BISHOP. [_Sitting again, speaks slowly._] I am guilty of a great
wrong against my son.
TIPPY. I'm sure it wasn't a wilful wrong.
BISHOP. No. I love my son. I meant to help him. Sometimes it is
hard to know what is right and what is wrong. Timothy, I arranged
for my son to have a job. [_Pause._] I conspired to let him think
he had secured the job in the usual manner. I fear I made a great
mistake.
TIPPY. I understand the spirit that prompted you.
BISHOP. Thank you. [_Pause._] He called me up on the telephone and
said I had ruined his life with my meddling. He said I was an
unworthy example of a man of God. He said I had betrayed him ...
[_He is too moved to go on_,] He said harsh things--very harsh
things.
TIPPY. I am very sorry, sir. [_He feels helpless to comfort the old
man. In the ensuing, uncomfortable silence,_ KEN, MARTIN _and_
LAURA _come in_. KEN _is drunk and boisterous_, MARTIN _is trying
to hold him back,_ KEN _backs into the room, dragging_ MARTIN _with
him_. LAURA _follows._]
KEN. I got to go in. Got to find Ted. I got to 'pologize to Ted.
[MARTIN, _seeing_ BISHOP, _lets go of_ KEN _who nearly falls_, KEN
_does not see his father._] I got to shake hands with him and say,
Ted, ol' boy, you're right. We're in the same boat. We're brothers
under the skin. We are both kept men.
BISHOP. My son!
KEN. [_Turns slowly and sees his father.
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