SCENE 7

_Enter_ BAILIFF ADAM _and_ SECOND BAILIFF.

ADAM (_to_ ANTHONY).

Now you may go and pay your bet. _People in red coats with blue facings_ (_with emphasis_) would never come, into _your_ house! Eh? Well, here you have two of us. (_To_ SECOND BAILIFF.) Why don’t you keep your hat on, as I do? Who’s going to stand on ceremony, when he’s among his equals?

ANTHONY.

Equals, you cur?

ADAM.

You’re right, we’re not among equals. Knaves and thieves are not our equals! (_Pointing to the cupboard._) Open that! And then three paces back! Don’t juggle anything out of it.

ANTHONY.

What! What!

CLARA (_bringing cloth for dinner_).

Should I---- (_stops_).

ADAM (_showing a paper_).

Can you read writing?

ANTHONY.

How should I, when my schoolmaster couldn’t?

ADAM.

Well, listen! Your son has been stealing jewels. We’ve got the thief already. Now we are going to search the house.

MOTHER.

Jesus!--(_falls down; dies_).

CLARA.

Oh, mother, mother! Look at her eyes!

LEONARD.

I’ll fetch a doctor.

ANTHONY.

No need.--That’s the last face. I’ve seen it hundreds of times. Good-night, Teresa. You died when you heard it. That shall be put on your gravestone.

LEONARD.

Perhaps I’d better----(_going_). How awful! But it’s a good thing for me. (_Goes out._)

ANTHONY (_takes out his keys and throws them on the floor_).

There! Open up! Drawers and cupboards! Bring me an axe! I’ve lost the key of the chest. Oho! Knaves and thieves, eh! (_Pulls out his pockets._) I don’t find anything here!

SECOND BAILIFF.

Master Anthony, compose yourself! Everybody knows you’re the honestest man in the town.

ANTHONY.

Is that so? (_Laughing_). Yes, I’ve used up all the honesty there was in the family. Poor boy! There was none left for him. She, too--(_pointing to the dead body_)--was far too respectable. Who knows whether my daughter----(_Suddenly to_ CLARA.) What do you think, my innocent child?

CLARA.

Oh, father!

SECOND BAILIFF (_to_ ADAM).

Have you no sympathy?

ADAM.

Sympathy? Am I feeling in the old man’s pockets? Am I making him take his socks off and turn up his boots? I meant to begin with that, for I hate him, as I never hated, since that affair at the inn, when he----You know the story and you’d have been insulted too, if you’d any self-respect in you. (_To_ CLARA.) Where’s your brother’s room?

CLARA (_pointing_).

At the back. (BAILIFFS _go off_.) Father, he’s innocent! He must be! He’s your son, and he’s my brother!

ANTHONY.

Innocent, when he’s murdered his mother? (_Laughs_).

GIRL (_with letter to_ CLARA).

From Mr. Leonard. (_Goes out._)

ANTHONY.

You don’t need to read it. He’s deserted you. (_Claps his hands._) Bravo, you rascal!

CLARA (_after reading_).

My God, he has!

ANTHONY.

Never mind him.

CLARA.

But, father, I must!

ANTHONY.

Must! Must! What do you mean? Are you----(BAILIFFS _return_).

ADAM (_maliciously_).

Seek and ye shall find!

SECOND BAILIFF (_to_ ADAM).

What are you thinking about? Was it true, then?

ADAM.

Hold your jaw. (_Both go out._)

ANTHONY.

He’s innocent, and you, you----

CLARA.

Oh, father, you’re awful!

ANTHONY (_takes her by the hand, very gently_).

My daughter, Karl is a bungler after all. He killed his mother, but what of that? His father’s left alive. You help him out! You can’t expect him to do it all by himself. You finish _me_ off! The old tree looks pretty knotty yet, doesn’t it? But it’s shaking already. It won’t give you much trouble to fell it. You don’t need an axe. You’ve a pretty face. I’ve never praised you before, but let me tell you now, to give you courage and confidence. Your eyes and nose and mouth are sure to please; you turn into--you understand!--but it seems to me you’re that way already.

CLARA (_almost demented, flings herself with upraised arms at the dead woman’s feet, and calls out like a child_).

Oh, mother, mother!

ANTHONY.

Take the hand of the dead and swear to me that you are as you should be.

CLARA.

I--swear--that--I--will--never--bring--shame--upon--you.

ANTHONY.

Good. (_Puts his hat on._) It’s a fine day. We’ll run the gauntlet, up street and down street. (_Goes out._)