_A Gallant Swain_. That's the kid in bed, yer see. Like to see it die,
POLLY, eh? A penny does it.
_Polly_ (_with a giggle_). Well, if it ain't _too_ 'arrowing. (_The
penny is dropped in, and the mechanical mother is instantly agitated
by the deepest maternal anxiety._) That's the mother kneeling by the
bed, I suppose--she do pray natural. There's the child waking up--see,
it's moving its 'ed. (_The little doll raises itself in bed, and then
falls back lifeless._) Ah, it's gone--look at the poor mother 'idin'
her face.
_The G.S._ Well, it's all over. Come along and see something more
cheerful.
_Polly_. Wait a bit--it isn't 'alf over yet. There's a angel got to
come and carry her away fust--there, the door's opening, that'll be
the angel come for it, I expect. (_Disappointed._) No, it's only
the doctor. (_A jerky and obviously incompetent little medical
practitioner puts his head in at the door, and on being motioned back
by the bereaved mother, retires with more delicacy than might have
been expected._) Well, he might ha' seen for himself if the child
_was_ dead! (_The back of the bed disappears, disclosing a well-known
picture of an angel flying upwards with a child._) I did think they'd
have a real angel, and not only a picture of one, and anyone can see
it's a different child--there's the child in bed just the same. I call
that a take-in!
_The G.S._ I dunno what more you expect for a penny.
_A Person on the Outskirts_ (_eagerly to Friend_). What happened? What
is it? I couldn't make it out over all the people's shoulders.
_His Friend_. Dying child--not half bad either. You go and put in a
penny, and you'll see it well enough.
_The P. on the O._ (_indignantly_). What, put in a penny for such
rubbish? Not me!
[_He hangs about till someone else provides the necessary
coin._
_A Softhearted Female_. No, I couldn't stand there and look on. I
never _can_ bear them pathetic subjects. I felt just the same
with that picture of the Sick Child at the Academy, you know.
(_Meditatively._) And you don't have to put a penny in for _that_,
either.