Part 68 (2/2)

Here, take this--

[_She offers a coin._

JONATHAN

Oh, no, ma'am....

[_He puts his hand behind him._

MLLE. PERRAULT

I am sorry.... Very, very sorry.

JONATHAN

Yes, ma'am.

[_Mlle. Perrault goes out silently, and in a moment she is heard to call_ ”Marie”--”John,” _and a distant answer is heard_.

_Susan comes to the door and sees Jonathan. She crosses to him. He looks at her almost with madness in his eyes._

SUSAN

They didn't mean to hurt you.

[_She lays her hand on his arm._

JONATHAN

Yes, I know.

[_There is a moment of the tenderest, most understanding silence. He turns away._

_Susan starts to reach in her bag, she even takes her purse out; but she replaces it unopened, and instead of bestowing alms, she takes a flower from her hair and presses it in Jonathan's hands._

_He looks at her with years of pent-up grat.i.tude loosed from his heart._

_Silently, she turns away and goes into the house. Jonathan, left alone, turns so that his hump once more shows in the most distorted shadow. He lifts the flower and for a single moment, its shadow rises above the shadow of the hump, a tiny cross on his little Calvary. Then he lays the flower against his cheek and sits upon the log near Hank._

_Hank awakens._

HANK (_looking up stupidly_)

What you got?

JONATHAN (_hiding the flower_)

<script>