Stevens
You're not elected yet, sir—and such levity ill becomes a Nation's Chief in these tragic hours——
Lincoln
[Laughs.]
If I couldn't laugh I'd have died long ago at this job!
CURTAIN
EPILOGUE
Set Scene: The great pillars of the Capitol at Washington fill the entire stage from arch to arch. In the foreground stands the platform on which the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, headed by Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice, are grouped about the President, who is delivering his Second Inaugural. John Vaughan beside Betty Winter is conspicuously leading the applause.
At Rise: The President is reading his Inaugural. A great burst of cheering follows the sentence he is closing before the curtain rises: