Let 'em come! [_He gets up and takes his rifle from the hollow cherry tree to the left._] I'd better hang it around again anyhow. So.--And now my hat and my pipe! Good. They can come whenever they please. [_He has slung his gun across his shoulder, straightened his hat which is ornamented with a cock's feather, taken a short pipe out of his pocket and put it between his lips._] Look at the wild cherries. They're thick. [_He picks up a handful of them and shows them to ROSE. With heartfelt conviction:_] Rosie, I wish you were my wife! ROSE Goodness, Mr. Flamm! FLAMM I do, so help me! ROSE [_Nervously trying to restrain him_] Oh no, no! FLAMM Rosie, give me your dear, good, faithful little paw. [_He holds her hand and sits down._] By heaven, Rosie! Look here, I'm a deucedly queer fellow! I'm damned fond of my dear old woman; that's as true as ... ROSE [_Hiding her face in her arm._] You make me want to die o' shame. FLAMM Damned fond of her I tell you ... but--[_His patience snaps._]--this doesn't concern her a bit! ROSE [_Again tempted to laugh against her will._] Oh, but how you talk, Mr. Flamm! FLAMM [_Filled with hearty admiration of her._] Oh, you're a lovely woman! You are lovely! You see: my wife and I ... that's a queer bit of business, that is. Not the kind of thing that can be straightened out in a minute. You know Henrietta ... She's sick. Nine solid years she's been bedridden; at most she creeps around in a wheel chair.--Confound it all, what good is that sort o' thing to me? [_He grasps her head and kisses her passionately._ ROSE [_Frightened under his kisses._] The people are comin' from church! FLAMM They're not thinking of it! Why are you so worried about the people in church to-day? ROSE Because August's in church too. FLAMM That long-faced gentry is always in church! Where else should they be? But, Rosie, it isn't even half past ten yet; and when the service is over the bells ring. No, and you needn't be worried about my wife either. ROSE Oh, Christopher, she keeps lookin' at a body sometimes, so you want to die o' shame. FLAMM You don't know my old lady; that's it. She's bright; she can look through three board walls! But on that account ...! She's mild and good as a lamb ... even if she knew what there is between us; she wouldn't take our heads off. ROSE Oh, no! For heaven's sake, Mr. Flamm! FLAMM Nonsense, Rosie! Have a pinch, eh? [_He takes snuff._] I tell you once more: I don't care about anything! [_Indignantly._] What is a man like me to do? What, I ask you? No, don't misunderstand me! Surely you know how seriously I think of our affair. Let me talk ahead once in a while. ROSE Mr. Christie, you're so good to me ...! [_With a sudden ebullition of tenderness, tears in her eyes, she kisses FLAMM'S hand._] So good ... but ... FLAMM