CHILD
Mother, Mother!
Will there be moving pictures?
MERCHANT'S WIFE
I don't know.
Don't talk so loud.
[Two prosperous-looking men enter. One is elderly,
the other young.
BANKER
Do not apologize
Now that you've brought me. As I said at first,
I am prepared to see a mountebank
Perform his pretty tricks of eloquence
To set the crowd agape. Why, once a week
The Ethical Society hires one
To work the same performance—quite the same
Each time. Unearth a few forgotten doubts,
Or dig your elbow into some new dogma,
And you will see the mob fawn at your feet,
Believing you the greatest mind since Plato.
RICH YOUNG MAN
I'm sure he isn't that kind.
BANKER
We shall see!
And afterwards, the drinks shall be on you.
[A gawky young man who has flour in his hair, and
a vivacious and pertly dressed girl enter together.