JOHN. I'm waiting to hear.
EPHRAIM. You and I are rival manufacturers, but that's no reason why we shouldn't put our legs under the same table when we find the times difficult. I suppose there's no denying, they are difficult?
JOHN. They're more than difficult.
EPHRAIM. Then we agree so far. What threatens us threatens you. In fact, our interests are identical.
JOHN. Not quite, I think.
EPHRAIM. Eh? Well, no. What's mine isn't thine. We've each to make a profit for ourselves. But we get the profit out of weaving, and your weavers are fractious; so are ours.
JOHN. But mine aren't—or not to anything like the extent yours are.
EPHRAIM. I'm told the grumbling is universal.
JOHN. It's general up to a point, but there's a dead set at you.
EPHRAIM. At me?