HENDERSON Let’s just go down into his basement and break down the door?

　　A chorus of voices greet this with assent.

　　As HENDERSON rushes through toward the basement entrance, HARLOWE overtakes him saying:

　　HARLOWE Wait a minute, wait a minute. All of us couldn’t fit in there. That would be crazy to even try.

　　WEISS Why don’t we draw lots? Pick out one family?

　　HARLOWE What difference would it make? He won’t let us in.

　　HENDERSON We can all march down there and tell him he’s got the whole street against him. We could do that.

　　HARLOWE What good would that do? I keep telling you. Even if we were to break down the door, it couldn’t accommodate all of us. We’d just be killing everybody and for no reason.

　　MRS. HENDERSON If it saves one of these kids out here---I call that a reason.

　　The

　　voice comes up again.

　　WEISS Jerry, you know him better than any of us. You’re his best friend. Why don’t you go down again? Try to talk to him. Plead with him. Tell him to pick out one family---Draw lots or something---

　　HENDERSON One family, meaning yours, Weiss, huh?

　　WEISS (whirls around to him) Why not? I’ve got a three-month-old infant---

　　MRS. HENDERSON What difference does that make? Is your baby’s life any more precious than our kids?

　　WEISS (shouting at her) I never said that. If you’re going to start trying to argue about who deserves to live more than the next one---

　　HENDERSON Why don’t you shut your mouth, Weiss? (with a wild, illogical anger) That’s the way it is when the foreigners come over here. Aggressive, greedy, semi-Americans---

　　WEISS (his face goes white) Why you garbage-brained idiot you---

　　MRS. HENDERSON It still goes, Weiss! I bet you are at the bottom of the list---

　　WEISS suddenly flings himself through the crowd toward the man and there’s a brief, hand-to-hand fight between them broken up by HARLOWE who stands between them breathless.