Page:Plays in Prose and Verse (1922).djvu/64

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48
THE HOUR-GLASS

glass]. In a little while the uppermost glass will be empty.

[Goes out.

wise man. Everything will be well with me. I will call my pupils; they only say they doubt. [Pulls the bell] They will be here in a moment. I hear their feet outside on the path. They want to please me; they pretend that they disbelieve. Belief is too old to be overcome all in a minute. Besides I can prove what I once disproved. [Another pull at the bell.] They are coming now. I will go to my desk. I will speak quietly, as if nothing had happened.

[He stands at the desk with a fixed look in his eyes.
Enter
pupils and the fool.

fool. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Who is that pulling at my bag? King’s son, do not pull at my bag.

a young man. Did your friends the angels give you that bag? Why don’t they fill your bag for you?

fool. Give me pennies! Give me some pennies!

a young man. What do you want pennies for, that great bag at your waist is heavy?

fool. I want to buy bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong drink for the time when the sun is weak, and snares to catch rabbits and the squirrels that steal the