akes it quietly, nodding understanding._]

KATE. [_With gesture toward bedroom_.] If he does sell his book,
take his eight dollars and hold it. He may not find a ten-dollar
book next month.

[TIPPY _goes to put money in pocket and discovers he has no pants
on._]

TIPPY. Hell. I have no pants.... Sorry, Kate. [_He grabs pants off
chair and goes into bedroom._]

MARTIN. Why don't you quit it, Kate? You aren't helping Ted. You're
ruining him.

KATE. I'm only lending him the money. He'll pay it back.

MARTIN. Like hell he will! The man's been a deadbeat for years.

KATE. [_Desperately._] Martin!

MARTIN. He borrowed off his prosperous friends till he exhausted
that source.

KATE. He sold them books.

MARTIN. Sold nothing!--Disguised gifts. He made the mistake of
naming prices. Fooled me for a while. Then I happened to meet a
real second-hand books man.

KATE. [_Angrily._] What business was it of yours, checking up on
him?

MARTIN. None whatever, so long as it hurt only him and you.

KATE. You boys need his rent. As long as you get it, why can't you
treat him like a gentleman? His pride is all he's got left.

[TED _re-enters. Wears different tie, good fall topcoat, not new.
His hat and book in his hand._]

TED. The man I think should have this book happens to be out of
town. But I know someone else who might take it. I'll go and see
him.

[TIPPY _enters, bathrobe gone, pants on._]

MARTIN. Just a minute, Ted. I've just been told I'm butting in on
something that's none of my business. So, having been accused, I'm
going to justify it.

[TIPPY _tries to gesture him to shut up._]

TED. Yes?

MARTIN. You've been imposing on Tippy here, who is too damned
charitable to speak in his own behalf.

TIPPY. You're not speaking for me, Martin.

MARTIN. All right, then, I'm speaking for myself. Here is Tippy, a
sanitary engineer, cashing in on his education by washing dogs.
He's making a little money. But he could make a lot more if he had
a place of his own.

TIPPY. I'll have it. I'll have it. Give me time.

MARTIN. You'll not have it so long as you let people sponge on you.

TIPPY. That's my business.

MARTIN. You paid Ted's share of the rent last month, [KATE _looks
surprised._] So this month, if Ted stays here he pays not eight but
sixteen dollars. And you stick eight in the savings bank for that
dog laundry.

TIPPY. Now just wait a minute. I can explain last month's ...

MARTIN. I'll not wait f