He’s looking for Nick. He goes to the Arab, and says, ‘Are you Nick?’ The Arab shakes his head. He stands at the bar, waiting. He waits very busily.

Harry (as Nick returns) You Nick?

Nick (very loudly) I am Nick.

Harry (acting) Can you use a great comedian?

Nick (behind the bar) Who, for instance?

Harry (almost angry) Me.

Nick You? What’s funny about you?

Dudley, at the telephone, is dialling. Because of some defect in the apparatus the dialling is very loud.

Dudley Hello. Sunset 7349? May I speak to Miss Elsie Mandelspiegel?

Pause.

Harry (with spirit and noise, dancing) I dance and do gags and stuff.

Nick In costume? Or are you wearing your costume?

Dudley All I need is a cigar.

Kitty (continuing the dream of grace) I’d walk out of the house, and stand on the porch, and look at the trees, and smell the flowers, and run across the lawn, and lie down under a tree, and read a book. (Pause.) A book of poems, maybe.

Dudley (very, very clearly) Elsie Mandelspiegel. (Impatiently.) She has a room on the fourth floor. She’s a nurse at the Southern Pacific Hospital. Elsie Mandelspiegel. She works at night. Elsie. Yes.

He begins waiting again. Wesley, a coloured boy, comes to the bar and stands near Harry, waiting.

Nick Beer?

Wesley No, sir. I’d like to talk to you.

Nick (to Harry) All right. Get funny.

Harry (getting funny, an altogether different person, an actor with great energy, both in power of voice, and in force and speed of physical gesture) Now, I’m standing on the corner of Third and Market. I’m looking around. I’m figuring it out. There it is. Right in front of me. The whole city. The whole world. People going by. They’re going somewhere. I don’t know where, but they’re going. I ain’t going anywhere. Where the hell can you go? I’m figuring it out. All right. I’m a citizen. A fat guy bumps his stomach into the face of an old lady. They were in a hurry. Fat and old. They bumped. Boom. I don’t know. It may mean war. War. Germany. England. Russia. I don’t know for sure.

Loudly, dramatically, he salutes, about faces, presents arms, aims and fires.

WAAAAAR.

He blows a call to arms. Nick gets sick of this, indicates with a gesture that Harry should hold it, and goes to Wesley.

Nick What’s on your mind?

Wesley (confused) Well –

Nick Come on. Speak up. Are you hungry, or what?

Wesley Honest to God, I ain’t hungry. All I want is a job. I don’t want no charity.

Nick Well, what can you do, and how good are you?

Wesley I can run errands, clean up, wash dishes, anything.

Dudley (on the telephone, very eagerly) Elsie? Elsie, this is Dudley. Elsie, I’ll jump in the bay if you don’t marry me. Life isn’t worth living without you. I can’t sleep. I can’t think of anything but you. All the time. Day and night and night and day. Elsie, I love you. I love you. What? (Burning up.) Is this Sunset 7-3-4-9? Pause.) 7943? (Calmly, while Willie begins making a small racket.) Well, what’s your name? Lorene? Lorene Smith? I thought you were Elsie Mandelspiegel. What? Dudley. Yeah. Dudley R. Bostwick. Yeah. R. It stands for Raoul, but I never spell it out. I’m pleased to meet you, too. What? There’s a lot of noise around here. (Willie stops hitting the marble game.) Where am I? At Nick’s, on Pacific Street. I work at the SP. I told them I was sick and they gave me the afternoon off. Wait a minute. I’ll ask them. I’d like to meet you, too. Sure. I’ll ask them. (Turns around to Nick.) What’s this address?