Joe Look all right?

Kit Carson It’s a good gun. You’ve got a good gun there, son. I’ll explain it to you. You see these holes? Well, that’s where you put the cartridges.

Joe (taking some cartridges out of the box) Here. Show me how it’s done.

Kit Carson (a little impatiently) Well, son, you take ’em one by one and put ’em in the holes, like this. There’s one. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Then you get the barrel back in place. Then cock it. Then all you got to do is aim and fire.

He points the gun at the Lady and Gentleman who scream and stand up, scaring Kit Carson into paralysis. The gun is loaded, but uncocked.

Joe It’s all set?

Kit Carson Ready to kill.

Joe Let me hold it.

Kit Carson hands Joe the gun. The Lady and Gentleman watch, in terror.

Kit Carson Careful, now, son. Don’t cock it. Many a man’s lost an eye fooling with a loaded gun. Fellow I used to know named Danny Donovan lost a nose. Ruined his whole life. Hold it firm. Squeeze the trigger. Don’t snap it. Spoils your aim.

Joe Thanks. Let’s see if I can unload it. (He begins to unload it.)

Kit Carson Of course you can.

Joe unloads the revolver, looks at it very closely, puts the cartridges back into the box.

Joe (looking at gun) I’m mighty grateful to you. Always wanted to see one of those things close up. Is it really a good one?

Kit Carson It’s a beaut, son.

Joe (aims the empty gun at a bottle on the bar) Bang!

Willie (at the marble game, as the machine groans) Oh, boy! (Loudly, triumphantly.) There you are, Nick. Thought I couldn’t do it, hey? Now, watch.

The machine begins to make a special kind of noise. Lights go on and off. Some red, some green. A bell rings loudly six tunes.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

An American flag jumps up. He comes to attention. Salutes.

Oh, boy, what a beautiful country.

A loud music-box version of the song ‘America’.

Joe, Kit Carson and the Lady get to their feet.

Willie (singing)

My country, ’tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing.

Everything quietens down. The flag goes back into the machine. Willie is thrilled, amazed, delighted. Everybody has watched the performance of the defeated machine from wherever he happened to be when the performance began. Willie, looking around at everybody, as if they had all been on the side of the machine.

Willie OK. How’s that? I knew I could do it. (To Nick.) Six nickels.

Nick hands him six nickels. Willie goes over to Joe and Kit Carson.