MR. Y. There isn"t? Well--how would I do?
MR. X. Oh, NOW we are getting the matter cleared up! How much do you want for becoming my accomplice?
MR. Y. Six thousand crowns.
MR. X. That"s too much. And where am I to get them?
(MR. Y. points to the box.)
MR. X. No, I don"t want to do that. I don"t want to become a thief.
MR. Y. Oh, don"t put on any airs now! Do you think I"ll believe that you haven"t helped yourself out of that box before?
MR. X. [As if speaking to himself] Think only, that I could let myself be fooled so completely. But that"s the way with these soft natures.
You like them, and then it"s so easy to believe that they like you. And that"s the reason why I have always been on my guard against people I take a liking to!--So you are firmly convinced that I have helped myself out of the box before?
MR. Y. Certainly! MR. X. And you are going to report me if you don"t get six thousand crowns?
MR. Y. Most decidedly! You can"t get out of it, so there"s no use trying.
MR. X. You think I am going to give my father a thief for son, my wife a thief for husband, my children a thief for father, my fellow-workers a thief for colleague? No, that will never happen!--Now I am going over to the sheriff to report the killing myself.
MR. Y. [Jumps up and begins to pick up his things] Wait a moment!
MR. X. For what?
MR. Y. [Stammering] Oh, I thought--as I am no longer needed--it wouldn"t be necessary for me to stay--and I might just as well leave.
MR. X. No, you may not!--Sit down there at the table, where you sat before, and we"ll have another talk before you go.
MR. Y. [Sits down after having put on a dark coat] What are you up to now?
MR. X. [Looking into the mirror back of MR. Y.] Oh, now I have it!
Oh-h-h!
MR. Y. [Alarmed] What kind of wonderful things are you discovering now?
MR. X. I see in the mirror that you are a thief--a plain, ordinary thief! A moment ago, while you had only the white shirt on, I could notice that there was something wrong about my book-shelf. I couldn"t make out just what it was, for I had to listen to you and watch you. But as my antipathy increased, my vision became more acute. And now, with your black coat to furnish the needed color contrast For the red back of the book, which before couldn"t be seen against the red of your suspenders--now I see that you have been reading about forgeries in Bernheim"s work on mental suggestion--for you turned the book upsidedown in putting it back. So even that story of yours was stolen! For tins reason I think myself ent.i.tled to conclude that your crime must have been prompted by need, or by mere love of pleasure.
MR. Y. By need! If you only knew--
MR. X. If YOU only knew the extent of the need I have had to face and live through! But that"s another story! Let"s proceed with your case.
That you have been in prison--I take that for granted. But it happened in America, for it was American prison life you described. Another thing may also be taken for granted, namely, that you have not borne your punishment on this side.
MR. Y. How can you imagine anything of the kind?
MR. X. Wait until the sheriff gets here, and you"ll learn all about it.
(MR. Y. gets up.)
ME. X. There you see! The first time I mentioned the sheriff, in connection with the storm, you wanted also to run away. And when a person has served out his time he doesn"t care to visit an old mill every day just to look at a prison, or to stand by the window--in a word, you are at once punished and unpunished. And that"s why it was so hard to make you out. [Pause.]
MR. Y. [Completely beaten] May I go now?
MR. X. Now you can go.
MR. Y. [Putting his things together] Are you angry at me?
MR. X. Yes--would you prefer me to pity you?
MR. Y. [Sulkily] Pity? Do you think you"re any better than I?
MR. X. Of course I do, as I AM better than you. I am wiser, and I am less of a menace to prevailing property rights.
MR. Y. You think you are clever, but perhaps I am as clever as you. For the moment you have me checked, but in the next move I can mate you--all the same!
MR. X. [Looking hard at MR. Y.] So we have to have another bout! What kind of mischief are you up to now?
MR. Y. That"s my secret.
MR. X. Just look at me--oh, you mean to write my wife an anonymous letter giving away MY secret!
MR. Y. Well, how are you going to prevent it? You don"t dare to have me arrested. So you"ll have to let me go. And when I am gone, I can do what I please.
MR. X. You devil! So you have found my vulnerable spot! Do you want to make a real murderer out of me?
MR. Y. That"s more than you"ll ever become--coward!
MR. X. There you see how different people are. You have a feeling that I cannot become guilty of the same kind of acts as you. And that gives you the upper hand. But suppose you forced me to treat you as I treated that coachman?
[He lifts his hand as if ready to hit MR. Y.]
MR. Y. [Staring MR. X. straight in the face] You can"t! It"s too much for one who couldn"t save himself by means of the box over there.
ME. X. So you don"t think I have taken anything out of the box?
MR. Y. You were too cowardly--just as you were too cowardly to tell your wife that she had married a murderer.
MR. X. You are a different man from what I took you to be--if stronger or weaker, I cannot tell--if more criminal or less, that"s none of my concern--but decidedly more stupid; that much is quite plain. For stupid you were when you wrote another person"s name instead of begging--as I have had to do. Stupid you were when you stole things out of my book--could you not guess that I might have read my own books? Stupid you were when you thought yourself cleverer than me, and when you thought that I could be lured into becoming a thief. Stupid you were when you thought balance could be restored by giving the world two thieves instead of one. But most stupid of all you were when you thought I had failed to provide a safe corner-stone for my happiness. Go ahead and write my wife as many anonymous letters as you please about her husband having killed a man--she knew that long before we were married!--Have you had enough now?
MR. Y. May I go?
MR. X. Now you HAVE to go! And at once! I"ll send your things after you!--Get out of here!
(Curtain.)