Mrs. Gussie Price: A stout, colorless blond, a weeping, vividly gowned lady, who rules her husband, Cyrus, through her tears. Age, about 30.
Flora: A colored maid.
The danger is shown to the utmost in the following. The characterization in the scenario to which this was prefixed was practically nil.
Forsythe Savile: A young lawyer of about thirty, clever, and rather versatile. While of great promise in his profession, he is not at all pedantic, but has many interests. He is well-read, widely travelled, fond of outdoor sports, and is very popular. Perhaps his most prominent characteristic is his ready wit. He is rarely non-plussed, and while quick and pointed in his remarks, is yet not ill-natured with them. He has been Dennings’ most intimate friend ever since they were in college together, although their lives lie along very divergent lines.
Richard Dennings: A globe trotter, as a hunter, explorer, and war-correspondent. He is clever and able, with a tendency to act on impulse rather than after deliberation. He is the closest kind of friend to Forsythe. He has been engaged to Frances Langdon, but the engagement has been broken off. This last fact is not known to any save the two themselves.
Judge Savile: A widower, and Forsythe’s father. He has been a very successful man, and holds a high place in his profession. He is devoted to books, and cannot understand his son’s taste for out-of-door life, and athletics in general. He philosophically accepts the inevitable, however, and is very proud of Forsythe. The Judge does not approve of the engagement of Frances Langdon to Dennings; he cannot understand Dennings’ uncertain methods of life. The Judge while saying very little of his opinion foresees that matters are very far from being finally settled, and is quietly awaiting developments.
Margaret Savile: Forsythe’s younger sister, and a feminine edition of him. She is very pretty, bright, and attractive. She and Forsythe are most intimate, more so than brother and sister usually are.
Frances Langdon: An intimate friend of Margaret, and familiarly known as “Frank.” She is essentially feminine, attractive, witty and talented. She is very nervous and high-strung—a strong character, but susceptible to her feelings. She has known the Saviles since she was a child and is considered exactly as a relative. She has broken her engagement to Richard Dennings.
A butler: The usual English type.
That list tells so much about the characters that the scenario proper could do little but repeat. The writer, troubled by his sense of repetition, rested for his characterization on the slight chance that a reader would remember every detail of the dramatis personæ. All that a reader needs to know at the outset of a scenario is who the characters are, and, in the broadest way, their relations to one another.