=Pete.= Some one kilt yo'r mammy? Let me see. (_stoops; MRS. D. moans and moves slightly_) She's not dead. She's--she's--toppled over. (_MRS. D. half rises on elbow_)
=Pete.= Why here, mum. Yo' needn't be afeared. I'll took care ob yo'. Does yo' feel better, mum?
=Pete.= 'Deed, mum, I don't know. P'raps de little one can tell yo'.
=Nellie.= Yes, mamma, you called me and I came. Are you sick, dear mamma?
=Mrs. D.= (_places hand upon brow_) No--yes--It all comes back to me now. Oh, why did I not die--better death than this agony! I suppose I must have fainted.
=Pete.= Shall I fetch de doctor fo' yo', mum?
=Mrs. D.= No, I feel better already. (_attempts to rise. PETE assists her to feet. She reels slightly and places hand to head_) Oh, my head! (_to PETE_) Please take me somewhere, so that I may obtain shelter and rest. I am a stranger here.
=Pete.= All right, mum. Dar's a fust rate hotel jest around de corner. (_points off R. 1 E._)
=Mrs. D.= (_quickly_) No, no; not there. I desire some quiet lodging where my child and myself will not be subjected to the gaze of the curious.
=Pete.= Well, den, mum, I knows jest de place fo' yo'. It's on one ob de back streets. Dis way, it's not very far.
=Mrs. D.= (_slowly following_) Come, Nellie, dear, we shall soon be able to tell our sorrows to One who will comfort us.
=Scene 2.=--_A lodging room, plainly furnished. Door L. 2 E.; table R. C., with pitcher and water glasses, candle, books, papers, etc. Candle lighted. GRAEF discovered_.
=Graef.= (_seated, with right arm resting on table_) I suppose there is nothing left for me to do, but lie low in this hiding place and await further developments. It must be hard for a guilty party to have his fellow men stigmatize him as a thief--but, oh, what are his feelings to those of an innocent man's, particularly when one's own flesh and blood prefer the charges. That was a bright idea of Pete's, bringing me that note he found, for it will go a great way toward establishing my innocence. Now, if he is only fortunate enough to obtain those diamonds, and discover who it was that pawned one at Davis's shop, my innocence will be proved, and the guilty party punished. I never gave Pete credit for the acuteness he has displayed in this affair. (_knock_) That must be he, now. Come in.