_Bill._ Youse runnin" from that landlady?
_Dolly._ Don"t ask me now.
_Bill._ Well, there"s somethin" wrong, I know! Youse can"t fool me!
_(Looks about.)_ Gee! I thought I had a home! And now I"m movin" out of it! _(The lights fade slowly on the Play-play and rise on the Real-play.)_
_Will (in a whisper)._ Well?
_Peggy (low)._ Oh, Will! That"s the real stuff!
_Will._ You like it?
_Peggy (with intensity)._ Yes, I do! It"s real, it"s true. Will, I think it"ll go!
_Will._ You do?
_Peggy._ Yes, even with Broadway! It made me cry--and I"m a hardened old sinner.
_Will._ Oh, dearest, I"m so glad!
_Peggy._ I"m proud of you, Will! _(Rises and puts her arms about him.)_ We"ve got a real Pot-boiler! _(Sound of bell in Real-play Left. Play-play vanishes. Full light on the Real-play. A post-man"s whistle off Left.)_
_Will._ What"s that?
_Peggy._ The post-man!
_Will (leaping up)._ Maybe it"s a check for the poem!
_Peggy._ Oh, yes!
_Will._ Where"s the key to the letter-box?
_Peggy (runs Right)._ Here, I think. _(Searches about.)_ Here!
_(Brings him key.)_ Be quick!
_Will (exit Left)._ I"ll be quick!
_Peggy (As Bill tosses and calls aloud in his sleep, goes to his bed, kneels and soothes him)._ Oh, my baby! My baby! You"re not going to be sick! No, no, I can"t stand that! Anything but that!
I"ll have to give it up! Will must give up trying to be a writer, and get some sort of paying job. Or I"ll have to go on the stage again, and earn some real money----_(Hearing Will returning, she leaps up and runs Left.)_ Was it the check?
_Will (enters)._ Yes.
_Peggy._ For how much?
_Will (in a voice of agony)._ _Guess_ how much?
_Peggy._ Tell me!
_Will._ Two-fifty.
_Peggy._ Two-fifty!
_Will._ Two dollars and a half!
_Peggy._ Great G.o.d!
_Will (furiously)._ How do they expect a poet to live on two dollars and a half for a poem?
_Peggy (hysterically)._ They don"t expect poets to live! They don"t care anything about poets! Poets are cheap!
_Will (catches her by the arm, stares at her)._ Peggy! Peggy! This play has got to succeed! It"s got to succeed! People have got to like it!
_Peggy._ Oh, Will. I hope they like it! I could get them by the throats and choke them until they promise to like it! I could fall down upon my knees and beg them to like it! _(To audience, with intensity.)_ _Don"t_ you like it? Don"t you like it? Tell us that you like it! Tell us!
CURTAIN.
ACT IV.
_(SCENE--The attic, the following afternoon. Scene of the Play-play is the drawing room, as in Act I.)_
_At rise: The Real-play, showing Will busy working on his Mss., Left. Peggy Right, putting Bill to sleep._
_Peggy._ Now, Mr. Bill, you"re going to have a nice nap.
_Bill._ I feel better.
_Peggy._ I"m so glad to hear it. And Will"s most through with his play, and then he"ll take you to the park.
_Bill._ Say, Peggy!
_Peggy._ Now, go to sleep.
_Bill._ But say!
_Peggy._ Well?
_Bill._ I think I"m hungry.
_Peggy._ There"s nothing in the house, dear.
_Bill._ No bread, Peggy?
_Peggy._ No, but we"ll get some when you wake up. _(Goes Left and sits by Will. Silence, while he works over papers. He is pale and haggard; she watches him anxiously.)_