a bench and returns to her
place_. ARRAM _washes his hands._]

MICHAEL
My hands want washing, too.
O Lord, you've turned the water into wine!
Fetch me some fresh.

[RADA _approaches, stares at the bowl and moves back, swaying a little, as
if faint._]

ARRAM
[Roughly]
I'll empty it. Give it to me.
[_He goes out_]

NANKO
The Old Testament, you know, is full of it.
_Who is this_, it says, _that cometh from Edom
In dyed garments from Bozrah_? It was blood
That dyed their garments. And in _Revelations_
Blood came out of the wine-press, till it splashed
The bridles of the horses; and the seas
Were all turned into blood. Doesn't that show
That man's a fighting animal?

MICHAEL
[_Goes to the door on the right and tries to open it._]
What's in here?

RADA
[_Thrusting herself between him and the door._]
No! No! Don't go in there! Don't go in there!

MICHAEL
So that's the treasury, is it? Loot? More loot?
What is it? The family stocking?

[ARRAM _enters with the bowl and sets it down.
Then goes to the table and begins eating._]

NANKO
O, no! no!
The stocking is in the chimney-corner, see!
[_He shakes the empty stocking that hangs in the fireplace._]
All ready for Santa Claus. It's a new custom.
They do it in Germany. The children, there,
Believe that Santa Claus comes down the chimney.
The doctor studied in Germany, you know.

MICHAEL
O, ho! So that's the trouble! A little girl,
Rada, a little girl? Well, Santa Claus
Must wash his hands. We mustn't frighten her.

RADA
It _is_ my little girl. She's twelve years old.
Don't wake her. She has slept all through this night.
Help me to save her. I'll do anything for you,
Anything! Only help me to get her away
Safely. I'll pray for you every night of my life.
I'll-----

[_The door opens behind her, and_ SUBKA, _in her night-dress, steals into
the room._]

SUBKA
Ah, I knew it couldn't be Santa Claus.

ARRAM
What? Don't you know me? I came down the chimney.

SUBKA
I don't see any soot upon your face.
[_She goes nearer._]
Nor on your clothes. That's red paint, isn't it?

ARRAM
Can't help it. Santa Claus--that is my name.
What's yours?

SUBKA
Mine? Subka!

ARRAM
I've a little girl
At home called Subka! Just about your age.

SUBKA
You didn't come down the chimney.
[_To_ MICHAEL.]
He didn't, did he?
[_She runs to the stocking and examines it._]
There's nothing in the stocking.

ARRAM
Ah, Subka,
That remains to be seen; that remains