IN THE ZONE

by O'Neill, Eugene

The scene, laid in the fo’c’sle, shows the sailors’ bunks. Smitty, a sailor, is behaving suspiciously, and the others believe he is a spy. They take from his bunk a box, which they place in water, and open it. Smitty makes a desperate attempt to prevent them. He is lashed to his bunk and watches the men. The letters are read aloud, and we learn that they are from the girl to whom Smitty had once been engaged. She had broken the engagement because of Smitty’s dissipated habits, and he had gone to sea. The sailors are ashamed and release Smitty.