[_Nurses his hand, and Mary Speaker examines it, while Cousin Fanny pulls cork from phial with teeth, and John Thinker says_:] John Thinker The old viper has teeth yet! Mary Thinker She is a cat... she is a she-devil... she is a witch... she has a bad heart.... John Speaker [_To Mary Speaker, pointing to Cousin Fanny, who is shaking tablet out of bottle; she drops one and gropes for it, and shakes another more carefully, with air of childish triumph._] Mary, what _can_ I do? She _will_ have it! And if I struggle with her it will kill her! She is too weak to struggle! It will kill her to struggle! And if I let her take the tablet it may do her harm! Mary Speaker Perhaps the tablet won't do her any harm, John. John Thinker It will kill her as surely as she sits there. I know it will and _you_ know it will. John Speaker Maybe it won't hurt her, Mary... but we can never tell.... I'm afraid... I'm afraid it really _might_ harm her.... Cousin Fanny [_Putting tablet into her mouth_.] There! I'm going to sleep, now.... I'm going to sleep in spite of you. You hate me--both of you hate me--but you can't prevent me going to sleep! Mary Speaker She's taken it, John. Do you suppose she really _did_ have one before? John Speaker [To Cousin Fanny.] Cousin Fanny, you _didn't_ have one before, did you? Cousin Fanny [_She has closed her eyes; she opens them and rocks back and forth, laughing foolishly_.] Yes! John Speaker [_Taking out handkerchief; mopping fore-head_.] I don't believe she did. She says she did, but she doesn't know. Cousin Fanny [_Rocking and laughing sillily._] Yes, I did! You know I did! John Speaker She doesn't know.... She doesn't know whether she did or not.... She hasn't really been right in her mind for a long time. I don't think she had one before. [_As he speaks Cousin Fanny ceases rocking and leans hack in her chair, closing her eyes. From this time on the two Johns and the two Marys stare at her intently, never taking their eyes off of her while they speak._] John Thinker She _did_ have one before. Mary Thinker I _know_ she did. John Thinker Will she die? Will I see her die? I should hate to see her die! John Speaker She _would_ have that tablet... she WOULD have it. If I had taken it away from her by force it would have killed her; the struggle would have killed her. John Thinker Will I see her die? Will she die? John Speaker I let her have it to save her life... it was to save her life that I quit struggling with her. John Thinker If she dies... but _will_ she die? Mary Thinker She will die! Cousin Fanny [_Rousing from her lethargy slightly; open-ing her eyes._] John... Mary.... You really love me, don't you? Don't you? You really... really... [_Sinks back, with head slightly on one side and eyes closed again; does not move after this._] Mary Speaker