BEERMANN. And what do you want of me now?
WASNER. Our friend sends me to you. He would have come himself but
the shock threw him into a sickbed. He entreats you urgently to
call a meeting of the Executive Committee, immediately. We have
very influential people in our midst who must bring pressure to
bear on the Department of the Interior in order to hush up this
affair.
BEERMANN. If only you had not written that anonymous letter.
WASNER. I felt a moral duty to do it.
BEERMANN. And now it is our moral duty to patch up this matter.
[Betty enters on the left.]
BETTY [hands Beermann a calling card]. The gentleman says it is
very urgent.
BEERMANN [reads]. "Assessor Stroebel." [Frightened; to Betty.]
Tell him I am out of town. [Betty about to leave.] No, tell him I
am sick--or, Betty, show the gentleman up. [Betty goes out.]
WASNER. At what time shall the Executive Committee meet?
BEERMANN [excited]. Oh, leave me alone with your Executive
Committee.
WASNER. You must not desert us in our hour of peril. A leader's
fate is bound up with his followers according to German tradition.
BEERMANN [as before]. It is all your fault anyway.
WASNER. Shall I then tell our sick friend that we cannot count on
your support?
BEERMANN. If I am so situated that I can, I will be over to see
him in an hour. I can't promise you more now.
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