The Drone / A Play in Three Acts

E-text prepared by Audrey Longhurst, Diane Monico, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/c/)
Copyright, 1912. Samuel Waddell.
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John Murray, A farmer. Daniel Murray, His brother. Mary Murray, John's daughter. Andrew McMinn, A farmer. Sarah McMinn, His sister. Donal Mackenzie, A Scotch engineer. Sam Brown, A labourer in John Murray's employment. Kate, A servant girl in John Murray's employment. Alick McCready, A young farmer.
The action takes place throughout in the kitchen of John Murray in the County of Down.
Time ... The present day.

Scene: The farm kitchen of John Murray. It is large and spacious, with a wide open fire-place to the right. At the back is one door leading to the parlour and other rooms in the house, also a large window overlooking the yard outside. To the left of this window is the door leading into the yard, and near the door an old-fashioned grandfather's clock. Opposite to the fire-place on the left side is another door leading into Daniel Murray's workshop, and beside this door is a large dresser with crockery, &c. At the back beneath the window is a table near which Kate, the servant, a slatternly dressed girl of some thirty years of age or more, is seated. She is carefully examining some cakes of soda bread, and has a bucket beside her into which she throws the rejected pieces.
Kate. That one's stale. It would break your teeth to eat it. ( She throws the cake into the bucket. ) And the mice have nibbled that one. And there's another as bad. ( She throws both pieces into the bucket. )
(Brown, the servant man, opens the door from yard and enters. He is elderly, and with a pessimistic expression of face, relieved somewhat by the sly humour that is in his eyes. He walks slowly to the centre of the kitchen, looks at Kate, and then turns his eyes, with a disgusted shake of the head, towards the dresser as if searching for something. )
Brown. Well! Well! Pigs get fat and men get lean in this house.