Chapter VI: Part I (1)

_The scene is laid inside of a round fort built of
granite_.

_In the background, a gateway, closed by huge,
swinging double doors; in these, small square window
panes, through which may be seen a sea shore with
batteries and the sea beyond_.

_On either side of the gateway, a window with flower
pots and bird cages_.

_To the right of the gateway, an upright piano;
further down the stage, a sewing-table and two
easy-chairs_.

_On the left, half-way down the stage, a
writing-table with a telegraph instrument on it;
further down, a what-not full of framed photographs.
Beside it, a couch that can be used to sleep on.
Against the wall, a buffet_.

_A lamp suspended from the ceiling. On the wall near
the piano hang two large laurel wreaths with ribbons.
Between them, the picture of a woman in stage dress_.

_Beside the door, a hat-stand on which hang
accoutrements, sabres, and so forth. Near it, a
chiffonier_.

_To the left of the gateway hangs a mercurial
barometer_.

_It is a mild Fall evening. The doors stand open, and
a sentry is seen pacing back and forth on the shore
battery. He wears a helmet with a forward pointed
brush for a crest. Now and then his drawn sabre
catches the red glare of the setting sun. The sea
lies dark and quiet_.

_The_ CAPTAIN _sits in the easy-chair to the left of
the sewing-table, fumbling an extinguished cigar. He
has on a much-worn undress uniform and riding-boots
with spurs. Looks tired and bored_.

ALICE _sits in the easy-chair on the right, doing
nothing at all. Looks tired and expectant_.

CAPTAIN. Won't you play something for me?

ALICE. [_Indifferently, but not snappishly_] What am I to play?

CAPTAIN. Whatever suits you.

ALICE. You don't like my repertory.

CAPTAIN. Nor you mine.

ALICE. [_Evasively_] Do you want the doors to stay open?

CAPTAIN. If you wish it.

ALICE. Let them be, then. [_Pause_] Why don't you smoke?

CAPTAIN. Strong tobacco is beginning not to agree with me.

ALICE. [_In an almost friendly tone_] Get weaker tobacco then. It is your only pleasure, as you call it.

CAPTAIN. Pleasure--what is that?

ALICE. Don't ask me. I know it as little as you--Don't you want your whiskey yet?

CAPTAIN. I'll wait a little. What have you for supper?

ALICE. How do I know? Ask Christine.

CAPTAIN. The mackerel ought to be in season soon--now the Fall is here.

ALICE. Yes, it is Fall!

CAPTAIN. Within and without. But leaving aside the cold that comes with the Fall, both within and without, a little broiled mackerel, with a slice of lemon and a glass of white Burgundy, wouldn't be so very bad.

ALICE. Now you grow eloquent.

CAPTAIN. Have we any Burgundy left in the wine-cellar?

ALICE. So far as I know, we have had no wine-cellar these last five years----

CAPTAIN. You never know anything. However, we _must_ stock up for our silver wedding.

ALICE. Do you actually mean to celebrate it?

CAPTAIN. Of course!

ALICE. It would be more seemly to hide our misery--our twenty-five years of misery----

CAPTAIN. My dear Alice, it has been a misery, but we have also had some fun--now and then. One has to avail one-self of what little time there is, for afterward it is all over.

ALICE. Is it over? Would that it were!

CAPTAIN. It is over! Nothing left but what can be put on a wheel-barrow and spread on the garden beds.

ALICE. And so much trouble for the sake of the garden beds!

CAPTAIN. Well, that's the way of it. And it is not of my making.

ALICE. So much trouble! [_Pause_] Did the mail come?

CAPTAIN. Yes.

ALICE. Did the butcher send his bill?

CAPTAIN. Yes.

ALICE. How large is it?

CAPTAIN. [_Takes a paper from his pocket and puts on his spectacles, but takes them off again at once_] Look at it yourself. I cannot see any longer.

ALICE. What is wrong with your eyes?

CAPTAIN. Don't know.

ALICE. Growing old?

CAPTAIN. Nonsense! I?

ALICE. Well, not I!

CAPTAIN. Hm!

ALICE. [_Looking at the bill_] Can you pay it?

CAPTAIN. Yes, but not this moment.

ALICE. Some other time, of course! In a year, when you have been retired with a small pension, and it is too late! And then, when your trouble returns----

CAPTAIN. Trouble? I never had any trouble--only a slight indisposition once. And I can live another twenty years.

ALICE. The doctor thought otherwise.

CAPTAIN. The doctor!

ALICE. Yes, who else could express any valid opinion about sickness?

CAPTAIN. I have no sickness, and never had. I am not going to have it either, for I shall die all of a sudden--like an old soldier.

ALICE. Speaking of the doctor--you know they are having a party to-night?

CAPTAIN. [_Agitated_] Yes, what of it? We are not invited because we don't associate with those people, and we don't associate with them because we don't want to--because we despise both of them. Rabble--that's what they are!

ALICE. You say that of everybody.

CAPTAIN. Because everybody is rabble.

ALICE. Except yourself.

CAPTAIN. Yes, because I have behaved decently under all conditions of life. That's why I don't belong to the rabble.

[_Pause_.

ALICE. Do you want to play cards?

CAPTAIN. All right.

ALICE. [_Takes a pack of cards from the drawer in the sewing-table and begins to shuffle them_] Just think, the doctor is permitted to use the band for a private entertainment!

CAPTAIN. [_Angrily_] That's because he goes to the city and truckles to the Colonel. Truckle, you know--if one could only do that!

ALICE. [_Deals_] I used to be friendly with Gerda, but she played me false----

CAPTAIN. They are all false! What did you turn up for trumps?

ALICE. Put on your spectacles.

CAPTAIN. They are no help--Well, well!

ALICE. Spades are trumps.

CAPTAIN. [_Disappointed_] Spades----?

ALICE. [_Leads_] Well, be that as it may, our case is settled in advance with the wives of the new officers.

CAPTAIN. [_Taking the trick_] What does it matter? We never give any parties anyhow, so nobody is the wiser. I can live by myself--as I have always done.

ALICE. I, too. But the children? The children have to grow up without any companionship.

CAPTAIN. Let them find it for themselves in the city--I take that! Got any trumps left?

ALICE. One--That's mine!

CAPTAIN. Six and eight make fifteen----

ALICE. Fourteen--fourteen!

CAPTAIN. Six and eight make fourteen. I think I am also forgetting how to count. And two makes sixteen--[_Yawns_] It is your deal.

ALICE. You are tired?

CAPTAIN. [_Dealing_] Not at all.

ALICE. [_Listening in direction of the open doors_] One can hear the music all this way. [_Pause_] Do you think Curt is invited also?

CAPTAIN. He arrived this morning, so I guess he has had time to get out his evening clothes, though he has not had time to call on us.

ALICE. Master of Quarantine--is there to be a quarantine station here?

CAPTAIN. Yes.

ALICE. He is my own cousin after all, and once I bore the same name as he----

CAPTAIN. In which there was no particular honour----

ALICE. See here! [_Sharply_] You leave my family alone, and I'll leave yours!

CAPTAIN. All right, all right--don't let us begin again!

ALICE. Must the Master of Quarantine be a physician?

CAPTAIN. Oh, no, he's merely a sort of superintendent or book-keeper--and Curt never became anything in particular.

ALICE. He was not much good----

CAPTAIN. And he has cost us a lot of money. And when he left wife and children, he became disgraced.

ALICE. Not quite so severe, Edgar!

CAPTAIN. That's what happened! What has he been doing in America since then? Well, I cannot say that I am longing for him--but he was a nice chap, and I liked to argue with him.

ALICE. Because he was so tractable----

CAPTAIN. [_Haughtily_] Tractable or not, he was at least a man one could talk to. Here, on this island, there is not _one_ person who understands what I say--it's a community of idiots!

ALICE. It is rather strange that Curt should arrive just in time for our silver wedding--whether we celebrate it or not----

CAPTAIN. Why is that strange? Oh, I see! It was he who brought us together, or got you married, as they put it.

ALICE. Well, didn't he?

CAPTAIN. Certainly! It was a kind of fixed idea with him--I leave it for you to say what kind.

ALICE. A wanton fancy----

CAPTAIN. For which we have had to pay, and not he!

ALICE. Yes, think only if I had remained on the stage! All my friends are stars now.

CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] Well, well, well! Now I am going to have a drink. [_Goes over to the buffet and mixes a drink, which he takes standing up_] There should be a rail here to put the foot on, so that one might dream of being at Copenhagen, in the American Bar.

ALICE. Let us put a rail there, if it will only remind us of Copenhagen. For there we spent our best moments.

CAPTAIN. [_Drinks quickly_] Yes, do you remember that "navarin aux pommes"?

ALICE. No, but I remember the concerts at the Tivoli.

CAPTAIN. Yes, your tastes are so--exalted!

ALICE. It ought to please you to have a wife whose taste is good.

CAPTAIN. So it does.

ALICE. Sometimes, when you need something to brag of----

CAPTAIN. [_Drinking_] I guess they must be dancing at the doctor's--I catch the three-four time of the tuba: boom-boom-boom!

ALICE. I can hear the entire melody of the Alcazar Waltz. Well, it was not yesterday I danced a waltz----

CAPTAIN. You think you could still manage?

ALICE. Still?

CAPTAIN. Ye-es. I guess you are done with dancing, you like me!

ALICE. I am ten years younger than you.

CAPTAIN. Then we are of the same age, as the lady should be ten years younger.

ALICE. Be ashamed of yourself! You are an old man--and I am still in my best years.

CAPTAIN. Oh, I know, you can be quite charming--to others, when you make up your mind to it.

ALICE. Can we light the lamp now?

CAPTAIN. Certainly.

ALICE. Will you ring, please.

_The_ CAPTAIN _goes languidly to the writing-table
and rings a bell_.

JENNY _enters from the right_.

CAPTAIN. Will you be kind enough to light the lamp, Jenny?

ALICE. [_Sharply_] I want you to light the hanging lamp.

JENNY. Yes, ma'am.

[_Lights the lamp while the_ CAPTAIN _watches her_.

ALICE. [_Stiffly_] Did you wipe the chimney?

JENNY. Sure.

ALICE. What kind of an answer is that?

CAPTAIN. Now--now----

ALICE. [_To_ Jenny] Leave us. I will light the lamp myself. That will be better.

JENNY: I think so too. [_Starts for the door_.

ALICE. [_Rising_] Go!

JENNY. [_Stops_] I wonder, ma'am, what you'd say if I did go?

ALICE _remains silent_.

JENNY _goes out_.

_The_ CAPTAIN _comes forward and lights the lamp_.

ALICE. [_With concern_] Do you think she will go?

CAPTAIN. Shouldn't wonder. And then we are in for it----

ALICE. It's your fault! You spoil them.

CAPTAIN. Not at all. Can't you see that they are always polite to me?

ALICE. Because you cringe to them. And you always cringe to inferiors, for that matter, because, like all despots, you have the nature of a slave.

CAPTAIN. There--there!

ALICE. Yes, you cringe before your men, and before your sergeants, but you cannot get on with your equals or your superiors.

CAPTAIN. Ugh!

ALICE. That's the way of all tyrants--Do you think she will go?

CAPTAIN. Yes, if you don't go out and say something nice to her.

ALICE. I?

CAPTAIN. Yes, for if I should do it, you would say that I was flirting with the maids.

ALICE. Mercy, if she should leave! Then I shall have to do the work, as I did the last time, and my hands will be spoiled.

CAPTAIN. That is not the worst of it. But if Jenny leaves, Christine will also leave, and then we shall never get a servant to the island again. The mate on the steamer scares away every one that comes to look for a place--and if he should miss his chance, then my corporals attend to it.

ALICE. Yes, your corporals, whom I have to feed in my kitchen, and whom you dare not show the door----

CAPTAIN. No, for then they would also go when their terms were up--and we might have to close up the whole gun shop!

ALICE. It will be our ruin.

CAPTAIN. That's why the officers have proposed to petition His Royal Majesty for special expense money.

ALICE. For whom?

CAPTAIN. For the corporals.

ALICE. [_Laughing_] You are crazy!

CAPTAIN. Yes, laugh a little for me. I need it.

ALICE. I shall soon have forgotten how to laugh----

CAPTAIN. [_Lighting his cigar_] That is something one should never forget--it is tedious enough anyhow!

ALICE. Well, it is not very amusing--Do you want to play any more?

CAPTAIN. No, it tires me.

ALICE. Do you know, it irritates me nevertheless that my cousin, the new Master of Quarantine, makes his first visit to our enemies.

CAPTAIN. Well, what's the use of talking about it?

ALICE. But did you see in the paper that he was put down as _rentier_? He must have come into some money then.

CAPTAIN. _Rentier_! Well, well--a rich relative. That's really the first one in this family.

ALICE. In your family, yes. But among my people many have been rich.

CAPTAIN. If he has money, he's conceited, I suppose, but I'll hold him in check--and he won't get a chance to look at my cards.

_The telegraph receiver begins to click_.

ALICE. Who is it?

CAPTAIN. [_Standing still_] Keep quiet, please.

ALICE. Well, are you not going to look----

CAPTAIN. I can hear--I can hear what they are saying--It's the children.

_Goes over to the instrument and sends an answer; the
receiver continues to click for awhile, and then the_
CAPTAIN _answers again_.

ALICE. Well?

CAPTAIN. Wait a little--[_Gives a final click_] The children are at the guard-house in the city. Judith is not well again and is staying away from school.

ALICE. Again! What more did they say?

CAPTAIN. Money, of course!

ALICE. Why is Judith in such a hurry? If she didn't pass her examinations until next year, it would be just as well.

CAPTAIN. Tell her, and see what it helps.

ALICE. You should tell her.

CAPTAIN. How many times have I not done so? But children have their own wills, you know.

ALICE. Yes, in this house at least. [_The_ CAPTAIN _yawns_] So, you yawn in your wife's presence!

CAPTAIN. Well, what can I do? Don't you notice how day by day we are saying the same things to each other? When, just now, you sprang that good old phrase of yours, "in this house at least," I should have come back with my own stand-by, "it is not my house only." But as I have already made that reply some five hundred times, I yawned instead. And my yawn could be taken to mean either that I was too lazy to answer, or "right you are, my angel," or "supposing we quit."

ALICE. You are very amiable to-night.

CAPTAIN. Is it not time for supper soon?

ALICE. Do you know that the doctor ordered supper from the city--from the Grand Hotel?

CAPTAIN. No! Then they are having ptarmigans--tschk! Ptarmigan, you know, is the finest bird there is, but it's clear barbarism to fry it in bacon grease----

ALICE. Ugh! Don't talk of food.

CAPTAIN. Well, how about wines? I wonder what those barbarians are drinking with the ptarmigans?

ALICE. Do you want me to play for you?

CAPTAIN. [_Sits down at the writing-table_] The last resource! Well, if you could only leave your dirges and lamentations alone--it sounds too much like music with a moral. And I am always adding within myself: "Can't you hear how unhappy I am! Meow, meow! Can't you hear what a horrible husband I have! Brum, brum, brum! If he would only die soon! Beating of the joyful drum, flourishes, the finale of the Alcazar Waltz, Champagne Galop!" Speaking of champagne, I guess there are a couple of bottles left. What would you say about bringing them up and pretending to have company?

ALICE. No, we won't, for they are mine--they were given to me personally.

CAPTAIN. You are so economical.

ALICE. And you are always stingy--to your wife at least!

CAPTAIN. Then I don't know what to suggest. Perhaps I might dance for you?

ALICE. No, thank you--I guess you are done with dancing.

CAPTAIN. You should bring some friend to stay with you.

ALICE. Thanks! You might bring a friend to stay with you.

CAPTAIN. Thanks! It has been tried, and with mutual dissatisfaction. But it was interesting in the way of an experiment, for as soon as a stranger entered the house, we became quite happy--to begin with----

ALICE. And then!

CAPTAIN. Oh, don't talk of it!

_There is a knock at the door on the left_.

ALICE. Who can be coming so late as this?

CAPTAIN. Jenny does not knock.

ALICE. Go and open the door, and don't yell "come"--it has a sound of the workshop.

CAPTAIN. [_Goes toward the door on the left_] You don't like workshops.

ALICE. Please, open!

CAPTAIN. [_Opens the door and receives a visiting-card that is held out to him_] It is Christine--Has Jenny left? [_As the public cannot hear the answer, to_ ALICE] Jenny has left.

ALICE. Then I become servant girl again!

CAPTAIN. And I man-of-all-work.

ALICE. Would it not be possible to get one of your gunners to help along in the kitchen?

CAPTAIN. Not these days.

ALICE. But it couldn't be Jenny who sent in her card?

CAPTAIN. [_Looks at the card through his spectacles and then turns it over to_ ALICE] You see what it is--I cannot.

ALICE. [_Looks at the card_] Curt--it is Curt! Hurry up and bring him in.

CAPTAIN. [_Goes out to the left_] Curt! Well, that's a pleasure!

[ALICE _arranges her hair and seems to come to life_.

CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the left with_ CURT] Here he is, the traitor! Welcome, old man! Let me hug you!

ALICE. [_Goes to_ CURT] Welcome to my home, Curt!

CURT. Thank you--it is some time since we saw each other.

CAPTAIN. How long? Fifteen years! And we have grown old----

ALICE. Oh, Curt has not changed, it seems to me.

CAPTAIN. Sit down, sit down! And first of all--the programme. Have you any engagement for to-night?

CURT. I am invited to the doctor's, but I have not promised to go.

ALICE. Then you will stay with your relatives.

CURT. That would seem the natural thing, but the doctor is my superior, and I might have trouble afterward.

CAPTAIN. What kind of talk is that? I have never been afraid of my superiors----

CURT. Fear or no fear, the trouble cannot be escaped.

CAPTAIN. On this island I am master. Keep behind my back, and nobody will dare to touch you.

ALICE. Oh, be quiet, Edgar! [_Takes_ CURT _by the hand_] Leaving both masters and superiors aside, you must stay with us. That will be found both natural and proper.

CURT. Well, then--especially as I feel welcome here.

CAPTAIN. Why should you not be welcome? There is nothing between us--[CURT _tries vainly to hide a sense of displeasure_] What could there be? You were a little careless as a young man, but I have forgotten all about it. I don't let things rankle.

ALICE _looks annoyed. All three sit down at the
sewing-table_.

ALICE. Well, you have strayed far and wide in the world?

CURT. Yes, and now I have found a harbour with you----

CAPTAIN. Whom you married off twenty-five years ago.

CURT. It was not quite that way, but it doesn't matter. It is pleasing to see that you have stuck together for twenty-five years.

CAPTAIN. Well, we have borne with it. Now and then it has been so-so, but, as you say, we have stuck together. And Alice has had nothing to complain of. There has been plenty of everything--heaps of money. Perhaps you don't know that I am a celebrated author--an author of text-books----

CURT. Yes, I recall that, when we parted, you had just published a volume on rifle practice that was selling well. Is it still used in the military schools?

CAPTAIN. It is still in evidence, and it holds its place as number one, though they have tried to substitute a worse one --which is being used now, but which is totally worthless.

[_Painful silence_.

CURT. You have been travelling abroad, I have heard.

ALICE. We have been down to Copenhagen five times--think of it?

CAPTAIN. Well, you see, when I took Alice away from the stage----

ALICE. Oh, you took me?

CAPTAIN. Yes, I took you as a wife should be taken----

ALICE. How brave you have grown!

CAPTAIN. But as it was held up against me afterward that I had spoiled her brilliant career--hm!--I had to make up for it by promising to take my wife to Copenhagen--and this I have kept--fully! Five times we have been there. Five [_holding up the five fingers of the left hand_] Have you been in Copenhagen?

CURT. [_Smiling_] No, I have mostly been in America.

CAPTAIN. America? Isn't that a rotten sort of a country?

CURT. [_Unpleasantly impressed_] It is not Copenhagen.

ALICE. Have you--heard anything--from your children?

CURT. No.

ALICE. I hope you pardon me--but was it not rather inconsiderate to leave them like that----

CURT. I didn't leave them, but the court gave them to the mother.

CAPTAIN. Don't let us talk of that now. I for my part think it was lucky for you to get out of that mess.

CURT. [_To_ ALICE] How are your children?

ALICE. Well, thank you. They are at school in the city and will soon be grown up.

CAPTAIN. Yes, they're splendid kids, and the boy has a brilliant head--brilliant! He is going to join the General Staff----

ALICE. If they accept him!

CAPTAIN. Him? Who has the making of a War Minister in him!

CURT. From one thing to another. There is to be a quarantine station here--against plague, cholera, and that sort of thing. And the doctor will be my superior, as you know--what sort of man is he?

CAPTAIN. Man? He is no man! He's an ignorant rascal!

CURT. [_To_ ALICE] That is very unpleasant for me.

ALICE. Oh, it is not quite as bad as Edgar makes it out, but I must admit that I have small sympathy for the man----

CAPTAIN. A rascal, that's what he is. And that's what the others are, too--the Collector of Customs, the Postmaster, the telephone girl, the druggist, the pilot--what is it they call him now?--the Pilot Master--rascals one and all--and that's why I don't associate with them.

CURT. Are you on bad terms with all of them?

CAPTAIN. Every one!

ALICE. Yes, it is true that intercourse with those people is out of the question.

CAPTAIN. It is as if all the tyrants of the country had been sent to this island for safe-keeping.

ALICE. [_Ironically_] Exactly!

CAPTAIN. [_Good-naturedly_] Hm! Is that meant for me? I am no tyrant--not in my own house at least.

ALICE. You know better!

CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] Don't believe her! I am a very reasonable husband, and the old lady is the best wife in the world.

ALICE. Would you like something to drink, Curt?

CURT. No, thank you, not now.

CAPTAIN. Have you turned----

CURT. A little moderate only----

CAPTAIN. Is that American?

CURT. Yes.

CAPTAIN. No moderation for me, or I don't care at all. A man should stand his liquor.

CURT. Returning to our neighbours on the island--my position will put me in touch with all of them--and it is not easy to steer clear of everything, for no matter how little you care to get mixed up in other people's intrigues, you are drawn into them just the same.

ALICE. You had better take up with them--in the end you will return to us, for here you find your true friends.

CURT. Is it not dreadful to be alone among a lot of enemies as you are?

ALICE. It is not pleasant.

CAPTAIN. It isn't dreadful at all. I have never had anything but enemies all my life, and they have helped me on instead of doing me harm. And when my time to die comes, I may say that I owe nothing to anybody, and that I have never got a thing for nothing. Every particle of what I own I have had to fight for.

ALICE. Yes, Edgar's path has not been strewn with roses----

CAPTAIN. No, with thorns and stones--pieces of flint--but a man's own strength: do you know what that means?

CURT. [_Simply_] Yes, I learned to recognise its insufficiency about ten years ago.

CAPTAIN. Then you are no good!

ALICE. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] Edgar!

CAPTAIN. He is no good, I say, if he does not have the strength within himself. Of course it is true that when the mechanism goes to pieces there is nothing left but a barrowful to chuck out on the garden beds; but as long as the mechanism holds together the thing to do is to kick and fight, with hands and feet, until there is nothing left. That is my philosophy.

CURT. [_Smiling_] It is fun to listen to you.

CAPTAIN. But you don't think it's true?

CURT. No, I don't.

CAPTAIN. But true it is, for all that.

_During the preceding scene the wind has begun to
blow hard, and now one of the big doors is closed
with a bang_.

CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] It's blowing. I could just feel it coming.

_Goes back and closes both doors. Knocks on the
barometer_.

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] You will stay for supper?

CURT. Thank you.

ALICE. But it will be very simple, as our housemaid has just left us.

CURT. Oh, it will do for me, I am sure.

ALICE. You ask for so little, dear Curt.

CAPTAIN. [_At the barometer_] If you could only see how the mercury is dropping! Oh, I felt it coming!

ALICE. [_Secretly to_ CURT] He is nervous.

CAPTAIN. We ought to have supper soon.

ALICE. [_Rising_] I am going to see about it now. You can sit here and philosophise--[_secretly to_ CURT], but don't contradict him, for then he gets into bad humour. And don't ask him why he was not made a major.

[CURT _nods assent_.

[ALICE _goes toward the right_.

CAPTAIN. See that we get something nice now, old lady!

ALICE. You give me money, and you'll get what you want.

CAPTAIN. Always money!

[ALICE _goes out_.

CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] Money, money, money! All day long I have to stand ready with the purse, until at last I have come to feel as if I myself were nothing but a purse. Are you familiar with that kind of thing?

CURT. Oh, yes--with the difference that I took myself for a pocket-book.

CAPTAIN. Ha-ha! So you know the flavour of the brand! Oh, the ladies! Ha-ha! And you had one of the proper kind!

CURT. [_Patiently_] Let that be buried now.

CAPTAIN. She was a jewel! Then I have after all--in spite of everything--one that's pretty decent. For she is straight, in spite of everything.

CURT. [_Smiling good-humouredly_] In spite of everything.

CAPTAIN. Don't you laugh!

CURT. [_As before_] In spite of everything!

CAPTAIN. Yes, she has been a faithful mate, a splendid mother--excellent--but [_with a glance at the door on the right_] she has a devilish temper. Do you know, there have been moments when I cursed you for saddling me with her.

CURT. [_Good-naturedly_] But I didn't. Listen, man----

CAPTAIN. Yah, yah, yah! You talk nonsense and forget things that are not pleasant to remember. Don't take it badly, please--I am accustomed to command and raise Cain, you see, but you know me, and don't get angry!

CURT. Not at all. But I have not provided you with a wife--on the contrary.

CAPTAIN. [_Without letting his flow of words be checked_] Don't you think life is queer anyhow?

CURT. I suppose so.

CAPTAIN. And to grow old--it is no fun, but it is interesting. Well, my age is nothing to speak of, but it does begin to make itself felt. All your friends die off, and then you become so lonely.

CURT. Lucky the man who can grow old in company with a wife.

CAPTAIN. Lucky? Well, it is luck, for the children go their way, too. You ought not to have left yours.

CURT. Well, I didn't. They were taken away from me----

CAPTAIN. Don't get mad now, because I tell you----

CURT. But it was not so.

CAPTAIN. Well, whichever way it was, it has now become forgotten--but you are alone!

CURT. You get accustomed to everything.

CAPTAIN. Do you--is it possible to get accustomed--to being quite alone also?

CURT. Here am I!

CAPTAIN. What have you been doing these fifteen years?

CURT. What a question! These fifteen years!

CAPTAIN. They say you have got hold of money and grown rich.

CURT. I can hardly be called rich----

CAPTAIN. I am not going to ask for a loan.

CURT. If you were, you would find me ready.

CAPTAIN. Many thanks, but I have my bank account. You see [_with a glance toward the door on the right_], nothing must be lacking in this house; and the day I had no more money--she would leave me!

CURT. Oh, no!

CAPTAIN. No? Well, I know better. Think of it, she makes a point of asking me when I happen to be short, just for the pleasure of showing me that I am not supporting my family.

CURT. But I heard you say that you have a large income.

CAPTAIN. Of course, I have a large income--but it is not enough.

CURT. Then it is not large, as such things are reckoned----

CAPTAIN. Life is queer, and we as well!

_The telegraph receiver begins to click_.

CURT. What is that?

CAPTAIN. Nothing but a time correction.

CURT. Have you no telephone?

CAPTAIN. Yes, in the kitchen. But we use the telegraph because the girls at the central report everything we say.

CURT. Social conditions out here by the sea must be frightful!

CAPTAIN. They are simply horrible! But all life is horrible. And you, who believe in a sequel, do you think there will be any peace further on?

CURT. I presume there will be storms and battles there also.

CAPTAIN. There also--if there be any "there"! I prefer annihilation!

CURT. Are you sure that annihilation will come without pain?

CAPTAIN. I am going to die all of a sudden, without pain

CURT. So you know that?

CAPTAIN. Yes, I know it.

CURT. You don't appear satisfied with your life?

CAPTAIN. [_Sighing_] Satisfied? The day I could die, I should be satisfied.

CURT. [_Rising_] That you don't know! But tell me: what is going on in this house? What is happening here? There is a smell as of poisonous wall-paper, and one feels sick the moment one enters. I should prefer to get away from here, had I not promised Alice to stay. There are dead bodies beneath the flooring, and the place is so filled with hatred that one can hardly breathe. [_The_ CAPTAIN _sinks together and sits staring into vacancy_] What is the matter with you? Edgar! [_The_ CAPTAIN _does not move. Slaps the_ CAPTAIN _on the shoulder_] Edgar!

CAPTAIN. [_Recovering consciousness_] Did you say anything? [_Looks around_] I thought it was--Alice!--Oh, is that you?--Say--[_Relapses into apathy_.

CURT. This is horrible! [_Goes over to the door on the right and opens it_] Alice!

ALICE. [_Enters, wearing a kitchen apron_] What is it?

CURT. I don't know. Look at him.

ALICE. [_Calmly_] He goes off like that at times--I'll play and then he will wake up.

CURT. No, don't! Not that way! Leave it to me--Does he hear? Or see?

ALICE. Just now he neither hears nor sees.

CURT. And you can speak of that with such calm? Alice, what is going on in this house?

ALICE. Ask him there.

CURT. Him there? But he is your husband!

ALICE. A stranger to me--as strange as he was twenty-five years ago. I know nothing at all about that man--nothing but----

CURT. Stop! He may overhear you.

ALICE. Now he cannot hear anything.

_A trumpet signal is sounded outside_.

CAPTAIN. [_Leaps to his feet and grabs sabre and cap_] Pardon me. I have to inspect the sentries.

[_Goes out through the door in the background_.

CURT. Is he ill?

ALICE. I don't know.

CURT. Has he lost his reason?

ALICE. I don't know.

CURT. Does he drink?

ALICE. He boasts more of it than he really drinks.

CURT. Sit down and talk--but calmly and truthfully.

ALICE. [_Sitting down_] What am I to talk about? That I have spent a lifetime in this tower, locked up, guarded by a man whom I have always hated, and whom I now hate so beyond all bounds that the day he died I should be laughing until the air shook.

CURT. Why have you not parted?

ALICE. You may well ask! While still engaged we parted twice; since then we have been trying to part every single day--but we are chained together and cannot break away. Once we were separated--within the same house--for five whole years. Now nothing but death can part us. This we know, and for that reason we are waiting for him as for a liberator.

CURT. Why are you so lonely?

ALICE. Because he isolates me. First he "exterminated" all my brothers and sisters from our home--he speaks of it himself as "extermination"--and then my girl friends and everybody else.

CURT. But _his_ relatives? He has not "exterminated" them?

ALICE. Yes, for they came near taking my life, after having taken my honour and good name. Finally I became forced to keep up my connection with the world and with other human beings by means of that telegraph--for the telephone was watched by the operators. I have taught myself telegraphy, and he doesn't know it. You must not tell him, for then he would kill me.

CURT. Frightful! Frightful!--But why does he hold me responsible for your marriage? Let me tell you now how it was. Edgar was my childhood friend. When he saw you he fell in love at once. He came to me and asked me to plead his cause. I said no at once--and, my dear Alice, I knew your tyrannical and cruel temperament. For that reason I warned him--and when he persisted, I sent him to get your brother for his spokesman.

ALICE. I believe what you say. But he has been deceiving himself all these years, so that now you can never get him to believe anything else.

CURT. Well, let him put the blame on me if that can relieve his sufferings.

ALICE. But that is too much----

CURT. I am used to it. But what does hurt me is his unjust charge that I have deserted my children----

ALICE. That's the manner of man he is. He says what suits him, and then he believes it. But he seems to be fond of you, principally because you don't contradict him. Try not to grow tired of us now. I believe you have come in what was to us a fortunate moment; I think it was even providential--Curt, you must not grow tired of us, for we are undoubtedly the most unhappy creatures in the whole world!

[_She weeps_.

CURT. I have seen _one_ marriage at close quarters, and it was dreadful--but this is almost worse!

ALICE. Do you think so?

CURT. Yes.

ALICE. Whose fault is it?

CURT. The moment you quit asking whose fault it is, Alice, you will feel a relief. Try to regard it as a fact, a trial that has to be borne----

ALICE. I cannot do it! It is too much! [Rising] It is beyond help!

CURT. I pity both of you!--Do you know why you are hating each other?

ALICE. No, it is the most unreasoning hatred, without cause, without purpose, but also without end. And can you imagine why he is principally afraid of death? He fears that I may marry again.

CURT. Then he loves you.

ALICE. Probably. But that does not prevent him from hating me.

CURT. [_As if to himself_] It is called love-hatred, and it hails from the pit!--Does he like you to play for him?

ALICE. Yes, but only horrid melodies--for instance, that awful "The Entry of the Boyars." When he hears it he loses his head and wants to dance.

CURT. Does he dance?

ALICE. Oh, he is very funny at times.

CURT. One thing--pardon me for asking. Where are the children?

ALICE. Perhaps you don't know that two of them are dead?

CURT. So you have had that to face also?

ALICE. What is there I have not faced?

CURT. But the other two?

ALICE. In the city. They couldn't stay at home. For he set them against me.

CURT. And you set them against him?

ALICE. Of course. And then parties were formed, votes bought, bribes given--and in order not to spoil the children completely we had to part from them. What should have been the uniting link became the seed of dissension; what is held the blessing of the home turned into a curse--well, I believe sometimes that we belong to a cursed race!

CURT. Yes, is it not so--ever since the Fall?

ALICE. [_With a venomous glance and sharp voice_] What fall?

CURT. That of our first parents.

ALICE. Oh, I thought you meant something else!

[_Embarrassed silence_.

ALICE. [_With folded hands_] Curt, my kinsman, my childhood friend--I have not always acted toward you as I should. But now I am being punished, and you are having your revenge.

CURT. No revenge! Nothing of that kind here! Hush!

ALICE. Do you recall one Sunday while you were engaged--and I had invited you for dinner----

CURT. Never mind!

ALICE. I must speak! Have pity on me! When you came to dinner, we had gone away, and you had to leave again.

CURT. You had received an invitation yourselves--what is that to speak of!

ALICE. Curt, when to-day, a little while ago, I asked you to stay for supper, I thought we had something left in the pantry. [_Hiding her face in her hands_] And there is not a thing, not even a piece of bread----

CURT. _Weeping_] Alice--poor Alice!

ALICE. But when he comes home and wants something to eat, and there is nothing--then he gets angry. You have never seen him angry! O, God, what humiliation!

CURT. Will you not let me go out and arrange for something?

ALICE. There is nothing to be had on this island.

CURT. Not for my sake, but for his and yours--let me think up something--something. We must make the whole thing seem laughable when he comes. I'll propose that we have a drink, and in the meantime I'll think of something. Put him in good humour; play for him, any old nonsense. Sit down at the piano and make yourself ready----

ALICE. Look at my hands--are they fit to play with? I have to wipe glasses and polish brass, sweep floors, and make fires----

CURT. But you have two servants?

ALICE. So we have to pretend because he is an officer--but the servants are leaving us all the time, so that often we have none at all--most of the time, in fact. How am I to get out of this--this about supper? Oh, if only fire would break out in this house!

CURT. Don't, Alice, don't!

ALICE. If the sea would rise and take us away!

CURT. No, no, no, I cannot listen to you!

ALICE. What will he say, what will he say--Don't go, Curt, don't go away from me!

CURT. No, dear Alice--I shall not go.

ALICE. Yes, but when you are gone----

CURT. Has he ever laid hands on you?

ALICE. On me? Oh, no, for he knew that then I should have left him. One has to preserve some pride.

_From without is heard_: "_Who goes
there_?--_Friend_."

CURT. [_Rising_] Is he coming?

ALICE. [_Frightened_] Yes, that's he. [_Pause_.

CURT. What in the world are we to do?

ALICE. I don't know, I don't know!

CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the background_, _cheerful_] There! Leisure now! Well, has she had time to make her complaints? Is she not unhappy--hey?

CURT. How's the weather outside?--

CAPTAIN. Half storm--[_Facetiously; opening one of the doors ajar_] Sir Bluebeard with the maiden in the tower; and outside stands the sentry with drawn sabre to guard the pretty maiden--and then come the brothers, but the sentry is there. Look at him. Hip--hip! That's a fine sentry. Look at him. _Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre_! Let us dance the sword dance! Curt ought to see it!

CURT. No, let us have "The Entry of the Boyars" instead!

CAPTAIN. Oh, you know that one, do you?--Alice in the kitchen apron, come and play. Come, I tell you!

[ALICE _goes reluctantly to the piano_.

CAPTAIN. [_Pinching her arm_] Now you have been black-guarding me!

ALICE. I?

CURT _turns away from them_.

ALICE _plays_ "_The Entry of the Boyars_."

_The_ CAPTAIN _performs some kind of Hungarian dance
step behind the writing-table so that his spurs are
set jingling. Then he sinks down on the floor without
being noticed by_ CURT _and_ ALICE, _and the latter
goes on playing the piece to the end_.

ALICE. [_Without turning around_] Shall we have it again? [_Silence. Turns around and becomes aware of the_ CAPTAIN, _who is lying unconscious on the floor in such a way that he is hidden from the public by the writing-table_] Lord Jesus!

_She stands still, with arms crossed over her breast,
and gives vent to a sigh as of gratitude and relief_.

CURT. [_Turns around; hurries over to the_ CAPTAIN] What is it? What is it?

ALICE. [_In a high state of tension_] Is he dead?

CURT. I don't know. Come and help me.

ALICE. [_Remains still_] I cannot touch him--is he dead?

CURT. No--he lives.

ALICE _sighs_.

CURT _helps the_ CAPTAIN _to his feet and places him
in a chair_.

CAPTAIN. What was it? [_Silence_] What was it?

CURT. You fell down.

CAPTAIN. Did anything happen?

CURT. You fell on the floor. What is the matter with you?

CAPTAIN. With me? Nothing at all. I don't know of anything. What are you staring at me for?

CURT. You are ill.

CAPTAIN. What nonsense is that? You go on playing, Alice--Oh, now it's back again!

[_Puts both hands up to his head._

ALICE. Can't you see that you are ill?

CAPTAIN. Don't shriek! It is only a fainting spell.

CURT. We must call a doctor--I'll use your telephone----

CAPTAIN. I don't want any doctor.

CURT. You must! We have to call him for our own sake--otherwise we shall be held responsible----

CAPTAIN. I'll show him the door if he comes here. I'll shoot him. Oh, now it's there again!

[_Takes hold of his head._

CURT. [_Goes toward the door on the right_] Now I am going to telephone! [_Goes out_.

[ALICE _takes off her apron._

CAPTAIN. Will you give me a glass of water?

ALICE. I suppose I have to! [_Gives him a glass of water._

CAPTAIN. How amiable!

ALICE. Are you ill?

CAPTAIN. Please pardon me for not being well.

ALICE. Will you take care of yourself then?

CAPTAIN. _You_ won't do it, I suppose?

ALICE. No, of that you may be sure!

CAPTAIN. The hour is come for which you have been waiting so long.

ALICE. The hour you believed would never come.

CAPTAIN. Don't be angry with me!

CURT. [_Enters from the right_] Oh, it's too bad----

ALICE. What did he say?

CURT. He rang off without a word.

ALICE. [_To the_ Captain] There is the result of your limitless arrogance!

CAPTAIN. I think I am growing worse--Try to get a doctor from the city.

ALICE. [_Goes to the telegraph instrument_] We shall have to use the telegraph then.

CAPTAIN. [_Rising half-way from the chair; startled_] Do you--know--how to use it?

ALICE. [_Working the key_] Yes, I do.

CAPTAIN. So-o! Well, go on then--But isn't she treacherous! [_To_ CURT] Come over here and sit by me. [CURT _sits down beside the_ CAPTAIN] Take my hand. I sit here and fall--can you make it out? Down something--such a queer feeling.

CURT. Have you had any attack like this before?

CAPTAIN. Never----

CURT. While you are waiting for an answer from the city, I'll go over to the doctor and have a talk with him. Has he attended you before?

CAPTAIN. He has.

CURT. Then he knows your case. [Goes _toward the left_.

ALICE. There will be an answer shortly. It is very kind of you, Curt. But come back soon.

CURT. As soon as I can. [_Goes out_.

CAPTAIN. Curt _is_ kind! And how he has changed.

ALICE. Yes, and for the better. It is too bad, however, that he must be dragged into our misery just now.

CAPTAIN. But good for us--I wonder just how he stands. Did you notice that he wouldn't speak of his own affairs?

ALICE. I did notice it, but then I don't think anybody asked him.

CAPTAIN. Think, what a life! And ours! I wonder if it is the same for all people?

ALICE. Perhaps, although they don't speak of it as we do.

CAPTAIN. At times I have thought that misery draws misery, and that those who are happy shun the unhappy. That is the reason why we see nothing but misery.

ALICE. Have you known anybody who was happy?

CAPTAIN. Let me see! No--Yes--the Ekmarks.

ALICE. You don't mean it! She had to have an operation last year----

CAPTAIN. That's right. Well, then I don't know--yes, the Von Kraffts.

ALICE. Yes, the whole family lived an idyllic life, well off, respected by everybody, nice children, good marriages--right along until they were fifty. Then that cousin of theirs committed a crime that led to a prison term and all sorts of after-effects. And that was the end of their peace. The family name was dragged in the mud by all the newspapers. The Krafft murder case made it impossible for the family to appear anywhere, after having been so much thought of. The children had to be taken out of school. Oh, heavens!

CAPTAIN. I wonder what my trouble is?

ALICE. What do you think?

CAPTAIN. Heart or head. It is as if the soul wanted to fly off and turn into smoke.

ALICE. Have you any appetite?

CAPTAIN. Yes, how about the supper?

ALICE. [_Crosses the stage, disturbed_] I'll ask Jenny.

CAPTAIN. Why, she's gone!

ALICE. Yes, yes, yes!

CAPTAIN. Ring for Christine so that I can get some fresh water.

ALICE. [_Rings_] I wonder--[_Rings again_] She doesn't hear.

CAPTAIN. Go and look--just think, if she should have left also!

ALICE. [_Goes over to the door on the left and opens it_] What is this? Her trunk is in the hallway--packed.

CAPTAIN. Then she has gone.

ALICE. This is hell!

_Begins to cry, falls on her knees, and puts her head
on a chair, sobbing_.

CAPTAIN. And everything at once! And then Curt had to turn up just in time to get a look into this mess of ours! If there be any further humiliation in store, let it come this moment!

ALICE. Do you know what I suspect? Curt went away and will not come back.

CAPTAIN. I believe it of him.

ALICE. Yes, we are cursed----

CAPTAIN. What are you talking of?

ALICE. Don't you see how everybody shuns us?

CAPTAIN. I don't mind! [_The telegraph receiver clicks_] There is the answer. Hush, I can hear it--Nobody can spare the time. Evasions! The rabble!

ALICE. That's what you get because you have despised your physicians--and failed to pay them.

CAPTAIN. That is not so!

ALICE. Even when you could, you didn't care to pay their bills because you looked down upon their work, just as you have looked down upon mine and everybody else's. They don't want to come. And the telephone is cut off because you didn't think that good for anything either. Nothing is good for anything but your rifles and guns!

CAPTAIN. Don't stand there and talk nonsense----

ALICE. Everything comes back.

CAPTAIN. What sort of superstition is that? Talk for old women!

ALICE. You will see! Do you know that we owe Christine six months' wages?

CAPTAIN. Well, she has stolen that much.

ALICE. But I have also had to borrow money from her.

CAPTAIN. I think you capable of it.

ALICE. What an ingrate you are! You know I borrowed that money for the children to get into the city.

CAPTAIN. Curt had a fine way of coming back! A rascal, that one, too! And a coward! He didn't dare to say he had had enough, and that he found the doctor's party more pleasant--He's the same rapscallion as ever!

CURT. [_Enters quickly from the left_] Well, my dear Edgar, this is how the matter stands--the doctor knows everything about your heart----

CAPTAIN. My heart?

CURT. You have long been suffering from calcification of the heart----

CAPTAIN. Stone heart?

CURT. And----

CAPTAIN. Is it serious?

CURT. Well, that is to say----

CAPTAIN. It is serious.

CURT. Yes.

CAPTAIN. Fatal?

CURT. You must be very careful. First of all: the cigar must go. [_The_ CAPTAIN _throws away his cigar_] And next: no more whiskey! Then, to bed!

CAPTAIN. [_Scared_] No, I don't want _that_! Not to bed! That's the end! Then you never get up again. I shall sleep on the couch to-night. What more did he say?

CURT. He was very nice about it and will come at once if you call him.

CAPTAIN. Was he nice, the hypocrite? I don't want to see him! I can at least eat?

CURT. Not to-night. And during the next few days nothing but milk.

CAPTAIN. Milk! I cannot take that stuff into my mouth.

CURT. Better learn how!

CAPTAIN. I am too old to learn. [_Puts his hand up to his head_] Oh, there it is again now!

[_He sits perfectly still, staring straight ahead_.

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] What did the doctor tell you?

CURT. That he _may_ die.

ALICE. Thank God!

CURT. Take care, Alice, take care! And now, go and get a pillow and a blanket and I'll put him here on the couch. Then I'll sit on the chair here all night.

ALICE. And I?

CURT. You go to bed. Your presence seems only to make him worse.

ALICE. Command! I shall obey, for you seem to mean well toward both of us. [_Goes out to the left_.

CURT. Mark you--toward both of you! And I shall not mix in any partisan squabbles.

CURT _takes the water bottle and goes out to the
right. The noise of the wind outside is clearly
heard. Then one of the doors is blown open and an old
woman of shabby, unprepossessing appearance peeps
into the room_.

CAPTAIN. [_Wakes up, rises, and looks around_] So, they have left me, the rascals! [_Catches sight of the old woman and is frightened by her_] Who is it? What do you want?

OLD WOMAN. I just wanted to close the door, sir.

CAPTAIN. Why should you? Why should you?

OLD WOMAN. Because it blew open just as I passed by.

CAPTAIN. Wanted to steal, did you?

OLD WOMAN. Not much here to take away, Christine said.

CAPTAIN. Christine?

OLD WOMAN. Good night, sir, and sleep well!

[_Closes the door and disappears._

ALICE _comes in from the left with pillows and a
blanket._

CAPTAIN. Who was that at the door? Anybody?

ALICE. Why, it was old Mary from the poorhouse who just went by.

CAPTAIN. Are you sure?

ALICE. Are you afraid?

CAPTAIN. I, afraid? Oh, no!

ALICE. As you don't want to go to bed, you can lie here.

CAPTAIN. [_Goes over to the couch and lies down_] I'll lie here.

[_Tries to take_ ALICE'S _hand, but she pulls it
away._ CURT _comes in with the water bottle_.

CAPTAIN. Curt, don't go away from me!

CURT. I am going to stay up with you all night. Alice is going to bed.

CAPTAIN. Good night then, Alice.

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Good night, Curt.

CURT. Good night.

[ALICE _goes out_.

CURT. [_Takes a chair and sits down beside the couch_] Don't you want to take off your boots?

CAPTAIN. No, a warrior should always be armed.

CURT. Are you expecting a battle then?

CAPTAIN. Perhaps! [_Rising up in bed_] Curt, you are the only human being to whom I ever disclosed anything of myself. Listen to me!--If I die to-night--look after my children!

CURT. I will do so.

CAPTAIN. Thank you--I trust in you!

CURT. Can you explain why you trust me?

CAPTAIN. We have not been friends, for friendship is something I don't believe in, and our families were born enemies and have always been at war----

CURT. And yet you trust me?

CAPTAIN. Yes, and I don't know why. [_Silence_] Do you think I am going to die?

CURT. You as well as everybody. There will be no exception made in your case.

CAPTAIN. Are you bitter?

CURT. Yes--are you afraid of death? Of the wheelbarrow and the garden bed?

CAPTAIN. Think, if it were not the end!

CURT. That's what a great many think!

CAPTAIN. And then?

CURT. Nothing but surprises, I suppose.

CAPTAIN. But nothing at all is known with certainty?

CURT. No, that's just it! That is why you must be prepared for everything.