MRS. BAUER. [To Fritzi.] Bad boy! [To Karl.] Fritzi wants to kill himself—that's what. Go on to school.
[Boys run past area.
VOICES. Who killed the cat! Who killed the cat!
[At the sound of the voices the boys start back. Instinctively Mrs. Bauer lays a protecting hand on each. She looks around at her husband with a sudden anxiety which she tries to conceal from the children, who whisper together. Bauer rises heavily to his feet and walks staggeringly toward the inner room.
MRS. BAUER. [In a worried tone, as the pushes the children out.] Go on to school.
[At the threshold of the inner room Bauer stops, half turns back with distorted features, and then hurries in. The door slams behind him. Mrs. Bauer closes the outer door, turns, takes a step as though to follow Bauer, hesitates, then crosses to the kitchen table and starts to clear up the dishes. The report of a revolver sounds from the inner room. Terror-stricken, Mrs. Bauer rushes in.
MRS. BAUER'S VOICE. Fritz! Fritz! Speak to me! Look at me, Fritz! You didn't do it, Fritz! I know you didn't do it!
[Sound of low sobbing.... After a few seconds the telephone bell.... It rings continuously while the Curtain slowly falls.