ORIN Say, Mum, that’s in the Bible too! SADIE Hush! ORIN Well, ain’t it? SADIE Will you hush? HENRY It’s our duty to hope so long as we can. JUDGE Yes, of course. JANE I’ll take this right up. [_She exits up the stairs._ JUDGE (_removes his coat_) I’ll wait. SADIE She can’t see you; she ain’t really what a body could call in her right mind. JUDGE So Jane said. [_He crosses to stove and warms his hands._ ELLA (_sighs_) It’s a sad time for us, Judge! JUDGE She was always such a wonderful woman. HENRY An awful time for us. Did you come up Main Street, Judge? JUDGE Yes. HENRY Did you happen to notice if my store was open? JUDGE No. HENRY Not that it matters---- SADIE Nothing matters now. HENRY No--Mother wasn’t ever the kind to neglect things; if the worst does come she’ll find herself prepared. Won’t she? Won’t she, Judge? JUDGE Her affairs are, as usual, in perfect order. HENRY In every way? JUDGE (_looks at him coldly_) Her will is drawn and is on deposit in my office, if that is what you mean. HENRY Well--that _is_ what I mean--I’m no hypocrite. EMMA He’s the oldest of the family. He’s got a right to ask, hasn’t he? JUDGE Yes. HENRY (_honestly_) If I could make her well by givin’ up everything I’ve got in the world, or ever expect to git, I’d do it! SADIE All of us would. HENRY If it’s in my mind at all, as I stand here, that she’s a rich woman, it’s because my mind’s so worried, the way business has been, that I’m drove most frantic; it’s because, well--because I’m human; because I can’t help it. ELLA (_bitterly_) You’re a man! What do you think it’s been for me! SADIE (_with arm about Orin_) His father didn’t leave much, you all know that, and it’s been scrimp and save till I’m all worn to skin and bone. ELLA Just to the three of us, that would be fair. HENRY Judge! My brother’s name ain’t in her will, is it? Tell me that? Ben’s name ain’t there! JUDGE I’d rather not talk about it, Henry. ELLA She’d cut him off, she said, the last time he disgraced us, and she’s a woman of her word. SADIE (_eagerly, to Judge_) And the very next day she sent for you because I was here when she telephoned; and you came to her that very afternoon because I saw you from my front window cross right up to this door. JUDGE Possibly. I frequently drop in to discuss business matters with your mother for a moment on my way home. SADIE It was five minutes to four when you went in that day, and six minutes to five when you came out, by the clock on my mantel. JUDGE Your brother has been gone for almost two years; Your memory is very clear. ELLA So’s her window. NETTIE I know folks in this town that are scared to go past it. SADIE (_to her_) I know others that ought to be. HENRY (_discouraged_) Every time you folks meet there’s trouble.