ecords. Your name is Theodore Brooks.

[_She sits at table to fill out blanks_, TED _stands._]

TED. That's right.

CASE WORKER. Age?

TED. Twenty-eight.

CASE WORKER. Where born?

TED. New York City.

CASE WORKER. When?

TED. Twenty-eight years ago.

CASE WORKER. No, no, the date!

TED. March 20, 1907.

CASE WORKER. Father's name?

TED. Nathaniel Brooks.

CASE WORKER. His birthplace?

TED. New York City.

CASE WORKER. His ancestry?

TED. The Pilgrim fathers.

CASE WORKER. Your mother's name?

TED. Susan Cartwright, born in Philadelphia. Her ancestors,
American Quakers.

CASE WORKER. [_Writing fast._] Wait a minute.--Both parents living?

TED. Both dead.

CASE WORKER. Brothers and sisters?

TED. None.

CASE WORKER. What other close kin?

TED. I have one uncle and two aunts.

CASE WORKER. Do they live in New York City?

TED. It happens that none of them does.

CASE WORKER. Then we don't need them.

MARTIN. Pardon me, but how far in kinship does the responsibility
go?

CASE WORKER. It depends. We can't force uncles and aunts to
contribute, but we sometimes give them the opportunity to do so.
However, this doesn't look like a kin folks case. And now, young
man, just what is your occupation?

TED. I haven't any. That's my trouble.

CASE WORKER. No occupation? You're not a minor. For adults
occupation must be stated.

TED. Very well, I am a collector.

CASE WORKER. By what firms have you been employed?

TED. None.

CASE WORKER. Then how can you be a collector?

TED. You said I must have an occupation.

CASE WORKER. You are not helping me by lying and you may get
yourself into trouble.

MARTIN. Is it the first time you ever ran into a man, who needed
relief, not because he had worked, but because he hadn't?

CASE WORKER. [_Snappily._] I didn't prepare those blanks, but I
have to fill them out. One can have an occupation, like
stenography, when trained for it, even though they have never been
employed.

TED. All right, put that down and go ahead.

CASE WORKER. Stenography?

TED. No, collecting.

CASE WORKER. But collectors aren't trained. One has to have worked
at that.

TED. Then say I worked as a collector for my father.

CASE WORKER. What business was he in?

TED. He was retired.

CASE WORKER. Then what did you collect for him?

TED. First editions.

CASE WORKER. Please talk sense.

MARTIN. Books. A book collector.

CASE WORKER. You mean, a bookkee