THE LADY OF THE LAMP A PLAY

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Characters:

  • Florence Nightingale, the nurse
  • Frances, her sister
  • Flossie, her doll
  • Harry Miller, Doctor Make-believe
  • Old Roger, the shepherd
  • Captain, the hurt dog
  • Mr. Vicar, the minister
  • Soldiers, doctors, and other nurses

Act I. The Sick Doll

Scene. In an English Garden.

Frances. Come on! Let’s play tag, Florence.

Florence. I can’t, Frances. Flossie is too sick. Won’t you play you are the doctor, and come see her?

Frances. Oh, no; you always want to play the same thing! Your dolls are always sick! I believe you love the broken ones better than the others.

Florence. Yes, I do. I’m going to be a nurse when I grow up. Well, if you don’t want to play that you are the doctor, I am going to ask Harry Miller to play that he is. (Goes to the hedge and calls.) Oh, Harry, come on over, and play you are the doctor for my sick dolls.

Frances. Come on, Harry, I am going to be the druggist.

Harry. All right, girls; I’ll be over in a minute.

Florence. Don’t forget your medicine case.

Harry (entering). Good morning, madam. Is your little child ill?


Act the rest of the story yourselves.


Act II. Good Old Cap

Scene. In an English Village Street.

(Florence is riding on her little pony. With her on horseback is Mr. Vicar, the minister of the village church.)

Mr. Vicar. What a lovely day, Florence.

Florence. It is a beautiful day, Mr. Vicar. I am so glad we are going to call to see old Mrs. Williams. I hope she is better than when mother last saw her.

Mr. Vicar. I have not heard from her for some days.

Florence (looking off in the distance). Oh, there is old Roger trying to gather his sheep together. Why, I wonder where his dog is. (They ride up.)

Mr. Vicar. Good morning, Roger. You seem to be having trouble.

Roger. That I am, sir. Good morning, miss.

Florence. Why, where is your good dog, Cap?

Roger. Some boys threw stones at him and broke his leg. I am afraid he will never be able to run again.

Florence. Oh, how dreadful!

Roger. Yes, I miss him so much. He was such a help.

Florence (to Mr. Vicar, in a whisper). I wonder if we could see the dog. We might be able to do something for him.

Mr. Vicar. Where is your dog; Roger?

Roger. At home, beside the fire.

(Mr. Vicar and Florence ride to the cottage. They find that Cap’s leg is not broken, but is sprained. Florence asks for hot water, and bathes and bandages the leg. In a few days the dog recovers and helps Roger with the sheep.)

Act out the rest of the story yourselves.


Act III. The Lady of the Lamp

Scene. In a hospital. Soldiers are lying on cots and chairs. Florence Nightingale comes in with a lamp in her hand.

First Soldier. Hush, here comes the Angel of Mercy to look after us poor fellows. How tired she must be after working all day.

Second Soldier. Yes, the Lady of the Lamp.

Third Soldier. She has done more for our country than all the soldiers during this terrible war.

All the Soldiers. That she has. May Heaven bless her brave heart!


America! America!
Thy loyal children we!
Dear Mother Land, our lives we pledge
In service unto thee.


[A] At the word flag give the salute by raising the right hand to the forehead.

[B] Pronounced nu-mo´ne-a.

Emblem on back cover

Transcriber’s Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. The table of contents uses the oe ligature in Phoebe Cary’s name. In the text it’s italic and the transcriber assumes that the printer didn’t have an italic ligature. As we’re not constrained by that, all instances of Phoebe Cary’s name now have the ligature.

Page xi, “Dresmaker’s” changed to “Dressmaker’s” (At the Dressmaker’s)

Page 166, the pronunciation key for petroleum uses a dot and macron combination above the two es in the text. As this is not a character available to us, the macron and acute have been substituted: ?.






                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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