ride's Return
Home." Hiawatha is seated in the stern of the boat, holding a paddle
in the water. The other Indian is kneeling in the bow with his bow and
arrow, and in position as if firing to the shore. One of the maidens
is looking intently over the side of the canoe, and the other is
looking upward. Both should have long black hair flowing over the
shoulders. The canoe should move very slow, and should be seen in
motion when the curtain rises; and to have it move in a steady manner,
the ropes should be attached to a windlass below the stage. The scene
must be illuminated by a green fire burned at the side of the stage
opposite the entrance of the canoe. Music soft and plaintive.
THE VILLAGE STILE.
The village stile--and has it gone?
Supplanted by this niche of stone,
So formal and so new;
And worse, still worse, the elder bush,
Where sang the linnet and the thrush--
Say, has that vanished too?
Age sat upon 't when tired of straying;
And children that had been a-maying;
These trimmed their garlands gay;
What tender partings, blissful meetings,
What faint denials, fond entreatings,
It witnessed in its day!
One Female and One Male Figure.
This rustic tableau represents a young shepherd and his betrothed
seated on the village stile, engaged in conversation. In the centre of
the stage, a weather-worn plank should be placed, resting on
artificial banks at each side, which are three feet high and four feet
wide; these can be shaped out of boxes or chairs placed together in a
careless manner, and covered with green bocking; at each side of the
stage, near the banks, place small spruce trees, and beneath the
stile build a step out of old plank, one foot high, and the length of
the space between the two banks. Seated on the inner side of the stile
is the young maiden. She is partially facing the audience, body
slightly bent forward, right hand placed in that of the shepherd,
while the left rests on a basket of flowers placed on her knee.
Costume consists of a showy plaid dress, with a green waist, trimmed
with purple cloth, cut in scallops; a small pink scarf worn over the
shoulders, and tied at the side; a pink apron, trimmed with white; a
small straw hat, bound with green ribbon, and set jantily on the head;
hair done up low in the neck, and ornamented with blue and red
ribbons. The eyes are cast down to the basket, the expression of t
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