and dew, Travelling wider circles Of blue beyond the blue.

_The little girl in the foreground looks with wonder and delight at the entrancing spectacle. She has her side to the audience. She raises her arms, listens, rubs her eyes, smiles with joy. She touches the grass, the flowers, the trees, picks up and smells the falling apple-blossoms. She begins to dance like the other children. One of them sees her and runs toward her with arms outstretched. The newcomer touches her hair and her hands. They smile at each other. The little girl leads the stranger toward the others and has her join in the dance. The dancing is in the Greek manner. They play with a light, large, bubble-like balloon._

_Little Girl_

What is your name?

_Stranger_

I do not understand.

_Little Girl_

Oh, of course, I forgot. I will lead you to some one who will give you a name.

(_A man and woman have come slowly through the orchard and seated themselves on a bench under an apple-tree. Two or three of the children lead the stranger up to them._)

_Stranger_ (_feeling of the hair and gown of the woman_)

Who are you?

_Woman_ (_smiling_)

I am your mother.

_Stranger_ (_feeling of the hair and face and garments of the man_)

Who are you?

_Man_

I am your father.

_Stranger_

What place is this? They told me somewhere--but I have forgotten--that I should die _there_ which is being born _here_ and come to the earth.

_Mother_

Yes, this is our world, and I shall give you a name. I shall name you Everychild.

_Everychild_

Is it always and everywhere so beautiful?

_Mother_

No, but it should be so, and some day it will be so.

_Father_

It is a dream we have.

_Mother_

It will be even more beautiful than this, for we shall go higher, and climb those Morning Mountains. The flowers of the Spirit grow there.

_Everychild_

And we shall gather them?

_Father_

Yes, Everychild. Come now, and bring all the others with you. We will take that path yonder to the hills.

_Mother_

No, wait! They are not all here. There are some missing. They must all come.

_Father_

It will be so long to wait. Let us go with these.

_Mother_ (_laying her hand on_ EVERYCHILD'S _head_)

Have we not named her Everychild?

_Father_

Yes. She must go down and find all who have lost their way. Perhaps some have awakened in the wrong place and are wandering about in the dark jungle of the world. We will wait here till they come.

_Mother_

Go, Everychild. Find them and bring them all back with you. Take this lamp. (_Hands her a rose-colored lamp, etc._)

_Father_

Our lamp?

_Mother_

Our love!

_Father_

Take it, Everychild. With this lamp you can find the lost children and bring them all back with you.

_Mother_

We will wait for them no matter how long.

(EVERYCHILD _starts down along a path leading off the stage to the right--the music and singing continue through the whole scene._ CHO-CHO _appears, right, for a moment and points her path to her saying: "This way, Everychild."_)

(CURTAIN FALLS)

CURTAIN _rises revealing_