ACT II.

Scene I.

Suggestion of Scene. Banquo and Fleance enter, the latter carrying a torch. The father rests his hand affectionately on the son's shoulder, and as they pause, looks up through the small barred window into the starless night sky.

Scene II.

Suggestion of Scene. The same scene continues. Lady Macbeth enters through the great door at the rear. She is clad in white; her hair hangs in a flowing mass, and is bound about the forehead with a silver band. Some actors use lightning and thunder in this scene and the preceding, but this matter should not be overdone: some distant, ominous rumbling and a flash or two of fire in the small window high in the wall at the left may be effective, especially in the interval between Macbeth's exit and Lady Macbeth's entrance. As she comes toward the front, telling the effect the drink has had upon her, the hoot of an owl' is heard; she starts violently, but soon recovers herself. The scene is quiet, but the most intense excitement prevails.

Scene III.

Suggestion of Scene. The previous scene continues. The guilty two disappear; the knocking continues. At the small door at the right and back appears the porter, staggering from sleepiness and drink; he yawns, stretches himself unsteadily, thereby running the risk of dropping the antique lantern he carries in one hand, and the bunch of great keys in the other. He takes a maudlin pleasure in imagining himself the porter of the gate of hell; at every knock from without he bows ironically to an imaginary arrival in that lower dismal region, announces the station of the unfortunate, and hints at the cause of his downfall. At the end, he goes out the gxc~t door at the center and rear, and turns to the left, and after a moment he ^s heard drawing bolts, dragging chains, and turning a key in a great lock. Then there is the tramp of feet and the sound of voices. Macduff and Lennox, followed by the sleepy porter, enter.

Scene IV.

Suggestion of Scene. In his book, "Shakespeare the Boy," Dr. Rolfe says, "It is not likely that he (Shakespeare) was ever in Scotland, and when he described the castle of Macbeth the picture in his mind's eye was doubtless Warwick or