Six One-Act Plays Part 25

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.

BOY--(_Picking cane up from counter, and hiding it behind him._) I don't know where she put it. You gotta wait, see?

KING--(_To Bart._) I'd like to jump that cop. Nice fix for us if Mason hadn't been there.

BOY--(_Stopping machine._) Say, didn't you do it? What did they let you come back for?

KING--Of course we didn't do it.

BART--(_To King._) And yet we _are_ guilty of murder.

KING--Luckily for us, the law won't see it that way.... I'll double my allowance to her mother.

BART--And I'll put flowers every week on my Selina's grave.

KING--We are bound together by ties of death. We must be brave, and face the world serenely.

BART--(_Clasping King's hand._) And no one must know.

SELINA--(_Peeping around screen._) George King and Bart! My gosh, what a pickle! (_She hurriedly enters the little room back of the screen. Bart and King just catch a glimpse of her as she disappears._)

KING--s.h.!.+

BART--Great heavens, an apparition!

KING--She has come to haunt me.

BART--I shall throw myself at her ghostly feet, and crave pardon.

BART AND KING--(_With outstretched hands._) Selina!

KING--(_Tragically._) That was the spirit of the Selina whom my coldness killed.

BART--It was the spirit of my Selina, who drowned herself for love of me.

KING--How terrible is the vengeance of heaven! It makes the one woman haunt us both.

BART--I shall go mad now.

KING--Bart, I feel my reason tottering.

(_They sit at little table, heads on hands, backs to the entrance door.

Gentleman enters, and goes behind screen._)

GENTLEMAN--It will take about ten minutes more--h.e.l.lo, where have you gone?

SELINA--(_Peeping from room off stage._) s.h.!.+

GENTLEMAN--Why, what's the mystery?

SELINA--Did you see two men in there, as you came in?

GENTLEMAN--Didn't notice, but I'll take a look.

(_Bart and King hide behind counter when Gentleman appears._)

GENTLEMAN--Not a soul but the boy. (_Returns to Selina, who comes into the room, but remains behind screen. Bart and King stay behind counter, but listen intently to Selina and Gentleman._)

KING--Something queer about this.

SELINA--(_To Gentleman._) Flatterer!

GENTLEMAN--I remember the first time I saw you at the opera. By the way, who's that chap you always go with?

SELINA--(_Lightly._) Oh, that!

BART--Her voice!

GENTLEMAN--He interests me. Seems very sweet on you.

SELINA--Think so?

GENTLEMAN--I have eyes.

SELINA--He's just a boy.

GENTLEMAN--It's these young cubs who always run off with the prizes. Are you in love with him?

SELINA--I do not think you have any right to question me.

GENTLEMAN--I beg your pardon for seeming impertinent. I merely ask, so I may know where I stand.

SELINA--Do you think _he_ is the type of man I could love? Frankly, he bores me to death.

BART--Great fis.h.!.+

GENTLEMAN--I don't think you bore him.

SELINA--(_Sadly._) Poor boy!

GENTLEMAN--He's gone on you, isn't he?