MRS. COTTER (startled)
That's only the cat in the coal hole.
SERGEANT (leaving his chair and moves toward it) He must be suffocatin'. I'll open the door an' let him out. Under the grate he should be a cold night like this. (Opens the door and sees the Head) Heavens be praised! 'Tis the Head himself!
[The Head comes out, arranges his cap, and is not aware that he has a black spot on his nose.
HEAD 'Tis the Head an' every inch an' ounce of him too that stands before ye.
SERGEANT
I thought 'twas y'er ghost I saw.
HEAD (angrily)
What the blazes would me ghost be doin' in a coal hole?
SERGEANT What I'd like to know is what y'erself have been doin' there.
HEAD That won't take me long to tell. Waitin' and watchin' to catch the likes o' you is what took me there.
SERGEANT Now, Head, with all due respects, I'd try an' tell the truth if I were you.
HEAD Sergeant Dooley, sir, anythin' you'll say or be likely to say 'll be used in evidence against you.