DENNIS PRINGLE
Oh, this is very nice of you, Briggs.

SEFTON BRIGGS
Well, I don't see why one shouldn't ask a competitor in for a drink. It's good of you to come, Pringle. I don't seem to get many visitors these days, hey. Sit down.

PRINGLE
Thank you.

SEFTON
Uh, don't your family expect you at home for the occasion?

PRINGLE
Oh, they're away at Wales, Briggs...little place I bought that summer before the war started. I could see what was coming, if nobody else could.

SEFTON
Oh, uh...scotch all right?

PRINGLE
Not too large.

SEFTON
Eh...

(He pours the drinks.)

PRINGLE
Yes, I'm glad I popped in to the club. I haven't been there for God knows how long. I'm away normally at week end, of course. Uh, your lad's in the navy, isn't he?

SEFTON
Eh...minesweepers. He's got his commission, of course.

PRINGLE
And you have a daughter, too.

SEFTON
Out in Australia when old Schickelgruber started his larks.

(They both laugh.)

SEFTON
Yes, she's nursing with the Australian army these days.

PRINGLE
Ah, they get around, don't they? We didn't have half the opportunity at their age, did we?

SEFTON
Oh, I don't envy them that, not with the war on.

(They both chuckle.)

SEFTON
Cheers!

PRINGLE
Cheers.

(Pringle and Sefton drink their scotch.)

SEFTON
(getting down to business)
Uh, managing at your place all right, are you?

PRINGLE
Well, it's a blessing we installed that new machinery before this lot started.

SEFTON
Yes, yes. I wish I'd done the same. To give Edwin his due, he did warn me.

PRINGLE
He's your brother-in-law, isn't he?

SEFTON
Oh, he's the manager now, you know. He does a good job, does Edwin. Yes, he does a good job. How's your chap coping with the labour shortages?

PRINGLE
Called up last week.

SEFTON
That's right. Now, who did I hear that from? Yes, you'll be looking for a...

(A troubling prospect strikes him.)

SEFTON
...a replacement, I suppose.

PRINGLE
Well, they're few and far between these days, Briggs...the right man, of course.

SEFTON
Yes... Uh, hang on a minute.

(Sefton walks over to the radio, collecting his thoughts.)

SEFTON
I always like to hear Big Ben on New Year's Eve.

(He switches on the radio set and adopts a different tack of conversation.)

SEFTON
Uh, yes. Well, I can't really complain about Edwin. He's not up to old Reg Clark, of course, but they broke the mould when they made Reg.

 

(from "The Other Side of the Hill" by James Brabazon and John Finch)