LANE. Brace up; they ain't goin' to do anything to him.... [_Comes into kitchen. Hesitatingly._] Say!... He didn't kick the cat--did he?
LANE. Mrs. Nies--says she saw him from her window.
MRS. BAUER. [_As though to herself._] I dunno. [_Excitedly._] Of course he didn't kick that cat. [_Again, as though to herself._] Fritz is so quick-tempered he mighta kicked it 'fore he knew what he was about. No one'd ever know how good Fritz is unless they lived with him. He never hurt no one and nothing except himself.
LANE. Oh, I'm on to the boss. I never mind his hollerin'.
MRS. BAUER. If you get a chance, bring me some butter for dinner--a pound.
LANE. All right. I'll run over with it in ten or fifteen minutes, soon as I get rid of these orders out here in the wagon.
[_She moves about apathetically, lays the cloth on the kitchen table and begins to set it._ LANE _goes to the dumb-waiter, whistles up the tube, puts the basket of groceries on the shelf of the dumb-waiter, pulls rope and sends waiter up_. MRS. BAUER _continues to set the table. Boys from the street suddenly swoop into the basement and yell_.
CHORUS OF BOYS' VOICES. Who killed the cat! Who killed the cat!
LANE. [_Letting the rope go and making a dive for the boys._] I'll show you, you----
[_They rush out_, MRS. BAUER _stands despairingly in the doorway shaking her clasped hands_.
LANE. Regular toughs! Call the cop and have 'em pinched if they don't stop it.
MRS. BAUER. If my man hears them--you know--there'll be more trouble.
LANE. The boss ought to make it hot for them.
LANE. [_Starts to go._] Well--luck to the boss.
MRS. BAUER. There ain't no such thing as luck for us.
MRS. BAUER. Everything's against us. First Fritz's mother dies. We named the baby after her--Trude.... Then we lost Trude. That finished Fritz. After that he began this hollerin' business. And now this here trouble--just when things was goin' half-ways decent for the first time. [_She pushes past him and goes to her ironing._
LANE. [_Shakes his head sympathetically and takes up his basket._] A pound, you said?
LANE. All right. [_He starts off and then rushes back._] Here's the boss comin', Mrs. Bauer. [_Rushes off again._
LANE'S VOICE. [_Cheerfully._] Hello, there!