t?

PAPPELMEISTER
_Wunderbar!..._
[_Becoming half-conscious of VERA_]
Four lumps....
[_Waking up_]
_Bitte?_

VERA
How soon can you produce it?

PAPPELMEISTER
How soon can he finish it?

VERA
Isn't it finished?

PAPPELMEISTER
I see von Finale scratched out and anoder not quite completed. But
anyhow, ve couldn't broduce it before Saturday fortnight.

QUINCY
Saturday fortnight! Not time to get my crowd.

PAPPELMEISTER
Den ve say Saturday dree veeks. Yes?

QUINCY
Yes. Stop a minute! Did you say Saturday? That's my comic opera night!
You thief!

PAPPELMEISTER
Somedings must be sagrificed.

MENDEL [_Outside_]
But you _must_ come, David.
[_The kitchen door opens, and MENDEL drags in the boyishly
shrinking DAVID. PAPPELMEISTER thumps with his umbrella, VERA
claps her hands, QUINCY DAVENPORT produces his eyeglass and
surveys DAVID curiously._]

VERA
Oh, Mr. Quixano, I am so glad! Mr. Davenport is going to produce your
symphony in his wonderful music-room.

QUINCY
Yes, young man, I'm going to give you the smartest audience in America.
And if Poppy is right, you're just going to rake in the dollars. America
wants a composer.

PAPPELMEISTER [_Raises hands emphatically._]
_Ach Gott, ja!_

VERA [_To DAVID_]
Why don't you speak? You're not angry with me for interfering----?

DAVID
I can never be grateful enough to you----

VERA
Oh, not to me. It is to Mr. Davenport you----

DAVID
And I can never be grateful enough to Herr Pappelmeister. It is an
honour even to meet him.
[_Bows._]

PAPPELMEISTER [_Choking with emotion, goes and pats him on the back._]
_Mein braver Junge!_

VERA [_Anxiously_]
But it is Mr. Davenport----

DAVID
Before I accept Mr. Davenport's kindness, I must know to whom I am
indebted--and if Mr. Davenport is the man who----

QUINCY
Who travelled with you to New York? Ha! Ha! Ha! No, _I'm_ only the
junior.

DAVID
Oh, I know, sir, you don't make the money you spend.

QUINCY
Eh?

VERA [_Anxiously_]
He means he knows you're not in business.

DAVID
Yes, sir; but is it true you are in pleasure?

QUINCY [_Puzzled_]
I beg your pardon?

DAVID
Are all the stories the papers print about you true?

QUINCY
_All_ the stories. That's a tall order. Ha! Ha! Ha!

DAVID
Well, anyhow, is it true that----?

VERA
Mr. Quixano! What _are_ you driving at?

QUINCY
Oh, it's rather fun to hear what the masses read about me. Fire ahead.
Is