Soup! Mother sends her regards and hopes you'll soon feel better and that you'll like the soup, Mrs. Henschel. MRS. HENSCHEL Eh, little lad, you're the best of 'em all. Chicken soup! 'Tis not possible. Well, tell your mother I thank her most kindly. D'you hear? Don't go an' forget that! Now I'll tell you somethin', Karlchen! You c'n do me a favour, will you? See that rag over there? Get on this bench, will you, an' pull the pot out a bit. The girl's gone off an' she put it too far in. KARLCHEN [_After he has found the rag mounts the bench cheerfully and looks into the oven. He asks:_] The black pot or the blue one, Mrs. Henschel? MRS. HENSCHEL What's in the blue pot? KARLCHEN Sauerkraut. MRS. HENSCHEL [_Agitated._] Pull it out! That'll be boilin' to nothin'!--Eh, what a girl, what a girl! KARLCHEN [_Has pulled the pot in question forward._] Is this right? MRS. HENSCHEL You c'n let it stand that way! Come here a bit now an' I'll give you a piece o' whip cord. [_She takes the cord from the window-sill and gives it to him._] An' how is your mother? KARLCHEN She's well. She's gone to Waldenburg to buy things for my birthday. MRS. HENSCHEL I'm not well, myself. I think I'm goin' to die! KARLCHEN Oh, no, Mrs. Henschel! MRS. HENSCHEL Yes, yes, you c'n believe me; I'm goin' to die. For all I care you can say so to your mother. KARLCHEN I'm goin' to get a Bashly cap, Mrs. Henschel. MRS. HENSCHEL Yes, yes, you c'n believe me. Come over here a bit. Keep reel still an' listen. D'you hear how it ticks? D'you hear how it ticks in the rotten wood? KARLCHEN [_Whose wrist she holds in her fevered grasp._] I'm afraid, Mrs. Henschel. MRS. HENSCHEL Oh, never mind. We all has to die! D'you hear how it ticks? Do you? What is that? 'Tis the deathwatch that ticks. [_She falls back._] One ... two ... one ...--Oh, what a girl, what a girl! _KARLCHEN, released from her grasp, withdraws timidly toward the door. When his hand is on the knob of the glass door a sudden terror overtakes him. He tears the door open and slams it behind him with such force that the panes rattle. Immediately thereupon a vigorous cracking of whips is heard without. Hearing this noise MRS. HENSCHEL starts up violently._ MRS. HENSCHEL That's father comin'! HENSCHEL [_Out in the hallway and yet unseen._] Doctor, what are we goin' to do with the beast? [_He and the veterinarian are visible through the doorway._ GRUNERT He won't let you come near him. We'll have to put the twitch on him, I think. HENSCHEL