Dad. Wait till I see what this is.
Jessie. It's nothing, Dad.
Dad. How do you know it's nothing?
Jessie. I want to show you the bills.
Dad. Well, wait just a moment. The bills won't run away.
Jessie (aside to Bob). Lost!
Dad. Why, what's that? Isn't that Jack's voice? Why-why-good God! (Jack appears in doorway, with Belle on His arm, Dolly and Bill behind him. All stare.)
Jack (staggers to chair with Belle). Excuse me, please. (He proceeds to loosen Belle's coat, tears away her collar. She is half fainting.) Get me a glass of wine! Quick! (Bob obeys.) A fan, somebody! (Jessie seizes a newspaper and hands it to him. Dolly kneels at Belle's other side.) She'll be all right in a moment—she's exhausted. Ah! Better? (He rises and speaks swiftly, intensely.) You see what's the matter. The girl is ill; she's nearly dying. I had to get help for her. (To Bob.) You must excuse me, old man. I had to give up the wager. This was too much for me. You see—(Hesitates.) I guess you were right. I ran into the reality of life, and it floored me. You may kid me all you please, I'll take my medicine. But there was this girl—I had to come back, you see. (To Dad.) Excuse me, Dad, for making such a mess of it. But I couldn't punish this girl for my sins. I had to give up my quarter of a million, and save her life.
Dad. What's the matter with the girl?
Jack. She's been worked to death. Standing on her feet in a restaurant fourteen hours a day.