Screams at the sound.]
NORTHERNER [leaping toward her]. Now you've done it. They'll be
here in a minute. You can't give me up. They'll shoot you if you
do. They'll shoot. [Hurries up the stairs, and disappears from
sight.]
[MARY stands beside the table, trembling terribly. The SERGEANT,
DICK, and THADDEUS come running in.]
SERGEANT. What did you yell for?
[No answer.]
[Seizing her by the arm.] Answer!
MARY. I knocked the dipper off the table. It scared me.
SERGEANT [dropping wearily into chair at left of centre table].
Well, don't drop our breakfast. Put it on the table. We're ready.
MARY [stands gazing at him]. It ain't finished.
OFFICER [worn out by his day's work and MARY'S stupidity, from
now on absolutely brutish]. You've had time to cook a dozen
meals. You're as slow as a snail. What did you do all the time we
were in the barn?
MARY. I didn't do nothin'.
SERGEANT. You lazy female. Now get a move on, and give us
something fit to eat. Don't try to get rid of any left-overs on
us. If you do, you'll suffer for it.
[MARY stands looking at him.]
Don't you know anything, you brainless farm-drudge? Hurry, I
said.
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