BARTLETT--[_Overcome by the old obsession for a moment--savagely._]
Aye, that’s it! The thievin’ scum! They was tryin’---- [_He stays short,
throwing his head back, his whole body tense and quivering with the
effort he makes to force this sustaining lie out of his brain--then,
broken but self-conquering, he looks again at_ NAT--_gently_.] No, Nat.
That be the lie I been tellin’ myself ever since. That cook--he said
’twas brass---- But I’d been lookin’ for ambergris--gold--the whole o’
my life--and when we found that chest--I _had_ to believe, I tell ye!
I’d been dreamin’ o’ it all my days! But he said brass and junk, and
told the boy--and I give the word to murder ’em both and cover ’em up
with sand.
NAT--[_Very pale--despairingly._] But he lied, didn’t he? It is
gold--real gold--isn’t it?
BARTLETT--[_Slowly takes the studded anklet from his pocket and holds it
out to_ NAT. _The latter brings it to the light of the lantern._
BARTLETT _sits on a chair, covering his face with his hands--in a tone
of terrible suffering_.] Ye’ll tell me, boy--if it’s gold or no. I’ve
had it by me all this time--but I’ve been afeerd to show----
NAT--[_In a tone of wild scorn._] Why, it’s brass, of course! The
cheapest kind of junk--not worth a damn! [_He flings it savagely into a
corner of the room._ BARTLETT _groans and seems to shrink up and turn
into a figure of pitiable feebleness_.]
SUE--[_Pityingly._] Don’t, Nat. [_She puts her arms around her father’s
shoulders protectingly._]
NAT--[_In a stifled voice._] What a damned fool I’ve been! [_He flings
himself down on the cot, his shoulders heaving._]
BARTLETT--[_Uncovers his grey face on which there is now settling an
expression of strange peace--stroking his daughter’s hand._] Sue--don’t
think hard o’ me. [_He takes the map._] An end to this! [_He slowly
tears it into small pieces, seeming to grow weaker and weaker as he does
so. Finally as he lets the fragments filter through his fingers, his
whole frame suddenly relaxes. He sighs, his eyes shut, and sags back in
his chair, his head bent forward limply on his chest._]
SUE--[_Alarmed._] Pa! [_She sinks to her knees beside him and looks up
into his face._] Pa! Speak to me! It’s Sue! [_Then turning toward her
brother--terrifiedly._] Nat! Run--get the doctor---- [NAT _starts to a
sitting position_. SUE _tries with trembling hands to feel of her
father’s pulse, his heart--then begins to sob hysterically_.] Oh,
Nat--he’s dead, I think--he’s dead!
[_The Curtain Falls_]