HORACE. Thank goodness I had that penny left! That’s the only money I have spent to-night for which I have received any value. I suppose this is a swindle; they generally are. Here it is, anyway. (_In consternation as he reads._) What? What is this? The United Bank closed! My bank broke! I shall be ruined! The shares are only half paid up. The calls will utterly swamp me! Do you hear, I am ruined! MESSENGER. Never mind, there are thousands of people who are not. HORACE. You scoundrel! I suspect this is your doing! It is awful! Awful! MESSENGER. You can pity yourself. When anybody else was in trouble, it didn’t matter, did it? But for your own misfortunes you have quite a tender heart. Doubtless your many admiring friends will assist you. HORACE. They will be terribly distressed, I know. MESSENGER. Let us observe their distress. (_Lights up in house and DICEY and MRS. CLARENCE discovered together reading the paper._) DICEY. I know Parker is a very large shareholder, if not the largest. He’ll be hit hard. Probably ruined. MRS. CLARENCE. Ruined, is he? Ah, ha! quite a new experience for him. HORACE. What a horrible woman! She’s simply amused. MRS. CLARENCE. I hope it won’t affect Miss Parker or Minnie. DICEY. Here they come. How best can I break it to them? I must learn whether they are caught, too. (_Enter AUNT MARTHA and MINNIE._) AUNT. I hear something dreadful has happened in the city. Does the paper say? DICEY. Have you or Minnie anything in the United Kingdom Bank? AUNT. We had, but were advised to take it out, and did so. Why? DICEY. (_Showing paper_) It has gone smash. AUNT. No! Oh, what luck for us, eh, Minnie! MRS. CLARENCE. And Mr. Parker? AUNT. Oh, he pooh-poohed our friend. Horace knew it all. He is so pig-headed! I shouldn’t wonder if he was about cleared out. MRS. CLARENCE. I can’t say I am very sorry. He has led a most selfish life, as everybody knows. He has his desert. MESSENGER. You are meeting with a lot of sympathy. HORACE. It is just what I told you. It’s the other people who are selfish, not I. Why don’t you take Mrs. Clarence in hand? She’s a beauty, if you like. MESSENGER. Compared to you, she is an angel. MINNIE. Poor Horace, I am sorry for him! What will he do? HORACE. There’s Minnie! She’s true—she’s true, after all! AUNT. What will he do? Well, I suppose he will have to work, like anyone else. MINNIE. But he can’t, poor boy, he doesn’t know anything. HORACE. Doesn’t know anything? What does she mean? MRS. CLARENCE. There are plenty of fools who manage to earn their own living. A little adversity will be the making of him. It’s a terrible blow, all the same, and you are brave to face it as you are doing. HORACE. Damn it! it’s my trouble she is facing, not hers. Brave? MINNIE. You’ll find something for Horace, won’t you, dear? DICEY. Well, I don’t know. Mr. Horace Parker has not made himself particularly pleasant to me. HORACE. A good job, too. MINNIE. Oh, Arthur, for my sake! Please!