_The infirm ward in the Workhouse. Entrance from corridor, right. Forward, left, are three beds with bedding folded upon them. Back, left, is a door leading into Select Ward. This door is closed, and a large key is in lock. Fireplace with a grating around it, left. Back, right, is a window with little leaded panes_. _It is noon on a May day, but the light inside the ward is feeble._ _Two paupers are seated at fire. One of them, Mickie Cripes, is a man of fifty, stooped and hollow-chested, but with quick blue eyes. The other man, Tom Shanley, is not old, but he looks broken and listless. Myles Gorman, still in pauper dress, is standing before window, an expectant look on his face_. _Thomas Muskerry enters from corridor. He wears his own clothes, but he has let them get into disorder. His hair and beard are disordered, and he seems very much broken down. Nevertheless, he looks as if his mind were composed_. MUSKERRY It's dark in here, Michael. GRIPES It is, sir. MUSKERRY I find it very spiritless after coming up from the chapel. Don't pass your whole day here. Go down into the yard. _(He stands before the window)_ This is the first fine day, and you ought to go out along the country road. Ask the Master for leave. It's the month of May, and you'll be glad of the sight of the grass and the smell of the bushes. Now here's a remarkable thing. I venture to think that the like of this has never happened before. Here are the bees swarming at the window pane. GORMAN You'll hear my pipes on the road to-day. That's as sure as the right hand is on my body. _(He goes out by corridor door)_ CRIPES Myles Gorman must have been glad to hear that buzzing. MUSKERRY Why was Myles glad to hear it? SHANLEY He was leaving on the first fine day. CRIPES The buzzing at the pane would let any one know that the air is nice for a journey. MUSKERRY I am leaving to-day, myself. CRIPES And where are you going, Mr. Muskerry? MUSKERRY I'm going to a place of my own. _Muskerry goes into the Select Ward_. CRIPES I'll tell you what brought Thomas Muskerry back to the workhouse to be an inmate in it. Living in a bad house. Living with his own. That's what brought him back. And that's what left me here, too. SHANLEY _(listlessly)_ The others have the flour, and we may hawk the bran. _An old pauper comes into the ward. His face looks bleached. He has the handle of a sweeping-brush for a staff. He moves about the ward, muttering to himself. He seats himself on chair, right_. THE OLD MAN _(speaking as if thinking aloud)_ I was at twelve o'clock Mass. Now one o'clock would be a late Mass. I was at Mass at one o'clock. Wouldn't that be a long time to keep a priest, and he fasting the whole time? CRIPES I'll tell you what Thomas Muskerry did when he left the bad house he was in. _(He puts coal on the fire)_