SCENE. A tailor's worh-room in Josiah Jones's house. Merlin─a spare, active, middle-aged man, wilh keen, twinkling eyes and a humorous mouth, is seen sitting tailor fashion on a table, sewing. He has a habit of talking to himself.
Merlin	(Holding up a partly-made pair of black trousers.) I don't like black─it is remind me of the latter end. (Laughs.) Can't help joking, you old fool. You will put your foot in it some day. Name of man! (Studying the size of the garment.) You can put all your legs in this─if you had twenty. (Puts his head on one side amd ruminates.) 'Spose I put a pin in here. (Indicating the seat of the trousers.) What 'ould Josiah say when he sit down? Same as the frog when he come to know himself─ Arglw'dd! how you made me jump!
	Enter Josiah Jones, a biggish man of middle age, with rather long black hair, of well-to-do, sleek appearance and insinuating manner. His eyes arc deadly observant, and he often indulges in a deprecating wave of the hand and a disarming chuckle. He is dressed in black, and walks quietly in rubber-heeled bools.)
Merlin	(Unaware of Josiah's presence.) Devil eat me! I'd give a sovereign to do it, and stand behind the door, and see Josiah jump. He 'ould say something, too. (Laughs.)
Josiah	(Solemnly.) Merlin!
Merlin	Talk of the ─ Sir, to you.
Josiah	(Sternly.) I pay you to work, and not to waste your time in folly and profanity.
Merlin	(Adjusting his spectacles, amd surveying Josiah with amusement.) Well, indeed, there's a humbug you are. If I didn't know different, I 'ould think you was one of the twelve 'Postles, at least. But, there, your black clothes is the best part of you, and I made them. Come you, Josiah, if you cheek me, you shall have it back. All piece-work I do for you. (Holds up trousers.) You pay me for this old trousis; and there is enough work in it for two─not a damn penny for my time.
Josiah	(Looking nervously towards the door.) Hush! Merlin. Suppose anyone should hear you? They might think it was me. Remember the respectability of the establishment, if you please.
Merlin	All right, Josiah─joking I was. I can't help it, indeed. There is something crooked in me somewhere─same as poor old Jonathan o'r Cwm. He was always laughing when he was at a funeral.
Josiah	It was most unseemly.
Merlin	Yes, but he couldn't help it, poor dab. He was thinking about the funny things in the life of the departed. If he didn't do that, he 'ould cry.
Josiah	Poor Jonathan! he was over-fond of his glass.
Merlin	His glass? Go-darw! his glasses you do mean. One glass was no good to Jonathan at all. You remember the day we buried him, and what a beautiful coffin he had?
Josiah	I do, very well─it was good enough to be put into the ground to rot.
Merlin	You made a good profit on it, and it was only a common old coffin, too─rotten 'ood, and moths in the cloth─shameful!
Josiah	Not shameful, Merlin─it was business.
Merlin	Business is a big rogue, very often. Well, there 'u are. But you will be caught, some day, remember─like I was, coming home from Jonathan's funeral.
Josiah	Staggering home, Merlin.
Merlin	Don't you talk─you had a drop yourself, too. You can drink very well─when you haven't got to pay for it.
Josiah	(Looking round nervously towards the door.) 'Sh! it was a cold night, and I took a little wine, as Paul commands, for the stomach's sake. I am not accustomed to strong drinks, and it upset me.
Merlin	Did it make you see the devil?
Josiah	(Snappishly.) No, it didn't.
Merlin	(Encouragingly.) Never mind, Josiah, you shall see him next time, p'raps. I did have better luck. I did see him under the trees in the lane. The rain was coming down─drip! drip! and put out the flames from his mouth. He was groaning awful─if it wasn't the wind in the trees─and dressed quite inspectable in a white sheet. When I was close by him, he said to me, quite pleasant─"Your time is come!" And I said back to him─"Perhaps your time is come, if you try to stop me." I couldn't be sure that I did know him by his voice, though I have heard it many times coming over the mountains in the dark. P'raps, I thought to myself, it is some fellow playing tricks.. So, I answer him a bit careful: "If you are an angel from Heaven, you will let me off for the sake of my sister Jane."
Josiah	(Piously.) My poor wife! She was, indeed, an angel─
Merlin	Don't stop me, mun, in the middle of my story─it is bad manners. And then I said─"If you are the devil, you 'ont touch me because you are friends with my brother-in-law, Josiah Jones."
Josiah	Surely, you didn't say that? It might have been one of the deacons.
Merlin	Shut up, and let me go on. The devil is waiting in the cold, remember, and he is not used to it. Blame you he will if he get very bad, and perhaps call you to make his gruel for him. Indeed now, put a bit of poison in it on the sly if you get the chance. Oh! I was up to my Nabs. I lifted my stick, and said like a roarin' lion─"If you are a man─look out!" and I hit him across his back─his back, I 'spose it was, because he was all the same shape in the sheet, and he was off like Billy-o! And I am off, too. (Looks at watch, gets off table, and puts on an old-fashioned grey tail-coat, with brass buttons.) It is dinner time.
	Enter Morgan, a young man, of prepossessing appearance, of the lower middle class, dressed in dark blue lounge suit. Looks at Josiah Jones im a nervous, hesitating way, and pauses near the door.
Morgan	(Apologetically.) I just came in to say "Good morning" to Merlin, Mr. Jones. I─I thought I should find him alone.
Josiah	Man is never alone, my young friend─the All-seeing Eye follows him everywhere. I hope you are well, Mr. Morgans, and that you find business flourishing?
Morgan	It might be better. It is up-hill work, Mr. Jones. Opposition is so keen, and─and─so unfair.
Josiah	It is the way of some people to set their failures down to the evil ways of others, and not to their own shortcomings. (Chuckles.) Nothing personal, Mr. Morgans.
	Merlin polishes his speclacles in the background, talking to himself and listening shrewdly.
Morgan	(Earnestly.) I am ready to work my hands off, but what is the use? At every turn I am met by unscrupulous trickery─by men who cut the ground from under my feet, and snatch the fruits of my labour from me.
Josiah	If you 'ould work as well as you do talk, you 'ould get on better. You ought to be in the ministry, telling people what to do, and not bothering to do it yourself.
Morgan	I know you don't believe in me─you don't give me credit for anything. Indeed, I am trying my best, Mr. Jones.
	Nan, a very pretty girl, of 20 or so, dressed in the prettiest Welsh flannel costume, bursts into the room like a ray of sunshine, and, before she sees her father aud Morgan, who are standing out of sight, runs across to Merlin, who has his back to her, and, with delightful familiarity, puts her hands over his eyes.
Nan	(Merrily.) A penny for your thoughts, old wizard!
Merlin	(Laughingly.) Tuppence for yours, little witch!
Nan	Not for sale! (Removes her hands, and gives hîm a packet of tobacco.) A present for you out of my pocket money. (Turns and sees her father and Morgan.) Oh!─Mr. Morgan─l didn't know you were here.
Morgan	I─I just dropt in to see Merlin.
Josiah	Anne, my girl, you had better go in. You come here a great deal too much for your good; and I am afraid Merlin encourages you.
Merlin	Look you, Josiah, she is my sister's child, and if you keep her from me, I will go somewhere else, so there!
Josiah	Temper─temper, Merlin! I don't want you to leave me.
Merlin	I know that very well. I keep your bissness together for you when you go off on the spree.
	Morgan and Nan edge away stealthily, watch Josiah Jones, and whisper eagerly to each other.
Josiah	Merlin! you ought to know better than to say such a thing─before my daughter, too.
Merlin	Never mind, Josiah─I will say when I go off on the spree, if you like.
Nan	Oh, Merlin, you are making it all up as you go on.
Merlin	(Smiling.) That is why you all come to me when you are in trouble. I have got a story for everybody, and a remedy for everything─from heartache to toothache. One will come because he has got trouble with the law, another because he has got trouble with his sweetheart, and another because he has got trouble with the minister. I settle everything for them, and measure them for a suit of clothes before they can turn round, and Josiah Jones do get the profit. He is a prophet himself, you see, and the head of a big, big family of profits.
Nan	(Laughing.) You turn words out of their meaning, you wicked man.
Merlin	Keep you quiet, Nan, or I will be even with you directly.
Nan	I won't say another word. (Chatters with Morgan.)
Josiah	Nan!─come here. (Nan hesitates.)
Merlin	Look you, Nan, I am the bissness, not your father; and if he get cross with you, he had better look out. I will have a new shop myself, so big as the Crystal Palace, and you shall come and live with me, and every young man in the place will be ordering clothes every day of the week─for the sake of coming to see you.
Nan	You are an old tease!
Josiah	Don't put such silly notions in the girl's head. My brother-in-law is a bit of a poet, Mr. Morgans, and we must make allowance for his foolish talk.
Morgan	(Who has been absorbed watching Nan and whispering to her, rouses himself as from a dream.) Yes─of course─how much does he want? (Puts his hand into his, pocket, and brings out some money.)
Nan	Oh, my goodness! (Laughing at Morgan.) You have said something now.
Morgan	If I have, the fault is yours─(whispers)─your eyes bewitch me. Josian (Drily.) I'm afraid there's more than one poet in the room, Mr. Morgans.
Nan	(With a mischievous glance at Morgan and Merlin.) I love poets─they have such a nice way of saying things. A common idea, pictured in beautiful words, ìs like a photograph of a common scene─so lovely, glittering in the sunshine! The muddy roads, dried up by the magic of the artist, the misty fogs and ill-odours banished by the camera, leave (turns her eyes up rapturously.) only the spell of the picturesque to charm the vision.
Merlin	(Admiringly.) My goodness! Nan, it is only witches─Welsh witches─can talk like that.
Josiah	(With a furtive glance of admiration at Nan.) You have learnt a lot of nonsense at school, Anne Jones.
Merlin	At school? No─no─things like that is in the soul, not in the school. She is not like me. I am only a poet when I am hungry. That is the time when the froth do rise to a man's head, if he haven't got much balance.
Nan	Why, you haven't been home to dinner. Come in, this minute, and have something to eat. (Shakes Merlin, and drags him off.) If you don't take more care of yourself, I shall be very cross with you.
Josiah	No beer, Nan─mind!
Merlin	(Looking back over his shoulder.) I didn't know that you had any beer in the house. All right, Josiah─I will leave you a drop. Where is the cask, Nan?
	Nan throws an adiew over her shoulder to Morgan, and she and Merlin go out laughing.
Josiah	Indeed, it is hard to put up with Merlin, sometimes. But I have got a soft heart, Mr. Morgans, and he is very fond of my daughter; and she is so foolish about him. That is how it is─you understand?
Morgan	The sentiment does you honour, sir. Merlin is a favourite with everybody, and, if anything happened to him, there wouldn't be one in the parish without a tear for him.
Josiah	Yes─yes─and you can't go against the public feeling. You must go with the times. That is my motto─"Go with the times." But we mustn't dwell upon these little weaknesses. You understand? Tell me, how is business with you, my young friend? Bad, as usual, I suppose?
Morgan	I am beginning to hope that my luck has turned.
Josiah	Turn your money, did you, with the new moon? (Chuckles.) No offence, Mr. Morgans. I am glad to hear you say about your luck. May I ask you the nature of it?
Morgan	It is kind of you to interest yourself in my affairs. The truth is, I am about to buy more suitable premises for my business.
Josiah	(Quickly.) I hope it is not the place I am after. It will grieve me very much if it is.
Morgan	I hope not, I am sure. If you want it, I shall have to go to the wall. Will you tell me where the place you want is?
Josiah	(Imsinuatingly.) You tell me where is yours, and I will tell you where is mine. I give you first chance, Mr. Morgans. (Smiles pleasantly.)
Morgan	It is in Market Square─near the Bank.
Josiah	Dear me, that is very unlucky. I am afraid we are after the same place.
Morgan	(Despondently.) Always my luck!
Josiah	Come you, don't be downhearted. If you want it very bad, give me £50, and I'll leave it to you.
Morgan	Good gracious, Mr. Jones, I haven't got it. It has taken me years to save enough to buy the house, and I must give it up if you are going to bid against me.
Josiah	Ah, my young friend, you don't understand business. But I don't want to be hard on you. I will lend you the £50. A hundred if you like. The house is good security.
Morgan	You are very kind. I will accept the loan with gratitude.
Josiah	These are bad times, Mr. Morgans, and money is hard to get. Shall we say 6 per cent?
Morgan	I am in your hands. You see, sir, with these offices I shall be more in the eye of the public, and shall soon increase my business, and pay back the loan. I have been too poor to make any sort of a show, but now things will be different; and if they turn out as I expect (eagerly) I hope you won't give me the same answer as you did last time─when─when─I─spoke to you about Nan.
Josiah	(Playfully.) "Miss Jones," my young friend, for the present.
Morgan	(Humbly.) I beg your pardon, sir, I ought not to have called her Nan.
Josiah	That is twice you have done the same thing in less than a minute. You are very forgetful, Mr. Morgans, and a good memory a business man is bound to have, if he is going to climb the ladder to the top.
Morgan	I won't offend again. But I am very fond of Nan (confused)─Miss Jones, I should say. If it was a matter of business, I should remember better.
Josiah	But it is a matter of business, and I tell you now what I told you before─ When you can make £50 in five minutes, the same as I have done, you can ask me for my daughter, and I won't say "No."
Morgan	But─
Josiah	Not another word, if you please. I must go to the Bank before it do close, to get the money for you. Take my advice, and don't go to the wall as long as you can borrow £100 from a friend, at 6 per cent!
	Josiah goes out chuckling. Morgan stands in the middlc of the room staring after him, a look of doubt stealing over his face. Nan creeps into the room on tip-toe, smiling mischieviously, until she notices Morgan's attitude.
Morgan	(Unaware of Nan's presence.) I believe he's done me!
Nan	(Runs up to him, puts her hand on his arm.) What's the matter, Morgan?
Morgan	(Taking Nan's hand.) It's all up, Nan. It's no use fighting any longer. Your father is dead against me. He has been my enemy all through, just because I love you.
Nan	What has he been saying, now?
Morgan	Oh, the old story. I am only a fool to be plucked by the rooks─not fit for the responsibilities of a home.
Nan	He didn't say that?
Morgan	(Bitterly.) No, but he meant it. He made an impossible condition─just to have the pleasure of laughing at me.
Nan	(Earnestly.) He wouldn't be so unkind. Success in business is everything to him, and he only meant to encourage you─I am sure.
Morgan	How am I to get £50 in five minutes?
Nan	(Opening her eyes wide with astonishment.) You must be dreaming. Of course, it would be impossible.
Morgan.	That was the condition. Money─money! it's everything in his eyes. How a man gets it doesn't count.
Nan	You mustn't say that.
Morgan.	Forgive me, Nan! I love you so, and the fear of losing you makes me say things I ought not to.
Nan	(Encouragingly.) I am sure there is some misunderstanding. (Morgan shakes his head.) Oh, yes there is. (Looks up and smiles at Morgan.) I'll go and see Merlin, and tell him all about it; and you must see him, too. There is nothing he can't do─nothing he won't do for me.
Morgan	And would it please you very much, Nan (looking into her eyes) if─if─we could somehow─if Merlin could help us to win your father's consent?
Nan	(In a low voice.) You know it would.
Morgan	(Rapturously taking her in his arms, just as Merlin peeps round the door-post.) Then nothing matters! We'll find a way. (About to kiss her.)
Merlin	(Leaping into the room with a merry twinkle in his eye.) Ha! rascal! rascal!
Nan	Oh! (Springing away from Morgan, and making for the door, dodging Merlin as she runs.) Tell him, Morgan─everything!
Merlin	Well, indeed, Morgan bach, here is nice goings on for an inspectable young man. What do you think Josiah Jones 'ould say if he did see you?
Morgan	(Defiantly.) Tell him, if you like. As long as Nan cares for me, I don't care a rap─
Merlin	"Rap," indeed! "Damn" you was going to say─I could see it coming out of your mouth ─a fine big one, too. You 'ouldn't turn your back on a word like that if you had been brought up proper ─like me. All the same, Josiah Jones have done you fine this time.
Morgan	How do you know?
Merlin	(Holding up inky fingers.) You see the ink on my fingers? Well, I know as well as I see that. He came in to tell me about it. He didn't want the house─he didn't know about it till you did tell him. My goodness! he is sharp. And he get £50 out of you for nothing?
Morgan	(Bitterly.) He did.
Merlin	Shame─shame! Did you sign any paper?
Morgan	(Angrily.) No─I didn't.
Merlin	All right, my boy─don't trouble any more about it. He can't get a ha'penny out of you.
Morgan	But I can't go back on my word.
Merlin	You can't go straight with a man like that. He is as crooked as a corkscrew, and as sly as a fox. It is a wonder he has got a daughter like Nan. But there, she is like me─like my sister Jane, her mother, I mean.
Morgan	Don't talk about her, Merlin. You make me mad! He will always stand between us.
Merlin	He 'ould let you have her to-morrow, and make a partner of you─if─
Morgan	(Interrupting impatiently.) I know─if I would do his dirty work for him. I'll never do it─never! never!
Merlin	(Pats him on the back with an approving smile.) Good boy! That's how I like to hear 'u talk. But think of Nan. There is no one for her but you. Do you want to break her heart?
Morgan	No, I don't. You know I would do anything for her─short of soiling my hands.

[Rhagor o destun i'w ychwanegu]