MRS. CRASHAW, sternly ignoring the insinuation: "Ask him if there"s any means of calling the janitor."
MILLER: "Could you call the janitor?"
THE ELEVATOR BOY, ironically: "Well, there ain"t any telephone attachment."
MILLER, solemnly: "No, he says there isn"t."
MRS. CRASHAW, sinking back on the seat with resignation: "Well, I don"t know what my niece will say."
MISS LAWTON: "Poor papa!"
YOUNG MR. BEMIS, gathering one of her wandering hands into his: "Don"t be frightened. I"m sure there"s no danger."
THE ELEVATOR BOY, indignantly: "Why, she can"t drop. The cogs in the runs won"t let her!"
ALL: "Oh!"
MILLER, with a sigh of relief: "I knew there must be something of the kind. Well, I wish my wife had her fan."
MRS. CURWEN: "And if I had my left glove I should be perfectly happy. Not that I know what the cogs in the runs are!"
MRS. CRASHAW: "Then we"re merely caught here?"
MILLER: "That"s all."
MRS. CURWEN: "It"s quite enough for the purpose. Couldn"t you put on a life-preserver, Mr. Miller, and go ash.o.r.e and get help from the natives?"
MISS LAWTON, putting her handkerchief to her eyes: "Oh, dear!"
MRS. CRASHAW, putting her arm around her: "Don"t be frightened, my child. There"s no danger."
YOUNG MR. BEMIS, caressing the hand which he holds: "Don"t be frightened."
MISS LAWTON: "Don"t leave me."
YOUNG MR. BEMIS: "No, no; I won"t. Keep fast hold of my hand."
MISS LAWTON: "Oh, yes, I will! I"m ashamed to cry."
YOUNG MR. BEMIS, fervently: "Oh, you needn"t be! It is perfectly natural you should."
MRS. CURWEN: "I"m too badly scared for tears. Mr. Miller, you seem to be in charge of this expedition--couldn"t you do something? Throw out ballast, or let the boy down in a parachute? Or I"ve read of a shipwreck where the survivors, in an open boat, joined in a cry, and attracted the notice of a vessel that was going to pa.s.s them. We might join in a cry."
MILLER: "Oh, it"s all very well joking, Mrs. Curwen" -
MRS. CURWEN: "You call it joking!"
MILLER: "But it"s not so amusing, being cooped up here indefinitely.
I don"t know how we"re to get out. We can"t join in a cry, and rouse the whole house. It would be ridiculous."
MRS. CURWEN: "And our present att.i.tude is so eminently dignified!
Well, I suppose we shall have to cast lots pretty soon to see which of us shall be sacrificed to nourish the survivors. It"s long past dinner-time."
MISS LAWTON, breaking down: "Oh, DON"T say such terrible things."
YOUNG MR. BEMIS, indignantly comforting her: "Don"t, don"t cry.
There"s no danger. It"s perfectly safe."
MILLER to THE ELEVATOR BOY: "Couldn"t you climb up the cable, and get on to the landing, and--ah!--get somebody?"
THE ELEVATOR BOY: "I could, maybe, if there was a hole in the roof."
MILLER, glancing up: "Ah! true."
MRS. CRASHAW, with an old lady"s serious kindness: "My boy, can"t you think of anything to do for us?"
THE ELEVATOR BOY yielding to the touch of humanity, and bursting into tears: "No, ma"am, I can"t. And everybody"s blamin" me, as if I done it. What"s my poor mother goin" to do?"
MRS. CRASHAW, soothingly: "But you said the runs in the cogs" -
THE ELEVATOR BOY: "How can I tell! That"s what they say. They hain"t never been tried."
MRS. CURWEN, springing to her feet: "There! I knew I should. Oh"-- She sinks fainting to the floor.
MRS. CRASHAW, abandoning Miss Lawton to the ministrations of young Mr. Bemis, while she kneels beside Mrs. Curwen. and chafes her hand: "Oh, poor thing! I knew she was overwrought by the way she was keeping up. Give her air, Mr. Miller. Open a--Oh, there isn"t any window!"
MILLER, dropping on his knees, and fanning Mrs. Curwen: "There!
there! Wake up, Mrs. Curwen. I didn"t mean to scold you for joking.
I didn"t, indeed. I--I--I don"t know what the deuce I"m up to." He gathers Mrs. Curwen"s inanimate form in his arms, and fans her face where it lies on his shoulder. "I don"t know what my wife would say if" -
MRS. CRASHAW: "She would say that you were doing your duty."
MILLER, a little consoled: "Oh, do you think so? Well, perhaps."
YOUNG MR. BEMIS: "Do you feel faint at all, Miss Lawton?"
MISS LAWTON: "No, I think not. No, not if you say it"s safe."
YOUNG MR. BEMIS: "Oh, I"m sure it is!"
MISS LAWTON, renewing her hold upon his hand: "Well, then! Perhaps I hurt you?"
YOUNG MR. BEMIS: "No, no! You couldn"t!"
MISS LAWTON: "How kind you are!"
MRS. CURWEN, opening her eyes: "Where" -
MILLER, rapidly transferring her to Mrs. Crashaw: "Still in the elevator, Mrs. Curwen." Rising to his feet: "Something must be done. Perhaps we HAD better unite in a cry. It"s ridiculous, of course. But it"s the only thing we can do. Now, then! h.e.l.lo!"