COAST. Listen, Lou; did you ever know me to lose anything I’d set my mind on getting.

LOUISE.  No.

COAST. Well I mean to marry Georgiana, Dick Coleman or no Dick Coleman.  No, I’ll put it different from that.  I mean to make her love me, because, by God, I love that woman so I’d do anything, commit a crime almost, to get her.

[STEVEN enters Left and COAST goes up to the mantel.

LOUISE.  Steve, aren’t you up town early?

STEVEN.  A little.

[Sits Left. MOLES enters.

MOLES.  Beg pardon, sir.

LOUISE.  What is it, Moles?

MOLES. [To LOUISE.] Mr. Carley, m’m. [To STEVEN.] Could I speak with you a few moments, sir?

STEVEN.  I’m very busy to-day, Moles.

MOLES.  But have you noticed sir, this morning, United Copper is lower.

STEVEN.  It can’t be helped—­go about your business.

MOLES.  But for heaven’s sake, Mr. Carley—­you said yesterday if it dropped another point and we couldn’t give up any more money, Lizzie and me’d both lose everything we had.

STEVEN.  I’m sorrier than I can say, but there are lots of others worse off than you.

[GEORGIANA reenters Right.

COAST. [Cynically to STEVEN.] You don’t mean to say you’ve been speculating with Moles’s money.

LOUISE.  Moles!

STEVEN.  It was for himself, not me, I put him in.

MOLES.  And Lizzie, sir.  And we’d counted it up, how if we made all you said, we could leave service soon, sir, and we could afford a small house in the country with say four rooms and one baby—­Lizzie doing her own work.

LOUISE.  Do you mean to say, Steve, that your own servants have lost their earnings through you?

MOLES.  Yes, m’m.

STEVEN. [Doggedly.] Put it that way if you like.  I meant to do them a good turn.

LOUISE.  But we can’t let that happen; we must pay them back!

COAST. [Amused.] Bully for you, Louise! getting generous in your old age.

LOUISE.  It would ruin us socially if it got out!

COAST. Oh, I see!

MOLES.  Mr. Carley said it was sure, ma’am.

[COAST laughs a rather coarse laugh.

STEVEN.  For heaven’s sake, Coast!  Go away, Moles.

[MOLES goes out Left.

COAST. [To STEVEN.] Are they holding on for you?

STEVEN.  They said they’d give me till to-morrow to put up more security.

[Sits Right.

COAST. What do you need?

[No answer.

LOUISE.  How much more security, Steve?

[Goes to STEVE.

STEVEN.  Say a hundred and fifty thousand.

[COAST whistles.

LOUISE.  He’d better hold on, Sam, hadn’t he; what do you think of the stock?