Act II, Scene II Summary

Ill arrives at Town Hall to talk to the mayor. Everyone is slightly on edge because the black panther is running around nearby. Ill becomes suspicious when the mayor tells him that, in response to the panther, he has ordered all of the townspeople with weapons to come at once. Ill notices that the mayor, too, has gone into debt to purchase new, finer amenities. He demands that the mayor give him official protection from any would-be assassin. The mayor tells him that he should go to the police and Ill says that he already has, and the police seem to be on the take, too. The mayor then tries to reassure him by recalling the lofty heritage of Guellen; the citizens would never stoop to murder, he says. The mayor becomes a bit resentful when Ill...