No! No, it ain’t, Betty. You’re jist upset. It’ll be nice out thar. It’ll be clear an’ bright. Mebbe it’ll be warm. We’ll stay as long’s you want to. You mustn’t be this a-way, don’t you see, Betty? Oh, I know—you’re jist upset, you’ve saw things you don’t understand. You’ve been skeered. It’s all right now. You mustn’t think everything’s mixed up like this—like these woods. Out there—look at it—look at the lake! (_Breathlessly._) Sun techin’ it. Little waves startin’ in the wind, breakin’ here on the bank in ripples. Trees—willers leanin’ down like they uz prayin’ at the edges. I wish I could be a lake. I wish I could be that big, that deep! I wish I could be ketchin’ the sun like it—an’ sparklin’ an’ singin’—an’ never afeard o’ nuthin’—jist a-settin’ thar quiet in the sunshine—a-lookin’ up at the sky, a-lookin’ up at the sun— BETTY (_looking up at him_) You make it nice— LLOYD No, ’tain’t me— BETTY You make it nicer’n it is— LLOYD No. It looks that a-way t’ me. BETTY It’s that a-way t’ me, too— LLOYD (_relieved_) Betty— BETTY When you say it. You make things nicer’n they air— LLOYD No, I make ’em the _way_ they air. BETTY An’ the lake?— LLOYD It’s a deep pool— BETTY It’s quiet. LLOYD It moves when the wind moves. It holds the sun. It’s a cup with gold in it— BETTY And dawn— LLOYD An’ sunset, and shadders, and starlight, an’ the moon burnin’ red. Come on, why’d we stay on the bank? We’ll go out— (_He climbs into the boat._) BETTY Yes. LLOYD On the lake! BETTY I hear sump’n— LLOYD ’S footsteps. Somebody runnin’— BETTY They’re comin’ this way! LLOYD Through the woods— BETTY Lloyd! LLOYD Sh! BETTY Le’s go, quick. LLOYD Be still! They won’t see us! (_A boy rushes in headlong from the woods at the left. He is almost out of sight, right, when he catches sight of the two in the boat. He stops. His face is coarse; a grin, like an idiot’s, spreads over his face. It is the_ DAVIS _boy_.) DAVIS Hi! LLOYD Hi. DAVIS Didden see ya. Betty an’ Lloyd, ain’t it? Whut you doin’? LLOYD Nuthin’. DAVIS Well. Whur’s Miss Meredith at? LLOYD Down the lake. Thought you wuzn’t comin’. Thought you had t’ work. DAVIS I did—but I sneaked off. Played hookey frum work—like frum school. Joke’s on my ole man. He’s keepin’ the shop, he’s shoein’ ole Jake Wilkerson’s mare— Whut you doin’ here—you two? LLOYD Nuthin’. DAVIS Settin’ in a boat—by yerselves, ain’t ya? Ha! Havin’ a good time all by yerselves, ain’t ya? Sweet on each other, ain’t ya? Oh, by Joe! Wait’ll I tell Miss Meredith! LLOYD Shet up yer mouth, Oscar Davis! DAVIS Miss Meredith knows yer here, don’t she? LLOYD We ain’t saw her this mornin’. DAVIS You ain’t? Oh, wait’ll I tell her! Settin’ in a boat—_hidin’_ in a boat! I wouldn’t a-saw you if you’d a-kep’ yer head down. O gorry! LLOYD (_gets out of the boat, angrily_) Whut’re you a-sayin’, you? DAVIS