ARRAM Lord, what a sight for hungry soldiers! We're in luck's way. Here, fetch me a bowl of water! I'm hungry; but there are times when you can't enjoy food without washing your hands. [RADA _hesitates, then goes out of the room._ ARRAM _holds out a ring to_ MICHAEL.] Her husband's ring. I got it off his finger When he went down. He lay there on his back Howling like a wolf, with his belly blown out. I put him out of his misery. Look at my hands. Ugh! I want to wash. [NANKO _rises and peers at them._] NANKO Ah, but they're red. Red, aren't they? And there's red on your coat, too. [_He fingers it curiously._] I suppose that's blood, eh? People are such cowards. Many of them never seem to understand That man's a fighting animal. They're afraid, Dreadfully afraid of the sight of blood. I think it's a beautiful colour, beautiful! You know, in the Old Testament, they used To splash it on the door-posts. ARRAM [_Pushing him off._] Go and sit down, You crazy old devil! [RADA _enters with a bowl of water, sets it on a bench and returns to her place_. ARRAM _washes his hands._] MICHAEL My hands want washing, too. O Lord, you've turned the water into wine! Fetch me some fresh. [RADA _approaches, stares at the bowl and moves back, swaying a little, as if faint._] ARRAM [Roughly] I'll empty it. Give it to me. [_He goes out_] NANKO The Old Testament, you know, is full of it. _Who is this_, it says, _that cometh from Edom In dyed garments from Bozrah_? It was blood That dyed their garments. And in _Revelations_ Blood came out of the wine-press, till it splashed The bridles of the horses; and the seas Were all turned into blood. Doesn't that show That man's a fighting animal? MICHAEL [_Goes to the door on the right and tries to open it._] What's in here? RADA [_Thrusting herself between him and the door._] No! No! Don't go in there! Don't go in there! MICHAEL So that's the treasury, is it? Loot? More loot? What is it? The family stocking? [ARRAM _enters with the bowl and sets it down. Then goes to the table and begins eating._] NANKO O, no! no! The stocking is in the chimney-corner, see! [_He shakes the empty stocking that hangs in the fireplace._] All ready for Santa Claus. It's a new custom. They do it in Germany. The children, there, Believe that Santa Claus comes down the chimney. The doctor studied in Germany, you know. MICHAEL O, ho! So that's the trouble! A little girl, Rada, a little girl? Well, Santa Claus Must wash his hands. We mustn't frighten her. RADA It _is_ my little girl. She's twelve years old. Don't wake her. She has slept all through this night. Help me to save her. I'll do anything for you, Anything! Only help me to get her away Safely. I'll pray for you every night of my life. I'll----- [_The door opens behind her, and_ SUBKA, _in her night-dress, steals into the room._] SUBKA Ah, I knew it couldn't be Santa Claus. ARRAM What? Don't you know me? I came down the chimney.