JOE. Where is the key?
LYDIA. I don"t know where it is now. She has probably thrown it away. It would be just like her to do it. [_Changing her manner suddenly and rising._] Joe, wouldn"t you like a cup of tea?
JOE [_earnestly_]. No, I wouldn"t. Sit down, Lydia.
[_Lydia sits down again. Joe starts to speak, but stops to look about the room._]
LYDIA. Joe, what are you looking for?
JOE [_slowly and reluctantly_]. I can"t get over the feeling that I am expecting some one.
LYDIA. Who is it?
JOE [_evasively_]. I don"t know. Some one I never saw before.
LYDIA [_laughing_]. An unknown visitor knocks before he comes in the door.
JOE. I"m not sure that this one will.
[_He closes his eyes wearily and puts his palms before them._]
LYDIA [_gently_]. Joe, you"re tired. Please go upstairs.
JOE. Not quite yet. [_Eagerly._] Lydia, you know what Aunt Harriet and I were arguing about. I saw it in your eyes.
LYDIA. Of course. It"s a beautiful idea.
JOE [_excitedly_]. Then you think I"m right.
LYDIA [_looking at the piano_]. I hope to Heaven you are.
JOE [_pleading_]. Then do something for me, Lydia, please.
LYDIA. What?
JOE. I"ve been so worried lately to think--how awful it is if a person dies without accomplishing anything.
LYDIA. I wish you wouldn"t talk like that.
JOE [_hastily_]. I wasn"t speaking for myself. I meant, just generally, you know. But what I have been figuring out, is this--so long as you believe that you can go on working after you leave here, it"s all right, isn"t it?
LYDIA [_hesitant_]. Yes.
JOE [_thoughtfully and as though on unaccustomed ground_]. But when you first go over, you are rather weak--
LYDIA. You mean your soul?
JOE [_speaking hurriedly_]. Yes, that"s it. And you mustn"t be worried by grief or any force working against you from the people you"ve left behind.
LYDIA. Yes, I follow you. Where did you learn all this?
JOE. In a book at the library.
LYDIA [_uncertainly_]. I think I have heard of some theory--
JOE [_impatiently_]. I"m not bothering about theories. I haven"t got time for them. In fact, I"d almost forgotten about the whole idea until the other day. Something the doctor told me set me thinking. He is really a splendid man, Lydia.
LYDIA [_indifferently_]. Yes, I"ve always thought so. But what is it you want me to do for you, Joe? Aunt Harriet may come in any moment.
JOE [_looking at Lydia very fixedly and speaking slowly_]. Just this.
When I die, don"t let Aunt Harriet pray for my soul.
LYDIA. Joe!
JOE. Yes, I mean it. She has a powerful mind. And she would pray for my eternal rest and I might not be strong enough to stand against her.
LYDIA [_starting toward the rear door_]. I won"t listen to you any longer. It is wrong to talk and think about death.
JOE. Lydia, please! It means so much to me. Listen just one second. I know I"m not very good, but Aunt Harriet would be sure to try to make an angel out of me. And if I thought I had to sit on those everlasting gold steps and tw.a.n.g an everlasting gold harp forever and forever--Lydia, I"d go crazy, I"d go crazy!
[_His voice rises to a scream and he sinks back gasping._]
LYDIA [_rushing to his side_]. I promise anything. Only don"t excite yourself this way. For Heaven"s sake, Joe, be quiet.
JOE [_insisting_]. But don"t let her pray. And make her give you the key to the piano, and you play something so I can go out in harmony.--Harmony--do you understand that, Lydia? Harmony. That"s the word they used so often in the book. Do you promise surely?
LYDIA [_tearfully_]. Yes, but, Joe, you"re not going to die. You"re not!
The doctor would have told us something about it.
JOE. Of course, I"m not going to. Not until I get good and ready. Don"t be silly. But remember, when it does happen, you must not cry. That is very hard on souls that are just starting out.
LYDIA. I--I can see how it might be.
JOE. You won"t forget to smile?
LYDIA. No.
JOE. But smile now, for practice.
LYDIA [_trying to smile, but failing_]. Oh, I can smile for you easily enough; but don"t frighten me like that again.
JOE. I"ll try not to.
LYDIA [_suddenly facing him_]. Do you expect Aunt Harriet to live as long as you do?
JOE [_with a second"s hesitation_]. Yes, I"m quite sure she will. The Wildes have the habit of living long, you know.
LYDIA. But why shouldn"t you live longer than she, since you are younger?