You ain't goin' to be scared of a woman? If she scolds, scold harder; an' if she beats you, beat her back. Come here now--you're taller'n me--get me down them things off the shelf. An' Julius, you get the sleigh ready! [_JULIUS exit._] How often have I got to tell you? [_MITTELDORF has taken cords and pulley lines front the high shelf on the wall._] Get ready the big sleigh! You c'n hand them cords right down to him. JULIUS [_From without._] I can't see! MRS. WOLFF What can't you do? JULIUS [_Appears in the doorway._] I can't get that sleigh out alone! Everythin' is all mixed up in a heap here. An' there ain't nothin' to be done without a light. MRS. WOLFF Now you're helpless again--like always. [_Rapidly she puts shawls about her head and chest._] You must wait, I'll come an' lend a hand. There's the lantern, Mitteldorf. [_MITTELDORF slowly takes a lantern and hands it to MRS. WOLFF.] There! thank you. [_She puts the burning candle into the lantern._] We'll put that in here an' then we c'n go. Now I'll help you drag out the sleigh. [_She goes ahead with the lantern. MITTELDORF follows her. In the door she turns around and hands the lantern to MITTELDORF._] You c'n come an' hold the light for us a bit! MITTELDORF [_Holding the light and humming to himself:_] "Morningre-ed, morningre-ed ..." THE CURTAIN FALLS THE SECOND ACT _Court room of Justice VON WEHRHAHN. A great, bare, white-washed room with three windows in the rear wall. The main door is in the left wall. Along the wall to the right stands the long official table covered with books, legal documents, etc.; behind it the chair of the justice. Near the centre window are the clerk's chair and table. To the right is a bookcase of white wood, so arranged that it is within reach of the justice when he sits in his chair. The left wall is hidden by cases containing documents. In the foreground, beginning at the wall to the left, six chairs stand in a row. Their occupants would be seen by the spectator from behind.--It is a bright forenoon in Winter. The clerk GLASENAPP sits scribbling at his table. He is a poverty-stricken, spectacled person. Justice VON WEHRHAHN, carrying a roll of documents under his arm, enters rapidly. WEHRHAHN is about forty years old and wears a monocle. He makes the impression of a son of the landed nobility of Prussia. His official garb consists of a buttoned, black walking coat, and very tall boots put on over his trousers. He speaks in what is almost a falsetto voice and carefully cultivates a military brevity of expression._ WEHRHAHN [_By the way, like one crushed by the weight of affairs._] Mornin'. GLASENAPP Servant, sir. WEHRHAHN Anything happened, Glasenapp? GLASENAPP