Chapter II: Part 2

CHORUS--Many perfumed months have passed since Chang-sut-yen wedded Kwen-lin, and each has added a white hibiscus blossom to the garland of life. But now bitter winter comes, snow is on the paeony hill, the hosts of evil are abroad. The Mandarin, with never ending rage, has spent the months searching throughout the Empire to discover their dwelling place. Now he has learned where it is, and pursues Chang-sut-yen with a death dealing thong, which he will wield with dire results. It is the pleasure of the illustrious author that the villain act in a supremely unpleasant manner, in order to bring out the tenderness of the play. Our lovers, not knowing this is a comedy, (and therefore must conclude with smiles and feasting), are overwhelmed with fear. I beg you not to share this fear, except inasmuch as it may make the after enjoyment of the happy ending more piquant and superbly satisfying.

I bow to you, and conduct you to the home of Chang-sut-yen, and Kwen-lin, his wife.

(_Gong-bearer strikes gong. Chorus walks to his place at the left of stage. The Curtains are drawn apart, and reveal Chang-sut-yen, and Kwen-lin. The Property Man is at the back of the stage, as before._)

KWEN-LIN--Is my august father yet stamping on the road? Peep out of the door, heroic one, and show but part of one eye, lest the radiance from both light the world like stars, and he swoop upon us.

CHANG-SUT-YEN--(_Looking out of imaginary doorway._) I see not his angry body.

KWEN-LIN--I would not face him here. Let us go outside, and sit neath the eaves of the pagoda. He may miss our presence, and leave without shattering this temple of our love dreams.

(_Property Man opens invisible door, they descend two steps and sit down, and Property Man closes the door._)

CHANG-SUT-YEN--Little humming bird, your heart wings beat wildly against my solemn breast.

KWEN-LIN--His fiery breath will wither our blood. Feel how it scorches the grey veil of night. He is coming to consume us, he is coming to consume us! I fear his terrible rage.

CHANG-SUT-YEN--Nay, tremble not, for I, your lover, shelter you in my heart.

CHORUS--The Mandarin comes.

KWEN-LIN--(_Sadly._) The wine cup is drained, the love songs all are silenced.

(_Enter Mandarin._)

MANDARIN--Base thief and destroyer, at last I have found the hole in which you hide!

CHANG-SUT-YEN--A lover seeks only food for his love. If he destroys or thieves what matter? Love is first.

MANDARIN--My tongue sends flame into your viper soul. Go to your ancestors, they beckon you.

KWEN-LIN--Let us escape across the bridge!

(_Property Man holds bamboo stick horizontally for bridge._)

CHANG-SUT-YEN--Why should we flee?

KWEN-LIN--Why should we perish? To the bridge! We will outrun him.

(_They run onto bridge._)

CHANG-SUT-YEN--(_Grasping bamboo._) The bridge shakes. Its ribs are rotten. We will fall into the water.

KWEN-LIN--(_Off stage._) I fall, I drown!

CHANG-SUT-YEN--Bright Water-lily, float upon the water's face.

MANDARIN--I pull down your star from Heaven's dome.

CHANG-SUT-YEN--My star dropped to Earth, when the light of hers failed.

(_Property Man hands whip to Mandarin._)

MANDARIN--I strike with my exalted whip. By the God of Fate, you die!

(_Strikes Chang with whip. Chang falls. Gong-bearer strikes gong. The God of Fate, wearing grotesque mask, enters._)

FATE--Who calls me to the world of men?

MANDARIN--What unknown fear are you?

FATE--I am the God of Fate.

MANDARIN--I have sent a dog to death. (_Stoops and takes a small red bag from Chang's breast._)

FATE--Chang-sut-yen is mine! He must not die.

MANDARIN--My exulting mind does not record your meaning.

FATE--(_Stooping over Chang, and putting the red bag back._) Chang-sut-yen, son of Chang-won-yin, the Great, I give you back your heart! (_Gong-bearer strikes gong._)

MANDARIN--Chang-sut-yen, son of Heaven! I bow in the dust three times. (_Prostrates himself._)

FATE--(_To Chang._) Arise, and continue your exalted life.

CHANG-SUT-YEN--(_Rising._) My path is lost in crookedness until I join her. Let me go.

FATE--The gods have not yet dried the ink on the pages of your book of life. You must live, to live upon a Willow plate.

CHANG-SUT-YEN--And be broken by the heavy hand of august Time, and unkind Chance. (_Property Man hands knife to Chang._) With this frosty blade, I cut the circle of life, and press my lips to the jade cup of nothingness. I am a lover bereft of my mate.

FATE--You must live! (_Touches Chang's arm with staff. The knife falls to the ground. Property Man picks it up, and puts it back in the property box._)

CHANG-SUT-YEN--Kwen-lin, I leap across the river of Heaven to your arms!

FATE--She is not dead. She dreams, and smiles upon the bosom of the water.

(_To Kwen-lin._) Awake! Awake!

(_Kwen-lin enters, and goes to Chang._)

FATE--Your sublime father, Chang-won-yin, has gone to his ancestors. You are Chang-sut-yen, the Great, ruler of this province.

(_Gong-bearer strikes gong._)

CHANG-SUT-YEN--I renounce my rule. I am a lover, not a ruler.

FATE--You are a turtle dove. (_To Mandarin._) To your home, and set forth majestic feasting. Chang-sut-yen will honor your house. He rules.

CHANG-SUT-YEN--I rule not. I am a lover.

KWEN-LIN--Exalted one, a lover is a turtle dove.

FATE--It is sometimes given to women to know the truth. Thus Fate is fulfilled, and Chang-sut-yen, the turtle dove, will live upon a Willow plate.

(_Gong-bearer strikes the gong twice._)

(_CURTAIN_)

CHORUS--For your eager ears, for your shining eyes, for your smiling faces, I bow, I bow, I bow.

(_Chorus followed by the Gong-bearer goes behind the curtains._)

THIS YOUTH--GENTLEMEN!

A FANTASY

CAST

A MAN.
A BOY.

This Youth--Gentlemen!

_Scene I--A narrow lane sharply ascending the hill-side. In the distance a lake shimmers in the sunlight. As the curtain rises the BOY is discovered sitting on a huge boulder. He curiously watches the approaching MAN._

MAN--The road is narrow.

BOY--(_Curtly._) I like it so.

MAN--I have followed you from the valley.

BOY--(_Moving aside._) I'll follow you up the hill.

MAN--(_Smiling._) I may wait here.

BOY--I may play. (_He throws a stone across the waters, and laughs as it strikes the surface._)

MAN--(_Sharply._) Now! You have disturbed the frogs and hidden green things!

BOY--A ripple on the waters! It's the smile that quick adorns my lady's face when I tell.... A little ripple--it whispers of spring and youth to the hidden green things. I am glad I flung the stone!

MAN--Youth! A braggart word employed by fools and poets who have not lived.

BOY--Youth! A magic word, the talisman of those who seek the promised land!

MAN--(_Slowly._) I seek the world of yesterday!

BOY--We left it ... yesterday. Your road lies back in the valley.

MAN--I carry a chart in my breast, it marks the place where yesterday stands. This lane leads there.

BOY--It leads to the land of promise.

MAN--I carry a chart in my breast....

BOY--Your chart, it lies! I'm going on; follow if you like.

MAN--What shall you, who have not lived, do when we reach the world of yesterday?

BOY--Show you my land of promise.

MAN--Then haste!

BOY--Never fear. My feet are swift.

_Scene II--A ledge between a deep ravine and the mountain. Night._

MAN--Dear lad, let us rest here.

BOY--(_Laughing._) This is the edge of the world.

MAN--Sit not too near, I beg you.

BOY--I'll dangle my legs over the cliff, and watch the shadow of the devil diminish.

MAN--(_Lying wearily on the ground._) To flutter like a feather from the wing of a soaring eagle--to lie unseen and forgotten among the dead leaves of the forest.

BOY--Come, and see the shadow.

MAN--I feel it on my heart.

BOY--The devil made that chart you boast about!

MAN--And locked it in my breast.

BOY--It has taken away your peace.

MAN--Peace! To hear that name on all men's lips, to search and search and never know its habitation.

BOY--They say: He that pursueth, never shall overtake!

MAN--(_To himself._) Desires die, ideals are forgotten, love passes away. The mantel of eternal snow envelops all men, what shall escape?

BOY--Youth!

MAN--Which knows not life.

BOY--Must one experience to know?... Do I not feel?

MAN--In all these days we have been together, what have you felt for me?

BOY--That you sowed wisely, but knew not how to garner. You speak of ideals lost--

MAN--I am not sure I ever had them.

BOY--Is it work or play, love or life, your ideal of yesterday?

MAN--Yesterday! Did it ever exist?

BOY--It died the night of its birth, and vanished in rose smoke, making incense to the gods who once reigned.

MAN--Who told you all this?

BOY--My lady--in the twilight.

MAN--Your lady?

BOY--She sent me to find the promised land. She will come when I am there. My heart is strong, and I can wait for her.

MAN--My heart was strong and passionate; it pulses no longer like a man's, but serves to beat out the unconsidered tickings of the ashen days.

BOY--Then sit with me, be a child, and laugh at the shadow. So faith may come again.

MAN--The day is breaking.

BOY--(_Whimsically._) Alas, the shadow's gone, and you have not seen it! Look yonder at the little stream, it leaps like a white flame down the grey old rocks.

(_They peer over the cliff together._)

MAN--I smell the living earth.

BOY--I want to climb the mountain side. Who knows what treasures may be there?

MAN--(_Slowly._) I know the place--the place above.

BOY--Have you been there?

MAN--No.... I dreamed and thought to reach it once, but lost the way.

(_They climb together._)

BOY--Why do you laugh?

MAN--My blood has turned to flame. I feel it burning in my body.

BOY--The morning sun is in your veins. I know.... What do you see?

MAN--(_Whispering._) Your land of promise!

BOY--It is not so! My land of promise is more beautiful than anything one may imagine!

MAN--This is more beautiful.

BOY--I would know if this were it.

MAN--This is the land I say. Laugh with me and shout. The shadow of the devil has gone. I have found the place and myself.

BOY--Not so! The place is farther off, and higher. I am not content with this!

MAN--Come with me, youth, to the summit!

BOY--(_Eagerly._) I'll climb with you.... I'll climb ... to the summit!

(_CURTAIN_)

THE STRIKER

CAST

JOHN QUINN, _A mortorman on strike_.
MRS. QUINN, _His wife_.
MOLLY, _His daughter_.
BILL MARTIN, _A neighbor, also on strike_.
MRS. MARTIN, _His wife_.

The Striker

_Scene--A dining room in a workman's home. Plain but scrupulously neat and clean. Door L leads to kitchen. Door R leads to front door. Mrs. Quinn is seated at centre table darning socks and talking to her neighbor, Mrs. Martin._

MRS. MARTIN--(_Dropping a few pennies into a purse, and shutting it with a snap._) Seven weeks, and not one cent coming in. I don't know how we'll live, if it keeps up much longer.

MRS. QUINN--A strike's a bitter thing Mrs. Martin, and no one knowin' how it will end.

MRS. MARTIN--Why can't they talk it out? It seems to me if the motormen and conductors sent a committee to the company, they might arrive at an understanding.

MRS. QUINN--But the company don't take stock in the Union, and a committee of men would be a Union committee, or nothin'.

MRS. MARTIN--Let them arbitrate, I say, let them arbitrate.

MRS. QUINN--It's a nice soundin' word, is arbitrate, but no one wants to do it, save them as ain't interested. A man hits with his fist first, and arbitrates afterwards,--in the police court.

MRS. MARTIN--Men are queer creatures. There's my Bill, a more religious man never walked, if I do say it myself, and yet he's as bitter as poison against the company.

MRS. QUINN--Religion don't always kill bitterness--

MRS. MARTIN--This morning I wakened up before five o'clock, and he wasn't in bed. I went down stairs to see what had happened, and found him sneaking in the back gate like a thief. Heaven only knows what he was doing outside at that time in the morning. Mischief, I'll bet.

MRS. QUINN--Aye, it was mischief, and my old man in it too. I got it out of John when he came back. They had been out before the dawn, pryin' up trolley tracks with a crow-bar.

MRS MARTIN--A fine mess if they'd been caught.

MRS. QUINN--Locked up, that's what would have happened, nice pair of old fools that they are!

MRS. MARTIN--It must be devilish though, to have strike breakers come in and run the cars, while the men are sticking out for a principle.

MRS. QUINN--A principle's a fine excuse now and then, for a bunch of men to fight behind.

MRS. MARTIN--But this is a principle worth fighting for.

MRS. QUINN--Maybe it is.

MRS. MARTIN--I wish you'd go to the lectures at the Lyceum with me. You'd understand things better. My, I miss your Molly. We heard so many wonderful men talk, and she was so quick getting their ideas, it was just great to be with her.

MRS. QUINN--Well, you know, she'd _tell_ me about them when she got home. I remember that first man who talked of the virtue of humility and self-sacrifice. Molly was that full of onselfishness after hearin' him, that she almost gave her job to Jennie Tubbs, thinkin' _she_ needed the money more than we did.

MRS. MARTIN--That was Prof. William Mason. He was a noble character.

MRS. QUINN--Aye, but he didn't last. He was followed by the moral uplifter one. Sure, we lived on pins and needles then! After him we had a course in sanitation, and pure food, and how to feed a fam'ly of six on $4.00 a week. Oh, them last was wonderful fairy tales. The meals that woman could manufacture out of an old ham bone! It was past belief.

MRS. MARTIN--I tried a few of her receipts, but Bill wouldn't eat the things I made. He said he wasn't a horse yet.

MRS. QUINN--Aw, she was a joker, I'm thinkin', put in the pack to lighten the others up a bit. Lectures is an easy way of gettin' scraps of learnin', but it's done neither of ye lastin' hurt that I can see.

MRS. MARTIN--I heard the walking delegate talk this afternoon. The men got pretty excited listening to him. He told them their rights, and it'll be a wonder to me, if they don't do a good bit of damage to the Company's property before this thing ends.

MRS. QUINN--The walkin' delegate's a smart lad, from all I hear.

MRS. MARTIN--He's smart enough to get paid for the work he does.

MRS. QUINN--He gets paid for startin' strikes, is it?

MRS. MARTIN--He goes all over the country telling the men when to strike, and what to strike for. He gets paid for that.

MRS. QUINN--But the men don't get paid for strikin'.

MRS. MARTIN--That's a silly idea, Mrs. Quinn.

MRS. QUINN--You can have it for what it's worth. Molly used to say I had more ideas than a dog has fleas, but I fancy she was just slatherin' me over with the blarney.

MRS. MARTIN--Well, I believe the walking delegate's right. The men must fight this out to a finish.

MRS. QUINN--It's likely to be our finish, alright, alright.

MRS. MARTIN--(_Unconsciously imitating the delegate._) It's not only for ourselves, but for our children that the war must be waged.

MRS. QUINN--Our children! Sure, it shouldn't be a bequeathment job, this trolley business.

MRS. MARTIN--He says our children will be saved a fight for their rights, if we conquer now.

MRS. QUINN--Whist darlin', our children will have their own notion of rights and fights by the time they grow up. They can blow on their own broth when it bubbles over.

MRS. MARTIN--But the noble way is to consider the ones who come after us.

MRS. QUINN--Maybe that's so, me dear Mrs. Martin, but I'm after lookin' out for the man of to-day. The better off we are, the better off our kids'll be.

MRS. MARTIN--The walking delegate says that's a very selfish way of looking at it.

MRS. QUINN--The walkin' delegate's got the fine words in his mouth.

(_Silence._)

MRS. MARTIN--Have you heard from Molly lately?

MRS. QUINN--Poor darlin', I got a letter from her this mornin'. She's comin' home.

MRS. MARTIN--Does Mr. Quinn know?

MRS. QUINN--I'll have it out with him to-night.

MRS. MARTIN--He's a pretty stubborn man.

MRS. QUINN--I'll bring him around, never fear.

MRS. MARTIN--I think you're a wonderful woman, the way you manage him, Mrs. Quinn.

MRS. QUINN--Sure it's just me knowledge of that, keeps me goin'. When I lose conceit of meself, I'll be fit for no place but--Heaven.

MRS. MARTIN--(_Listens, with finger uplifted._) Sh! That's Bill slamming the back gate. I'll go put the kettle on. A cup of hot tea soon takes all the ugly kinks out of him.

MRS. QUINN--It's an upliftin' beverage, is tea. It does miracles for my old man, when he has his back up.

MRS. MARTIN--(_Going to door L. then hesitating._) I'm not a specially religious woman, Mrs. Quinn, and I've never heard you say much about it, but I think now that everything else has failed and the strike seems no nearer an end, we might as well take it to God in prayer. As Bill says, we've tried every other way.

MRS. QUINN--(_Slowly._) Well, I guess Gawd's used to bein' the last on the list, so I'll join ye in yer prayers, Mrs. Martin. Good-night to ye.

(_Exit Mrs Martin door L._)

(_Mrs. Quinn pulls down the blind and fusses about the room. There is a sharp bang on the front door. She leaves room R. and returns with the evening paper. Looks out the window again, raising the blind ever so little, then sits at table, and opens the paper._)

MRS. QUINN--(_Reads--then._) Nothin' but strike, strike, strike, wherever ye look. A few cents an hour more, a few hours a week less, what a little to fight for, and yet they won't get it, they won't get it.

(_Quinn enters door L. Hangs hat and coat on rack near kitchen door. Sits in chair at side of table, and is noticeably nervous._)

QUINN--(_After a pause, during which they both steal furtive glances at one another._) Well?

MRS. QUINN--I see yer home again. Anything doin'?

QUINN--Nothin'.

MRS. QUINN--(_Tartly._) Well, it's a fine husky way for a man to be makin' a livin' for his wife, throwin' up his good job as a motorman, and walkin' the streets.

QUINN--(_Moodily._) Good job,--hell!

MRS. QUINN--I don't see what way ye'll pay for shoe leather, if ye don't get some money soon.

QUINN--We'll live. The Union won't see us go under for the lack of a dollar or two.

MRS. QUINN--I don't like livin' on the Union.

QUINN--We ain't beggars yet.

MRS. QUINN--We're not far from it, Gawd knows.

(_Picks up paper, and again reads. A pause._)

QUINN--(_Irritably._) Can't ye stop rattlin' that paper?

(_Mrs. Quinn glances at him casually, and calmly proceeds with her reading. It is the sort of calm that arouses temper in a jumpy person._)

QUINN--(_Springing up._) Stop that infernal noise! Seems like a man might have peace in his own house. Here I am walkin' the streets all day, with me legs and head that tired I'm ready to drop, and when I get home at night, a clatter that would wake the dead, in me ears.

MRS. QUINN--Yer blood may be Irish, John Quinn, but yer nerves are American.... I never saw such a changed man in me life. It's bad enough to have ye walk out on strike--

QUINN--Now see here, I didn't walk out on strike, and ye know it. I'd be workin' yet if the Union hadn't told us to lay off until we got our rights.

MRS. QUINN--Ye'll rot before ye get yer rights, I'm thinkin'.

QUINN--Maybe, maybe so.

(_Silence again._)

MRS. QUINN--(_Putting down paper._) I see the walking delegate discussed the strike at an elegant banquet at the Hotel Hoffman last night. Ye know, _he_ don't seem to suffer no privation. Mrs. Martin says he gets a princely wage for orderin' strikes all over the country. No wonder he's in earnest about his job.

QUINN--Some one has to lead the men.

MRS. QUINN--I fancy he wouldn't lead far, if his wage stopped.

QUINN--(_Shortly._) Aw, don't be a fool.

(_Silence again. Quinn moves uneasily in his chair._)

MRS. QUINN--What's on yer mind? Can't ye sit still?

QUINN--What should be on me mind?

MRS. QUINN--I haven't lived with ye five and twenty years without knowin' when ye've done somethin' ye're ashamed of.

QUINN--I've done nothin' I'm ashamed of.

MRS. QUINN--Out with it.

QUINN--(_After a slight hesitation._) I walked down town to-night to see the sights. Bill Martin went with me.

MRS. QUINN--(_Content to get her knowledge by Quinn's roundabout way of telling it._) Were the streets crowded?

QUINN--Nothin' like they are up here.... D'ye know they have the State Constabulary on the Avenue now?

MRS. QUINN--I saw them this mornin'. Big hulkin' brutes they are, chargin' into groups of women and children like as if they were offenders agin the law.

QUINN--It's makin' the men see red.

MRS. QUINN--If the men are wise, they'll give them a wide berth, and not start any ructions, or they'll get smashed heads for their pains.

QUINN--Well, we can smash heads, too.

MRS. QUINN--And be put in the lock-up for it.

QUINN--Am I in the lock-up?

MRS. QUINN--(_Quickly._) Whose head have _you_ smashed John?

QUINN--To-night while we stood at the corner of Fourth and Marion, a trolley came along with passengers in it, a woman and two men.

MRS. QUINN--John, ye didn't--

QUINN--The dirty scab who ran the car must have come from New York with that last bunch of strike breakers.

MRS. QUINN--What did ye do?

QUINN--(_Defiantly._) I picked up a brick, and let it fly through the window. Maybe the company can starve us, but we'll teach the public it's a damned unsafe thing to ride in the cars, while we're bein' starved.

MRS. QUINN--Did ye do any hurt?

QUINN--Well, I guess I damaged the woman's arm, if ye want to know. She let out a yell ye could hear a mile, and flopped over. Then I took to me heels.

MRS. QUINN--(_In a rage._) Ye fool, have ye quite quit yer senses? Ye'll be caught and locked up fer this.

QUINN--(_Glad that he has gotten the story out._) Not much.

MRS. QUINN--Yer temper'll do fer ye, one of these days, me man. I suppose that's what ye call seem' red? Seein' red! Gawd'll get ye by the scruff of the neck when yer not lookin', and shake the ugly devil of a temper out of ye. Ye'll face the consequence for it, sooner or later.

QUINN--Aw, stop yer blather, and get me a cup of tea.

MRS. QUINN--Tea! I'm tempted to put a pink bean in it, and make ye croak before the gallows gets ye, ye ruffian.

(_There is a knock at the front door. Mrs. Quinn exits R. and returns with the Martins._)

QUINN--Hello Martin, what's up now?

MARTIN--Have ye seen the papers?

QUINN--No.

MARTIN--It's in them already.

QUINN--What's in them?

MARTIN--Listen, (_reads_) "Just at dusk this evening a mob of strikers attacked a west bound car at Fourth and Marion Streets, and did considerable damage to the car and occupants. The only woman passenger was seriously injured in the right hand and arm, and was taken to the Lester Hospital, where"--

QUINN--(_Interrupting._) Do they know who done it?

MARTIN--(_Reads._) "No clue to the man has been found, but Chief of Police"--

QUINN--(_Shortly._) Aw, cut it, Martin. They'll never find the man who did it, unless your tongue wags. I'd like to break the arms of ev'ry one who runs or rides in the cars till we win our fight.

MARTIN--(_Somberly._) Maybe the only way _is_ to do a little damage, break a few bones, show them we've got some spunk ... and yet it is written if a man smite thee on the right cheek--

Mrs. QUINN--I thought the plan this time was to keep the confidence of the people?

QUINN--We've tried that for seven weeks, and it's taken us nowheres.

MRS. MARTIN--We've tried most everything I guess, but prayer. Maybe we'd do more if we prayed over it.

QUINN--(_Slowly._) Do ye say pray over it?

MARTIN--(_Diffidently._) If we could all get together on it. I know it's hard to talk religion to the boys, they all think different about it. It takes some courage for a man to come out and say he's a Christian, but I'm willing to do it. Think--if all the men and women and children would pray for a settlement, it would have some weight with the Lord.

MRS. MARTIN--(_Eagerly._) He'd give an answer, I know. I heard a minister say once, if we'd ask for _anything_ with all our hearts and souls the Lord wouldn't deny us.

MRS. QUINN--What a mix-up we'd have then!

QUINN--Well, I've not much use for prayers when there's a fight on--but if ye--

MRS. QUINN--Ye know, I had a mad sort of a dream tother night.

QUINN--(_Impatiently._) Whist woman, with yer dreams!

MRS. QUINN--(_Undeterred._) I dreamed I was after havin' a nice easy talk with Gawd, and he sez to me, "Mary Ann Quinn, I want ye to sit up here with me in Heaven on me right hand side. For sure," sez he, pleasant like, "_you've_ never pestered me with requests since ye've been a woman grown." "Well Gawd," sez I, "I've been that mortal busy tendin' to the bodily comforts of me man John, and me daughter Molly, that I've had me mind fair occupied, and I apologize for not comin' to ye oftener." "Oh, Mary Ann," sez he, "can't ye see I like it? I'm fair sick of havin' to stand sponsor for all the mistakes of me numberless Christian children. They go along in their headstrong ways doin' the things they _want_ to do, right or wrong, and when they run amuck, they up and come to _me_ with prayers and supplications, cryin' and pleadin' for help, when a slight use of their own wits and decency and common sense would have kept them from difficulties in the first place."

"Oh, Gawd," begins I, but he smiles at me and sez he, "get up wid ye on me right hand side, and keep that grin on yer face Mary Ann Quinn, while I tend to me regular customers."

QUINN--(_Shocked._) I can't help ye bein' heathenish in yer views, but I'll not have ye outspoken voicin' them.

MARTIN--(_Puzzled._) It was a very odd dream to have.

MRS. MARTIN--It certainly was.

MRS. QUINN--The meanin' of it's mortal clear, I'm thinkin'. But, that's not gettin' the tea, is it?

(_Exit to kitchen L._)

QUINN--Martin, I don't know about yer prayers, but fer meself I'm in this fight till the finish, and man nor devil'll make me yield an inch.

MARTIN--Then I'm with you, Quinn. (_To Mrs. Martin, who goes to him protestingly._) No, Bessie, its no use. We can _pray_ after we've won.

(_Molly enters door R. She is in hat and coat, and carries a muff._)

MRS. MARTIN--Molly!

(_Molly does not answer, but stands and looks at Quinn._)

MARTIN--(_Taking Mrs Martin by the arm, and going to door R._) I guess you'd rather be alone with her.

(_Exeunt Martins door R._)

MOLLY--Father.

(_Quinn rises and looks at her, but does not speak._)

MOLLY--Father.

QUINN--(_Slowly._) Two years ago when you married that damned fiddler, I told ye never to come here again.

MOLLY--Father.

QUINN--(_Sternly._) I meant it then, and I mean it now. Get out!

MOLLY--Won't you let me speak to you?

QUINN--There's nothin' you can say to me, I gave you yer choice of us long ago, and ye stuck to him. Stick to him now, I don't want ye.

MRS. QUINN--(_Enters door L with tea things._) Molly, my dear little Molly.

MOLLY--Mother!

MRS. QUINN--(_Ignoring Quinn._) Sit down now, and I'll give ye a dish of tea.

QUINN--She'll not sit down in this house.

MRS. QUINN--(_Easily, tho her heart is beating rapidly._) Will she not? Here, take off yer hat and coat, and drink this while it's hot. I'll bring another cup for yer father.

(_Exit to kitchen. Molly remains standing, and faces her father. She makes no attempt to remove her wraps._)

MOLLY--Won't you let me come back to you and mother? Won't you forgive me?

QUINN--(_Slowly._) Why are ye so eager to be back?

MOLLY--I need you and mother, now I'm alone.

QUINN--(_Quickly._) Alone? He's left ye, has he?

(_Molly unable to answer for her tears, nods head._)

QUINN--The things I told you about him were true then? He was no fit man to marry a decent girl!

MOLLY--Father, father, don't say that!

(_Mrs. Quinn enters._)

QUINN--(_Working himself into a rage._) The fine gentleman has left Molly. All his grand love makin' to end in two years, tho Gawd knows I didn't expect it to last that long. (_To Molly._) Why hadn't ye sense enough not to be gulled by him? Didn't I tell ye, he was a rogue and a scoundrel? Chucked aside for another woman, I suppose ye were! Left ye, left ye--

MRS. QUINN--Ye blunderin' idiot, last Tuesday the boy died.

QUINN--(_Helplessly._) Died? I--I thought--(_to Molly._) Sit down--drink the tea.... Is--is there an egg for her?

MRS. QUINN--There's no eggs here. The hens went on strike with the trolley men. Let me help you off with yer coat, Molly. What have ye done to yer arm? What's that bandage on yer arm for?

MOLLY--You remember, I told you in my last letter, mother--

QUINN--(_Sourly._) So ye've been writin', hev ye?

MRS. QUINN--D'ye think a mother will let her only child slip easily out of her heart and life?

MOLLY--(_Pleading._) Mother, father!

QUINN--(_With poor grace._) Aw, well, let it go.

MOLLY--(_Sitting at back of table, Quinn and Mrs. Quinn at either side._) When I settled up everything, after--after his death, I planned to go back to my old job. I went to the office and saw Mr. Bowen, and he said the place was still open for me.

MRS. QUINN--(_Admiringly._) I don't wonder he's glad to get ye back. There ain't many stenographers clever as you are Molly.

QUINN--Be quiet mother, and let the girl talk.

MOLLY--I knew if I could work, and bring good wages into the house, father could afford to stay out on strike until the men had won.

QUINN--Molly!

MOLLY--I _did_ plan for that father, I did plan for that, and now--

MRS. QUINN--Well, go on, go on.

MOLLY--To-night at the Lester Hospital when they fixed my arm, the doctor said I couldn't use it before a month.

MRS. QUINN--What happened to it? How did ye hurt it?

MOLLY--I did the wrong thing, and I guess I deserve what I got, but I was dog tired and the walk here is endless. I took a car at the ferry, everything went all right till we got to Fourth and Marion Streets--

QUINN--(_Startled._) Fourth and Marion!

MOLLY--There was a crowd of strikers there, and one of them threw a brick into the car, and it struck my arm at the elbow. Crushed it pretty badly, I guess.

QUINN--My Gawd!

MOLLY--(_Misunderstanding his emotion._) I'm not going to live on you, father. I know you and mother are hard enough pushed as it is.

MRS. QUINN--What's ours is yours now. Ye'll stay here with us.

QUINN--(_Dazed._) I wonder can I get a job at Newton's? They needed men last week.

MOLLY--Father, he ... left insurance, and we can use that until you start again, or until I'm able to go back to the office.

QUINN--The strike's a mistake, I'm thinkin'. I'll go to the barn to-morrow and take me car out, if the boys kill me for it.

MRS. QUINN--(_Quickly, and unconsciously imitating Mrs. Martin's imitation of the walking delegate._) Ye'll do no such thing. The strike's on till it's settled. Yer fightin' fer a principle, and ye'll not give in till ye win. This is not a war for us only, but for our children. _They'll_ be saved a fight fer their rights if we conquer now. We'll go at the company in the way that that walking delegate says. (_As she becomes conscious she is quoting the quoted delegate._) The walking delegate? Well, he's alright, we'll do things his way, and we'll win.

MOLLY--Of course we'll win. Public sympathy is with the men this time.

QUINN--Well, it won't be fer long, if the men see red, and go about bustin' up perfectly good arms of innocent bystanders. Me mind's made up, violence must stop.

MRS. QUINN--And mine's made up too, the strike must be won.

(_Quinn goes to wail rack, and takes down hat and coat._)

What are ye doin' with yer coat?

QUINN--I'll go and have a talk with the boys. I've some power with them. Violence must stop. I'll try to make them listen to reason, and if they won't, I guess I'm good for a job at Newton's.

(_As he leaves room he is heard muttering._) Violence must stop!

MOLLY--I never knew father so set against a fight. What's he want to work in a coal yard for?

MRS. QUINN--Never fear, he won't work in a coal yard. Ye see Molly he's awful mad at the man who smashed yer arm. It makes him wild to think a fellow is free to go about harmin' innocent people, just because he thinks he sees red.

MOLLY--I hope he never finds the man.

MRS. QUINN--D'ye know, I think he has a hunch who did it. Oh, he won't hurt him! Father's been gettin' close to some hard home facts this day, and a good walk in the fresh night air will help him to digest them.

(_As curtain descends._) I'm so sorry about yer poor arm. Tell me, does it hurt you much?--etc.

_CURTAIN_

MURDERING SELINA

CAST

KING, _Editor of the Gazette_.
BART, _A Reporter_.
AN OFFICER.
A BOY.
A GENTLEMAN.
SELINA.
MISS BROWN.

TIME--_The Present._

PLACE--_A Little Cafe in the Park, Managed by Miss Brown._

Murdering Selina

_Scene--Interior of a frame restaurant in the park. At the left side, running almost the entire width of the room, is the counter at which one may buy soft-drinks, peanuts, pop-corn, newspapers, etc. A talking machine and telephone are on counter. Against the wall, at centre back, is a screen, behind it is a door to another room. At the right side, back, a table and couple of chairs. Small table and two chairs near front of stage, left. When curtain rises, Miss Brown and The Boy are discovered. Miss Brown is a red haired, good-hearted, sharp tongued old maid of uncertain years; positive in her opinions, quick in bodily action--giving one the impression of great nervous energy. The Boy is the typical roguish, rather fresh, "newsy" of fifteen, or thereabout._

_A fox trot is being played on the victrola, and The Boy is teaching the steps to Miss Brown, whom he is pulling around with spirited good-nature._

BOY--(_In time with music._) _Slow, slow, slow, slow, now fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fastie, fastie, fast._

MISS BROWN--Oh, wait until I get me breath.

BOY--You gotta dance without it, see?

MISS BROWN--How can I dance with me wind all gone? Let go of me while I rest.

BOY--Aw, come on, and be a sport. All the girls is doin' the fox trot.

MISS BROWN--(_Pathetically._) My heavens, I ain't no girl.

BOY--Yer learnin' it fine. I bet if ye had a couple lessons ye'd put it all over that bunch at the pavilion.

MISS BROWN--(_Trying to stop._) Let go of me, will you?

BOY--_Slow, slow, slow_,--

MISS BROWN--Ye young snipe, can't ye see I'm ready to drop?

BOY--Aw, stop coddlin' yerself! Yer good for a mile yet.

MISS BROWN--(_Pulling herself free._) You run and get the papers. It's almost dark, and there ain't one here yet.

BOY--(_At victrola._) Well, I'm goin,' ain't I?

MISS BROWN--(_Out of breath._) Quit foolin' with that machine, and go get yer papers.

BOY--I won't be three minutes, and then we can try it again.

MISS BROWN--I think I've had enough. It ain't no game for an old hen.

(_Boy puts on sweater and cap._)

MISS BROWN--Is it four slow, and four fast?

BOY--No, that ain't right. Four slow, eight fast, then two turnin' steps. See? (_Shows steps, then exits._)

MISS BROWN--(_Meditatively._) If I get goin' I suppose I'll be dotty, like the rest. This dance craze is certainly worse than hittin' up the booze. They say that Lizzie Smith, the hussy, roped that poor misguided Jones boy into marrying her with her dancing, though heaven knows I never saw nothin' in her grace or beauty. Oh, for ten years of my misspent youth. If I'd only learned the blamed thing before I lost my figure! (_Puts record on machine, and dances hesitatingly, counting "one, two, three, four," etc. Bart, much dishevelled rushes into room. He is well dressed, but mussy looking, as if he had slept on a park bench for a night or two, and had not had recent acquaintance with hair or clothes brush. He bumps against the peanuts on the edge of the counter, and scatters them all over the floor._)

MISS BROWN--Can't ye see where yer goin'?

BART--(_Fumbling in pocket._) Here. Sorry.

MISS BROWN--A dollar! Ye never can tell a millionaire by looks these days.

BART--(_Sinking into chair._) Am I doomed to blight everything I touch?

MISS BROWN--Are ye sick, mister? Can I help ye?

BART--Get out, get out, let me alone, and stop that machine!

MISS BROWN--(_Commiseratingly._) Poor fellow! (_Stops machine._) He's got the Willies.

BART--Don't talk to me, for Heaven's sake; I can't stand it!

MISS BROWN--(_Sarcastically._) Oh, I was just communin' with me other nuts.

(_She stoops to gather up the peanuts, but catches a glimpse of Bart's side face, and sits on floor, looking at him intently._)

To think of that profile bein' wasted on a man! It's terrible the way good looks is chucked around where they ain't needed!

(_Boy enters with an armful of newspapers. King is close behind him. Bart rushes to King, knocking against the Boy as he does so, and sending the papers flying._)

BOY--Ye big stiff, what ye doin'?

BART--King, I thought you'd never come!

BOY--Look at me papers, will ye?

BART--(_Impatiently._) Oh, shut up!

(_Boy, grumbling and muttering to himself, helps Miss Brown pick up the peanuts and papers._)

KING--(_With great displeasure._) This is a nice out of the way place to bring a man to. What's wrong with you anyway? Drunk?

BART--(_Grimly._) I haven't been sober for three days.

KING--Don't boast about it.

BART--Boast, good heavens!

KING--What do you think a newspaper is, a day nursery? Here's Billy Sunday in town, the war, the Mexican situation, everything at boiling point; the Gazette short of men, and you off on a three days' jag! I've a good mind to fire you.

BART--(_Miserably._) I'm up against it, King, don't rub it in. I don't know which way to turn.

BOY--(_To Miss Brown, as they seat themselves behind counter._) I wish those ginks would clear out, so we could trot again.

MISS BROWN--They'll beat it to a free lunch counter soon.

(_She gets the Boy to hold a skein of worsted, which she unwinds and rolls into a ball. During the conversation between Bart and King, Miss Brown and the Boy now and then glance at them with a show of irritation, Miss Brown because they are not buying any of her wares, and also because she cannot hear enough of their talk to make sense of it._)

KING--What have you done, a second story job?

BART--(_With much humility, and some pride._) I've broken a girl's heart.

KING--(_Utterly disgusted._) Oh, hell!

BART--I tell you, I've broken a girl's heart, and ruined her life.

KING--Rubbish! Sober up, and go back to work.

BART--I can't. She has threatened to do something desperate. There will be a scandal.

KING--Forget it!

BART--I wish I could, but suppose she shoots herself, or takes poison?

KING--That sounds pleasant.

BART--I didn't know she loved me, I protest I didn't.

KING--Cut out the heroics.

BART--She's mad about me, and I didn't understand till too late.

KING--(_Firmly._) Too late! You scuttle back to town, get a license, and marry her.

BART--I came to the city to earn money to marry a girl back home, and I'll marry her, or no one.

KING--Winning a girl's love, and throwing her over, is cheap sport. I'm disappointed in you, Bart. I didn't know you were that kind of a chap.

BART--I'm not that kind. It's all a horrible mistake. She misunderstood my--my attentions. I was just nice and friendly to her, and she, well she--

KING--That's right, put the blame on her.

BART--(_Hotly._) Well, I'm not going to blame myself. If women see fit to fall in love with me, it's not my fault.

KING--You conceited pup!

BART--I don't care. I've suffered enough these last three days, and I've just about gone to pieces. It's not my fault, I don't care what you say, it's not my fault.

KING--Every cad says it's not his fault.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy._) What in the name of common sense are they gassin' about?

BOY--Aw, they're holdin' hands, I guess.

BART--(_To King._) I asked you here for advice, not abuse.

KING--(_Shortly._) You have my advice, marry her.

BART--And I tell you I won't. I don't love her, and I do love Lucy.

KING--Lucy. The girl up home, I suppose?

BART--Yes.

KING--What will she think of this mess?

BART--She need never know that Selina existed.

KING--(_Starting._) Selina!

BART--That's her name.

KING--Selina, what a coincidence!

BART--I thought you'd understand, and help me out.

KING--Tell me, I'll try to understand.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy._) My Gawd, ain't they never goin'?

BOY--Talk about yer cheap skates!

BART--(_To King._) I've been kind of lonely down here in the city, and she was a regular oasis in the desert. I took her to a good many first nights, and the opera pretty nearly every week, and she--

KING--(_Gently ironical._) Gazette passes, I presume?

BART--You don't think I could pay for them out of my salary, do you? I've not had a cent from father since I left home.... She always gets herself up well, and wears good-looking clothes, and I felt proud to take her around. Besides, she's older than I am, and I thought I was safe.

KING--I had no idea you were so irresistible.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy._) It's time to give them the acid test. (_She turns a sign advertising Coca Cola, with its face to the wall. On the back is printed in large letters, "This ain't no free rest room. Buy something, or get out." King turns around, glances at the sign casually, then gives his attention to Bart._)

BOY--Hully gee! The big boob can't read!

MISS BROWN--What's a poor girl to do now?

BART--(_To King._) Why, I never even kissed her, although once or twice, I think she wanted me to.

KING--With such a platonic background, how did you manage to break her heart?

BART--That's the queer part. Tuesday night after Tosca, we had a little supper at her apartments. We were talking about friendship, and I told her what a bully little pal she had been, and how I'd miss our good times when I went home and married Lucy.

KING--You mentioned Lucy?

BART--Why shouldn't I?

KING--_I_ should call it a strategic error.

BART--I suppose it was a mistake.

KING--It's rank idiocy, my boy, to tell one woman you love another.

BART--It seemed to break her all up. She declared I'd led her to believe I was going to marry _her_, that she had given her heart unreservedly to me--

KING--(_Quickly._) She had "given her heart unreservedly to you?" Did she use those words?

BART--I'm not apt to forget them, especially as she repeated everything half a dozen times. She made me feel as if I'd deserted her at the altar. I tell you, I never went through such an awful hour in my life.

KING--Didn't you explain to her?

BART--Explain to a weeping woman? She was lost in an ocean of tears, I'd have had to use a foghorn. I got so rattled I began to cry myself. Then she flung herself in my arms, and said if I jilted her (jilted her, mind you!) she'd blow her brains out. And she'll do it, too, she'll do it. That's what I'm afraid of. If Selina kills herself for love of me, it's all up with Lucy; she'll never marry me.

KING--Does anyone know of this scene?

BART--Her maid came in while she was sobbing in my arms. I tried to shake her off, but she clung like a leech.

KING--Her maid, that's bad.

BART--(_Moodily._) I know it's bad.

KING--Are you sure you never made her think you loved her?

BART--I protest on my word of honor, I never even hinted at love.

BOY--(_To Miss Brown, as he yawns over newspaper._) There's nothin' worth readin' except this blame suicide.

MISS BROWN--(_Looking up from her newspaper._) It certainly gets my goat the way some fool women go dippy over men.

(_King glances at Miss Brown suddenly, as she raises her voice during her last remark, then turns to Bart._)

KING--Have you seen the papers?

BART--I've been afraid to look at them for fear of reading something about her.

KING--(_Turning to counter._) Bring me a Gazette, boy. (_Hands coin._) No change. Go along.

BOY--(_Impudently._) The woods is full of 'em.

KING--(_Looking at paper._) I guess you're in for it, Bart.

BART--(_In a stifled voice._) What--what is it?

KING--This suicide. I never connected it with you. The body of an unknown woman was found at the Riverton dam this afternoon. She was about thirty-eight years old, five feet five, had light brown hair--does that fit your Selina?

BART--I don't think Selina was more than five feet three or four, and she can't be thirty. She told me herself she was only twenty-six. (_Puts out a shaking hand for the paper._) Let me see.

KING--(_Holding paper._) The newspaper description may not be accurate Bart, but all her underclothing was marked with initials. That is the clue the police are working on.

(_Hands paper to Bart, pointing out the place._)

MISS BROWN--(_Reading her newspaper._) Poor soft soul, it's certainly awful.

BART--(_Clutching his head._) Great heavens! She left a note. "I did it for love, _he_ will understand. S. W." She's dead, she's dead, there's blood on my hands.

KING--Pull yourself together. Don't make a scene here.

BART--I've killed her just as surely as if I'd thrown her into the water myself. I'm a murderer, that's what I am. I've murdered Selina!

KING--Sit down, and listen to me.

BART--Murderer, Selina's murderer!

KING--Sit down! We must work this out together quietly.

BART--(_Bitterly._) Be quiet with a murder on my conscience.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy, folding up her newspaper._) Well I ain't seen the man, I'd kill myself for.

KING--(_To Bart._) I'm going to tell you something no one in all the world knows except me, and a poor heart broken old woman in New Hampshire.

BART--Don't talk to me. I'm a murderer.

KING--(_Whispering._) So am I!

BART--(_Jumping._) What!

KING--That's what I want to tell you about.

BART--You too!

KING--Eight years ago, I trifled with a woman, just as you have done. I was more to blame than you, for I made her think I loved her. She loved _me_, there was no doubt about that, but I thought she was after my money, and that of course, ended everything. I quarrelled with her, and went about my business. She left the city. A month later I received a letter from her mother. She told me her daughter had died in her arms of a broken heart. Her last words were, "I have given my heart unreservedly to him." My name was the last she ever breathed. And the poor old lady was left alone and penniless. I would have gone to her at once, but she could not bear the shock of seeing her daughter's murderer.

BART--What a coincidence!

KING--It does not end there, for she was called Selina!

BART--(_Amazed._) Selina!

KING--A tragic coincidence.

BART--Both of us murderers!

KING--Murderers, yes, we have murdered our Selinas.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy._) Merciful heavens, they've killed someone! (_Takes down telephone, and calls._) Main 674 ... 674 I said. Say operator, you get me Main 674 will ye? Oh, stop polishing yer nails, you ain't no society dame.... Is this 674? Send a cop quick to Miss Brown's restaurant. Someone's been murdered, and the men who done it ... here in my restaurant. I ain't stringin' ye ... right away. I don't like bein' alone with them. (_Hangs receiver up, and watches Bart and King closely._)

BART--(_To King._) What did you do?

KING--What could I do? From the day of her death until now, I've kept her mother. It's the only reparation I can make, and I have done it for eight years.

BART--(_Tragically._) My Selina was alone in the world. With her death I have blotted out an entire family.

KING--(_Humbly._) We possibly can't help being handsome and fascinating, Bart.

BART--But we must learn to be careful with women, and not lead them on.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy._) Now you sit tight, and if they come over here, brain them with a soda water bottle.... (_Looks out of doorway._)

BOY--(_Dancing with excitement and pleasure._) Ain't this some picnic!

KING--(_To Bart._) I have never dared look at a woman since then.

BART--I can't imagine Lucy killing herself for me. She will never love me as Selina did.

KING--(_Sighing._) Selina.

BART--Mine?

KING--Mine.

(_Enter a plain clothes Officer, and a Policeman, breathlessly._)

OFFICER--(_To Miss Brown._) Now, which one of them done it?

MISS BROWN--It's that young one, I think. You could spot his ugly mug for a crook anywhere.

(_Officer goes up to King, and turns him around suddenly, while the Policeman does the same to Bart._)

KING--What do you want?

OFFICER--(_Slipping handcuffs on._) Come along peaceful.

(_Policeman handcuffs Bart._)

BART--Stop that! What are you doing?

OFFICER--Keepin' you safe. The lady just phoned to headquarters what you've been doin'.

BART--(_Angrily, to Miss Brown._) I gave you a dollar, what more do you want?

OFFICER--Hush money won't go, boss.

KING--Take these things off, or I'll brain you.

(_The Boy dances around the stage in glee, getting into everyone's way._)

BOY--Keep the nippers on 'em, Casey, or they'll muss up the shop!

OFFICER--I'm running no risks with murderers.

BART AND KING--Murderers! (_they collapse. King drops his cane, and Miss Brown makes a dive for it, and shakes it at him._)

MISS BROWN--I heard ye, ye bloodthirsty thug.

KING--(_To Officer._) Now see here, don't be a fool. I'm George King, editor of the Gazette--

OFFICER--Can it, boss, everything you say will be used against you at the trial.

BART--(_Despairingly._) It only needed this!

KING--Is Lieut. Mason in the guard house?

OFFICER--Maybe he is, maybe he ain't. I ain't sayin'.

KING--Take us to him at once. He'll identify us. You can't run men in like this, on a pink headed old maid's say so. Where's your warrant?

OFFICER--The warrant's comin'. We hadn't time to wait for it, while you skinned out.

KING--Take us to Lieut. Mason at once.

OFFICER--Well, come along, and none of your funny tricks, or I'll wing you.

(_Takes out revolver._) You too, Miss Brown, the chief'll want your testimony.

MISS BROWN--(_To Boy._) Watch the Cafe, while I'm gone, and don't you give nobody nothin'.

(_Exeunt Bart, King, Miss Brown, Officer and Policeman. Boy puts record on machine, and before starting it, says, "Gee, life's great!" then dances to the music, stopping when Selina and Gentleman, in evening attire, appear at the door._)

GENTLEMAN--It's too bad the tire's punctured.

SELINA--(_Graciously._) I really don't mind it in the least.

GENTLEMAN--Really?

SELINA--Really.

GENTLEMAN--A car's such a rotten nuisance. Always something wrong with it; much rather ride in a hack.

SELINA--(_Coquettishly._) Even a hack would have no terrors with you, though I confess, I prefer the machine.

GENTLEMAN--We'll be late for dinner, too. It will take Thompson half an hour to put on that tire.

SELINA--Then let's sit here, look at the moon, and talk.

GENTLEMAN--About the moon?

SELINA--Oh dear no,--about you and me.

GENTLEMAN--About you, you're such a ripping sort. Maybe I can get something to drink while we wait.

SELINA--Do, I'm chilled to the bone.

GENTLEMAN--Boy, let us have two cups of fresh hot coffee.

BOY--You gotta wait.

GENTLEMAN--Wait, why?

BOY--The lady's out. I can't make cawfee. I'm just mindin' the shop.

GENTLEMAN--You get us something to drink.

BOY--Aw, this is a temperance joint.

(_Grins impudently at the Gentleman, who stares at him with great disdain for an instant, then turns to Selina._)

GENTLEMAN--Botheration! I suppose we might as well stay out of the cold until Thompson is ready.

SELINA--There's a draft along there. Don't sit too near the wall.

GENTLEMAN--I'll fix the draft with this screen. (_Places screen across one corner of room._) That will keep that fresh kid from seeing us, too.

SELINA--Why don't you want the boy to see? What are you going to do?

GENTLEMAN--Well, for one thing, kiss you, if I get the chance.

SELINA--(_Severely._) I think you are forgetting yourself.

GENTLEMAN--(_Confusedly._) I beg your pardon. My tongue slipped. I wanted to ask you to, to--I'll take a look at Thompson.

(_Exit Gentleman. Boy makes a smacking noise with his lips._)

BOY--Um, honey!

SELINA--(_Behind screen, exultingly._) It'll be easy enough to work him. He's ready to drop into my hand now, like a ripe plum. Lord, what fools men are!

(_Boy puts on record, and starts machine. Selina listens a moment, then picks up her skirt, and does a few steps behind screen. Bart and King enter._)

KING--Stop that infernal racket.

BOY--Big stiff. (_Does not stop machine._)

KING--Where's my cane?

BOY--You gotta wait till Miss Brown comes back.

KING--You get my cane.