BILL. Have you seen the police? [_ALBERT pulls out his knife._]
THE TOFF. The honest truth in open court, barring the ruby. We were attacked.
SNIGGERS. I swear I saw something _what I didn't like_.
SNIGGERS [_in tears_]. O Toffy, Toffy, take it back. Take my share. Say you take it.
THE TOFF. What has he seen? [_Dead silence, only broken by SNIGGERS'S sobs. Then steps are heard. Enter a hideous idol. It is blind and gropes its way. It gropes its way to the ruby and picks it up and screws it into a socket in the forehead. SNIGGERS still weeps softly, the rest stare in horror. The idol steps out, not groping. Its steps move off, then stop._]
ALBERT [_in a childish, plaintive voice_]. What is it, Toffy?
BILL. Albert, it is that obscene idol [_in a whisper_] come from India.
A VOICE OFF [_with outlandish accent_]. Meestaire William Jones, Able Seaman. [_THE TOFF has never spoken, never moved. He only gazes stupidly in horror._]
BILL. Albert, Albert, what is this? [_He rises and walks out. One moan is heard. SNIGGERS goes to the window. He falls back sickly._]
ALBERT [_in a whisper_]. What has happened?
SNIGGERS. I have seen it. I have seen it. O, I have seen it! [_He returns to table._]
THE TOFF [_laying his hand very gently on SNIGGERS's arm, speaking softly and winningly._] What was it, Sniggers?
VOICE. Meestaire Albert Thomas, Able Seaman.
ALBERT. Must I go, Toffy? Toffy, must I go?
ALBERT [_going_]. Toffy, Toffy. [_Exit._]
VOICE. Meestaire Jacob Smith, Able Seaman.
SNIGGERS. I can't go, Toffy. I can't go. I can't do it. [_He goes._]
VOICE. Meestaire Arnold Everett Scott-Fortescue, late Esquire, Able Seaman.
THE TOFF. I did not foresee it. [_Exit._]
[Footnote 48: Copyright, 1921, by Stark Young. Acting rights, amateur and professional, must be secured from the author, care of the New York Drama League, 7 East 42 Street, New York.]
Stark Young, dramatist and critic, the author of _The Twilight Saint_, was born in Como, Mississippi, on October 11, 1881. He was graduated from the university of his native state and a year later took his master's degree at Columbia University. From 1907 to 1915 he taught at the University of Texas, and from 1915 to 1921 he was professor of English at Amherst College. His travels have taken him to Greece, and to Spain, and to Italy where he has lingered, making a special study of the native drama.