(_Exit_ OLIVER, R.)
UNCLE. Cheerio. What? Oh, yes, yes. (_after_ OLIVER _has gone._)
EVANGELINE (_goes to him_). Now, look here--about that will of yours--I don"t feel that it"s quite fair to the others to----
(_Enter_ MRS. CROMBIE _from garden._)
MRS. CROMBIE. Oh, there you are, Mr. Davis--I"ve been wanting to have a little talk to you about South America. I had a brother out there, you know. (_Behind chair_ R.C.)
DANIEL (_rising, jovially_). Splendid--let"s talk about him for hours.
EVANGELINE (_a little annoyed_). I"ll come back later, uncle. (_Moves to stairs._)
MRS. CROMBIE. I hope I"m not interrupting a heart-to-heart talk between uncle and niece.
DANIEL. Not at all, not at all--it"s a pleasure, I a.s.sure you.
EVANGELINE (_on stairs_). It doesn"t matter a bit. Uncle Daniel is going to stay with us a long time, I hope.
(_Exit upstairs._)
MRS. CROMBIE (_settling herself in arm-chair_). Splendid--have you such a thing as a cigarette?
DANIEL. A cigarette, yes, certainly.
MRS. CROMBIE. And a match.
DANIEL. And a match.
(_He hands her a case, she takes one, goes to mantel for matches--then he strikes a match and lights it._)
MRS. CROMBIE (_girlishly_). Now we can be quite comfortable, can"t we?
DANIEL. Quite. (_Sits on Chesterfield._)
MRS. CROMBIE. As I was saying just now, I had a brother out in South America.
DANIEL. What part?
MRS. CROMBIE. I"m not quite sure--we don"t hear from him much--he was sent out there for--for----
DANIEL. I quite understand.
MRS. CROMBIE. For his health.
DANIEL. I know, they all are. It"s a wonderful climate.
MRS. CROMBIE. He hasn"t written for ages and ages--we were wondering if he was making money or not--it seems so far away, anything may be happening to him.
DANIEL. In all probability everything is----s.p.a.cELEFT(_laughs to himself_).
MRS. CROMBIE. Did you have any thrilling adventures when you were making your pile?
DANIEL. Oh yes, heaps and heaps.
MRS. CROMBIE. I gather that you have a mine of some sort?
DANIEL. Yes--just near the Grand Stand.
MRS. CROMBIE. The what?
DANIEL. The Grand Slam.
MRS. CROMBIE. Slam!
DANIEL. It"s the name of a mountain, you know.
MRS. CROMBIE. What a strange name! Why do they call it that?
DANIEL. I can"t imagine. It"s often been a source of great perplexity to me.
MRS. CROMBIE. I take it that yours is a gold mine.
DANIEL. Not so that you"d notice it.
MRS. CROMBIE. I beg your pardon?
DANIEL. Well, I mean--it"s not especially a gold mine--it"s a mixed mine--a little bit of everything--there"s tin and silver and salt and copper and bra.s.s, and G.o.d knows what--it"s most exciting wondering what we are going to find next.
MRS. CROMBIE. Yes, so I should imagine....
DANIEL. Often on weary, dark nights--filled with the cries of the jackal and the boa-constrictor.
MRS. CROMBIE. I didn"t know boa-constrictors cried.
DANIEL. Only when they are upset about something. Then they can"t help it. There are few animals as highly emotional as a boa-constrictor.
Anyhow, as I was saying, we lay awake in the throbbing darkness--the darkness out there always throbs--it"s a most peculiar phenomenon--and wondered--Heavens, how we wondered what we should find on the following day.
MRS. CROMBIE. If you"ll forgive my saying so, Mr. Davis, I fear that you are a bit of a fraud.
DANIEL. I beg your pardon?
MRS. CROMBIE. I said I thought you were a fraud.
DANIEL. Of course I am--all great men are. Look at George Washington.
MRS. CROMBIE. He wasn"t a fraud.