--I wanted to get on--that's true. An'
ain't it natural? We all wants to get out o' this here mud in which we
all fights an' scratches around ... Out o' it ... away from it ... higher
up, if you wants to call it that ... Is it true as you're wantin' to move
away from here, Rauchhaupt?
RAUCHHAUPT
Yes, Mrs. Fielitz, I been havin' that in my mind. An' why? Dr. Boxer an'
me, we knows why. [_He groans sorrowfully._] It ain't only on account o'
my wantin' to be nearer to Gustav. No, no! I don't feel well in this here
neighbourhood no more. Everybody looks at me kind o' queer nowadays.
[_The bottle has now been uncorked and RAUCHHAUPT fills two glasses._
MRS. FIELITZ
That's another thing. Why does we care what people think?
RAUCHHAUPT
No, no! When a man has done what I has--that's different. When a man's
gone that length--an' a former officer at that--that he's gone an' taken
a rope an' tried.... I don't understand, Missis, I don't understand how I
could ha' done that.--But they cut me down ... that they did.
[_He drinks._
MRS. FIELITZ
Is it reely true what people says about it?
RAUCHHAUPT
You see, it got out, an' people knows! An' that--me bein' a former
officer--when I think o' that! No, no rain an' no wind can't wash that
blot off o' me.
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