The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Mr. Pratt enters a suburban home at night intent on stealing. The two women occupants of the house are expecting a plumber. As Marion plays the piano, Pratt, hidden in the sitting room, begins to sob because the music reminds him of his deceased wife and pianist daughter. The two women hear him and try to calm him. He pretends to be the plumber and fixes their dripping tap. Once outside, a policeman grabs him, but the women tell the policeman Pratt is a plumber, even though they realise he had come to steal from them.