MAYOR. [Suddenly] H'm!
CHANTREY. Touch of frost. Birds ought to come well to the guns--no
wind. I like these October days.
MAYOR. I think I 'ear them. H'm.
CHANTREY drops his eyeglass and puts on a pair of "grandfather"
spectacles. The MAYOR clears his throat and takes up a pen. They
neither of them look up as the door is opened and a little
procession files in. First HARRIS; then RALPH BUILDER, ATHENE,
HERRINGHAME, MAUD, MRS BUILDER, SERGEANT MARTIN, carrying a heavy
Malacca cane with a silver knob; JOHN BUILDER and the CONSTABLE
MOON, a young man with one black eye. No funeral was ever attended
by mutes so solemn and dejected. They stand in a sort of row.
MAYOR. [Without looking up] Sit down, ladies; sit down.
HARRIS and HERRINGHAME succeed in placing the three women in chairs.
RALPH BUILDER also sits. HERRINGHAME stands behind. JOHN BUILDER
remains standing between the two POLICEMEN. His face is unshaved
and menacing, but he stands erect staring straight at the MAYOR.
HARRIS goes to the side of the bureau, Back, to take down the
evidence.
MAYOR. Charges!
SERGEANT. John Builder, of The Cornerways, Breconridge, Contractor and
Justice of the Peace, charged with assaulting his daughter Maud Builder
by striking her with a stick in the presence of Constable Moon and two
other persons; also with resisting Constable Moon in the execution of his
duty, and injuring his eye.
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