[_She places the bottles and glasses on the table._ MRS. FIELITZ [_With sudden determination._] Let him! He c'n come up for all I cares. I'll tell him the reel truth for onct. [_RAUCHHAUPT puts his head in at the door._ RAUCHHAUPT Is I disturbing you, Mrs. Fielitz? MRS. FIELITZ No, you ain't disturbin' me. RAUCHHAUPT Is I disturbin' anybody else then? MRS. FIELITZ I don't know about that. It depends. RAUCHHAUPT [_Enters. His appearance is not quite so neglected as formerly._] My congratulations. I'm comin' in to see if things is goin' right again. MRS. FIELITZ [_With forced joviality._] You got a fine instinct for them things, Rauchhaupt. RAUCHHAUPT [_Staring at her, emphatically._] That I has, certainly! That I has!--I just met Dr. Boxer, too. He's goin' to come up and see you in a minute, too. An' I axed him about a certain matter, too. MRS. FIELITZ What kind o' thing was that? RAUCHHAUPT About that time, you know! They says that he said somethin' to Langheinrich that time an' Langheinrich said somethin' to him, too. MRS. FIELITZ I ain't concerned with them affairs o' yours. Leontine! Go an' get a piece o' sausage so that they c'n have a bite o' food when they comes over afterwards. RAUCHHAUPT The world don't stop movin'. MRS. FIELITZ No, it don't. That's so. LEONTINE Wouldn't you like for me to stay here now? RAUCHHAUPT Yon better be goin' an' buy some silk stockin's. MRS. FIELITZ What's the meanin' o' that? RAUCHHAUPT That don't mean, nothin' much. You might think she was a countess--standin' there at Mrs. Boxer's:--Adelaide, I mean, what's now Mrs. Schmarowski. There she stood in the shop an' chaffered about a yellow petticoat. She's a great lady nowadays an' one as wears red silk stockin's. LEONTINE People like us don't hardly have enough to buy cotton, ones. [_Exit._ MRS. FIELITZ I wonder what people will say about Adelaide in the end? RAUCHHAUPT That ain't just talkin'. Them's facts. T'other day the beer waggon unloaded some beer at Mrs. Kehrwieder's--Mrs. Kehrwieder that's a washerwoman hereabouts. Well, my lady comes rustlin' up--that's what she does--an' turns up her nose--she ain't no beastly snob, oh, no!--an' then she asks Mrs. Kehrwieder: is it reely true that the poor drinks beer? MRS. FIELITZ You needn't come to me with your rot an' your gossip. RAUCHHAUPT Anyhow, what I was goin' to tell you is this: I'm on a new scent! MRS. FIELITZ What kind of a scent is that you're on? RAUCHHAUPT Mum's the word! I gotta be careful. I can't say nothin'; I don't pretend to know nothin'. But I kept my eyes open pretty wide, I tell you. There's detectives workin', too. I been to Wehrhahn, too, an' he told me to go right on! MRS. FIELITZ [_Knitting._] O Lordy! Wehrhahn. He's goin' to do you a lot o' good, ain't he? It'll cost some more o' your money--that's what! RAUCHHAUPT