The Fourth Series Plays

Excerpt t. [She goes out on to the green. JIM BERE has come in.] STRANGWAY. [Gently] Well, Jim? JIM. My cat's lost. STRANGWAY. Lost? JIM. Day before yesterday. She'm not come back. They've shot 'er, I think; or she'm caught in one o' they rabbit-traps. STRANGWAY. Oh! no; my dear fellow, she'll come back. I'll speak to Sir Herbert's keepers. JIM. Yes, zurr. I feel lonesome without 'er. STRANGWAY. [With a faint smile--more to himself than to Jim] Lonesome! Yes! That's bad, Jim! That's bad! JIM. I miss 'er when I sits than in the avenin'. STRANGWAY. The evenings----They're the worst----and when the blackbirds sing in the morning. JIM. She used to lie on my bed, ye know, zurr. [STRANGWAY turns his face away, contracted with pain]