Well, _Mary_ Snow, then; _Mary_ Snow. I never heard her name but once. I don’t see anything to make such a fuss about. HENRIETTA [_Gently._] Mabel dear--mistakes like that in names-- MABEL [_Desperately._] They don’t mean something, too, do they? HENRIETTA [_Gently._] I am sorry, dear, but they do. MABEL But I’m always doing that! HENRIETTA [_After a start of horror._] My poor little sister, tell me about it. MABEL About what? HENRIETTA About your not being happy. About your longing for another sort of life. MABEL But I _don’t_. HENRIETTA Ah, I understand these things, dear. You feel Bob is limiting you to a life in which you do not feel free-- MABEL Henrietta! When did I ever say such a thing? HENRIETTA You said you are not in touch with things intellectual. You showed your feeling that it is Bob’s profession--that has engendered a resentment which has colored your whole life with him. MABEL Why--Henri_et_ta! HENRIETTA Don’t be afraid of me, little sister. There’s nothing can shock me or turn me from you. I am not like that. I wanted you to come for this visit because I had a feeling that you needed more from life than you were getting. No one of these things I have seen would excite my suspicion. It’s the combination. You don’t eat breakfast [_Enumerating on her fingers_]; you make false moves; you substitute your own name for the name of another _whose love is misdirected_. You’re nervous; you _look_ queer; in your eyes there’s a frightened look that is most unlike you. And this dream. A _hen_. Come with me this afternoon to Dr. Russell! Your whole life may be at stake, Mabel. MABEL [_Gasping._] Henrietta, I--you--you always were the smartest in the family, and all that, but--this is terrible! I don’t think we _ought_ to think such things. [_Brightening._] Why, I’ll tell you why I dreamed I was a hen. It was because last night, telling about that time in Chicago, you said I was as mad as a wet hen. HENRIETTA [_Superior._] Did you dream you were a _wet_ hen? MABEL [_Forced to admit it._] No. HENRIETTA No. You dreamed you were a _dry_ hen. And why, being a hen, were you urged to step? MABEL Maybe it’s because when I am getting on a street car it always irritates me to have them call “Step lively.” HENRIETTA No, Mabel, that is only a child’s view of it--if you will forgive me. You see merely the elements used in the dream. You do not see into the dream; you do not see its meaning. This dream of the hen-- STEVE Hen--hen--wet hen--dry hen--mad hen! [_Jumps up in a rage._] Let me out of this! HENRIETTA [_Hastily picking up dishes, speaks soothingly._] Just a minute, dear, and we’ll have things so you can work in quiet. Mabel and I are going to sit in my room. [_She goes out left, carrying dishes._ STEVE