Chapter VII: Part I (2)

CAPTAIN. You are not childish enough to believe in a hell?

CURT. Do you not believe in it--you, who are right in it?

CAPTAIN. That is metaphorical only.

CURT. The realism with which you have described yours seems to preclude all thought of metaphors, poetical or otherwise.

[_Silence_.

CAPTAIN. If you only knew what pangs I suffer!

CURT. Of the body?

CAPTAIN. No, not of the body.

CURT. Then it must be of the spirit, for no other alternative exists. [_Pause._

CAPTAIN. [_Rising up in bed_] I don't want to die!

CURT. Not long ago you wished for annihilation.

CAPTAIN. Yes, if it be painless.

CURT. Apparently it is not!

CAPTAIN. Is this annihilation then?

CURT. The beginning of it.

CAPTAIN. Good night.

CURT. Good night.

_Curtain_.

_The same setting, but note the lamp is at the point
of going out. Through the windows and the glass panes
of the doors a gray morning is visible. The sea is
stirring. The sentry is on the battery as before_.

_The_ CAPTAIN _is lying on the couch, asleep_. CURT
_sits on a chair beside him, looking pale and wearied
from his watch_.

ALICE. [_In from the left_] Is he asleep?

CURT. Yes, since the time when the sun should have risen.

ALICE. What kind of night did he have?

CURT. He slept now and then, but he talked a good deal.

ALICE. Of what?

CURT. He argued about religion like a schoolboy, but with a pretension of having solved all the world riddles. Finally, toward morning, he invented the immortality of the soul.

ALICE. For his own glory.

CURT. Exactly! He is actually the most conceited person I have ever met. "I am; consequently God must be."

ALICE. You have become aware of it? Look at those boots. With those he would have trampled the earth flat, had he been allowed to do so. With those he has trampled down other people's fields and gardens. With those he has trampled on some people's toes and other people's heads--Man-eater, you have got your bullet at last!

CURT. He would be comical were he not so tragical; and there are traces of greatness in all his narrow-mindedness--Have you not a single good word to say about him?

ALICE. [_Sitting down_] Yes, if he only does not hear it; for if he hears a single word of praise he develops megalomania on the spot.

CURT. He can hear nothing now, for he has had a dose of morphine.

ALICE. Born in a poor home, with many brothers and sisters, Edgar very early had to support the family by giving lessons, as the father was a ne'er-do-well if nothing worse. It must be hard for a young man to give up all the pleasures of youth in order to slave for a bunch of thankless children whom he has not brought into the world. I was a little girl when I saw him, as a young man, going without an overcoat in the winter while the mercury stood at fifteen below zero--his little sisters wore kersey coats--it was fine, and I admired him, but his ugliness repelled me. Is he not unusually ugly?

CURT. Yes, and his ugliness has a touch of the monstrous at times. Whenever we fell out, I noticed it particularly. And when, at such times, he went away, his image assumed enormous forms and proportions, and he literally haunted me.

ALICE. Think of me then! However, his earlier years as an officer were undoubtedly a martyrdom. But now and then he was helped by rich people. This he will never admit, and whatever has come to him in that way he has accepted as a due tribute, without giving thanks for it.

CURT. We were to speak well of him.

ALICE. Yes--after he is dead. But then I recall nothing more.

CURT. Have you found him cruel?

ALICE. Yes--and yet he can show himself both kind and susceptible to sentiment. As an enemy he is simply horrible.

CURT. Why did he not get the rank of major?

ALICE. Oh, you ought to understand that! They didn't want to raise a man above themselves who had already proved himself a tyrant as an inferior. But you must never let on that you know this. He says himself that he did not want promotion--Did he speak of the children?

CURT. Yes, he was longing for Judith.

ALICE. I thought so--Oh! Do you know what Judith is? His own image, whom he has trained for use against me. Think only, that my own daughter--has raised her hand against me!

CURT. That is too much!

ALICE. Hush! He is moving--Think if he overheard us! He is full of trickery also.

CURT. He is actually waking up.

ALICE. Does he not look like an ogre? I am afraid of him!

[_Silence_.

CAPTAIN. [_Stirs, wakes up, rises in bed, and looks around_] It is morning--at last!

CURT. How are you feeling?

CAPTAIN. Not so very bad.

CURT. Do you want a doctor?

CAPTAIN. No--I want to see Judith--my child!

CURT. Would it not be wise to set your house in order before--or if something should happen?

CAPTAIN. What do you mean? What could happen?

CURT. What may happen to all of us.

CAPTAIN. Oh, nonsense! Don't you believe that I die so easily! And don't rejoice prematurely, Alice!

CURT. Think of your children. Make your will so that your wife at least may keep the household goods.

CAPTAIN. Is she going to inherit from me while I am still alive?

CURT. No, but if something happens she ought not to be turned into the street. One who has dusted and polished and looked after these things for twenty-five years should have some right to remain in possession of them. May I send word to the regimental lawyer?

CAPTAIN. No!

CURT. You are a cruel man--more cruel than I thought you!

CAPTAIN. Now it is back again!

[_Falls back on the bed unconscious_.

ALICE. [_Goes toward the right_] There are some people in the kitchen--I have to go down there.

CURT. Yes, go. Here is not much to be done.

[ALICE _goes out_.

CAPTAIN. [_Recovers_] Well, Curt, what are you going to do about your quarantine?

CURT. Oh, that will be all right.

CAPTAIN. No; I am in command on this island, so you will have to deal with me--don't forget that!

CURT. Have you ever seen a quarantine station?

CAPTAIN. Have I? Before you were born. And I'll give you a piece of advice: don't place your disinfection plant too close to the shore.

CURT. I was thinking that the nearer I could get to the water the better----

CAPTAIN. That shows how much you know of your business. Water, don't you see, is the element of the bacilli, their life element?

CURT. But the salt water of the sea is needed to wash away all the impurity.

CAPTAIN. Idiot! Well, now, when you get a house for yourself I suppose you'll bring home your children?

CURT. Do you think they will let themselves be brought?

CAPTAIN. Of course, if you have got any backbone! It would make a good impression on the people if you fulfilled your duties in that respect also----

CURT. I have always fulfilled my duties in that respect.

CAPTAIN. [_Raising his voice_]--in the one respect where you have proved yourself most remiss----

CURT. Have I not told you----

CAPTAIN. [_Paying no attention_]--for one does not desert one's children like that----

CURT. Go right on!

CAPTAIN. As your relative--a relative older than yourself--I feel entitled to tell you the truth, even if it should prove bitter--and you should not take it badly----

CURT. Are you hungry?

CAPTAIN. Yes, I am.

CURT. Do you want something light?

CAPTAIN. No, something solid.

CURT. Then you would be done for.

CAPTAIN. Is it not enough to be sick, but one must starve also?

CURT. That's how the land lies.

CAPTAIN. And neither drink nor smoke? Then life is not worth much!

CURT. Death demands sacrifices, or it comes at once.

ALICE. [_Enters with several bunches of flowers and some telegrams and letters_] These are for you.

[_Throws the flowers on the writing-table_.

CAPTAIN. [_Flattered_] For me! Will you please let me look?

ALICE. Oh, they are only from the non-commissioned officers, the bandmen, and the gunners.

CAPTAIN. You are jealous.

ALICE. Oh, no. If it were laurel wreaths, that would be another matter--but those you can never get.

CAPTAIN. Hm!--Here's a telegram from the Colonel--read it, Curt. The Colonel is a gentleman after all--though he is something of an idiot. And this is from--what does it say? It is from Judith! Please telegraph her to come with the next boat. And here--yes, one is not quite without friends after all, and it is fine to see them take thought of a sick man, who is also a man of deserts above his rank, and a man free of fear or blemish.

ALICE. I don't quite understand--are they congratulating you because you are sick?

CAPTAIN. Hyena!

ALICE. Yes, we had a doctor here on the island who was so hated that when he left they gave a banquet--after him, and not for him!

CAPTAIN. Put the flowers in water--I am not easily caught, and all people are a lot of rabble, but, by heavens, these simple tributes are genuine--they cannot be anything but genuine!

ALICE. Fool!

CURT. [_Reading the telegram_] Judith says she cannot come because the steamer is held back by the storm.

CAPTAIN. Is that all?

CURT. No-o--there is a postscript.

CAPTAIN. Out with it!

CURT. Well, she asks her father not to drink so much.

CAPTAIN. Impudence! That's like children! That's my only beloved daughter--my Judith--my idol!

ALICE. And your image!

CAPTAIN. Such is life. Such are its best joys--Hell!

ALICE. Now you get the harvest of your sowing. You have set her against her own mother and now she turns against the father. Tell me, then, that there is no God!

CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] What does the Colonel say?

CURT. He grants leave of absence without any comment.

CAPTAIN. Leave of absence? I have not asked for it.

ALICE. No, but I have asked for it.

CAPTAIN. I don't accept it.

ALICE. Order has already been issued.

CAPTAIN. That's none of my concern!

ALICE. Do you see, Curt, that for this man exist no laws, no constitutions, no prescribed human order? He stands above everything and everybody. The universe is created for his private use. The sun and the moon pursue their courses in order to spread his glory among the stars. Such is this man: this insignificant captain, who could not even reach the rank of major, and at whose strutting everybody laughs, while he thinks himself feared; this poor wretch who is afraid in the dark and believes in barometers: and all this in conjunction with and having for its climax--a barrowful of manure that is not even prime quality!

CAPTAIN. [_Fanning himself with a bunch of flowers, conceitedly, without listening to_ ALICE] Have you asked Curt to breakfast?

ALICE. No.

CAPTAIN. Get us, then, at once two nice tenderloin steaks.

ALICE. Two?

CAPTAIN. I am going to have one myself.

ALICE. But we are three here.

CAPTAIN. Oh, you want one also? Well, make it three then.

ALICE. Where am I to get them? Last night you asked Curt to supper, and there was not a crust of bread in the house. Curt has been awake all night without anything to eat, and he has had no coffee because there is none in the house and the credit is gone.

CAPTAIN. She is angry at me for not dying yesterday.

ALICE. No, for not dying twenty-five years ago--for not dying before you were born!

CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] Listen to her! That's what happens when you institute a marriage, my dear Curt. And it is perfectly clear that it was not instituted in heaven.

[ALICE _and_ CURT _look at each other meaningly_.

CAPTAIN. [_Rises and goes toward the door_] However, say what you will, now I am going on duty. [_Puts on an old-fashioned helmet with a brush crest, girds on the sabre, and shoulders his cloak_] If anybody calls for me, I am at the battery. [ALICE _and_ CURT _try vainly to hold him back_] Stand aside!

[_Goes out_.

ALICE. Yes, go! You always go, always show your back, whenever the fight becomes too much for you. And then you let your wife cover the retreat--you hero of the bottle, you arch-braggart, you arch-liar! Fie on you!

CURT. This is bottomless!

ALICE. And you don't know everything yet.

CURT. Is there anything more----

ALICE. But I am ashamed----

CURT. Where is he going now? And where does he get the strength?

ALICE. Yes, you may well ask! Now he goes down to the non-commissioned officers and thanks them for the flowers--and then he eats and drinks with them. And then he speaks ill of all the other officers--If you only knew how many times he has been threatened with discharge! Nothing but sympathy for his family has saved him. And this he takes for fear of his superiority. And he hates and maligns the very women--wives of other officers--who have been pleading our cause.

CURT. I have to confess that I applied for this position in order to find peace by the sea--and of your circumstances I knew nothing at all.

ALICE. Poor Curt! And how will you get something to eat?

CURT. Oh, I can go over to the doctor's--but you? Will you not permit me to arrange this for you?

ALICE. If only he does not learn of it, for then he would kill me.

CURT. [_Looking out through the window_] Look, he stands right in the wind out there on the rampart.

ALICE. He is to be pitied--for being what he is!

CURT. Both of you are to be pitied! But what can be done?

ALICE. I don't know--The mail brought a batch of unpaid bills also, and those he did not see.

CURT. It may be fortunate to escape seeing things at times.

ALICE. [_At the window_] He has unbuttoned his cloak and lets the wind strike his chest. Now he wants to die!

CURT. That is not what he wants, I think, for a while ago, when he felt his life slipping away, he grabbed hold of mine and began to stir in my affairs as if he wanted to crawl into me and live my life.

ALICE. That is just his vampire nature--to interfere with other people's destinies, to suck interest out of other existences, to regulate and arrange the doings of others, since he can find no interest whatever in his own life. And remember, Curt, don't ever admit him into your family life, don't ever make him acquainted with your friends, for he will take them away from you and make them his own. He is a perfect magician in this respect. Were he to meet your children, you would soon find them intimate with _him_, and he would be advising them and educating them to suit himself--but principally in opposition to _your_ wishes.

CURT. Alice, was it not he who took my children away from me at the time of the divorce?

ALICE. Since it is all over now--yes, it was he.

CURT. I have suspected it, but never had any certainty. It was he!

ALICE. When you placed your full trust in my husband and sent him to make peace between yourself and your wife, he made love to her instead, and taught her the trick that gave her the children.

CURT. Oh, God! God in heaven!

ALICE. There you have another side of him. [_Silence_.

CURT. Do you know, last night--when he thought himself dying--then--he made me promise that I should look after his children!

ALICE. But you don't want to revenge yourself on my children?

CURT. Yes--by keeping my promise. I shall look after your children.

ALICE. You could take no worse revenge, for there is nothing he hates so much as generosity.

CURT. Then I may consider myself revenged--without any revenge.

ALICE. I love revenge as a form of justice, and I am yearning to see evil get its punishment.

CURT. You still remain at that point?

ALICE. There I shall always remain, and the day I forgave or loved an enemy I should be a hypocrite.

CURT. It may be a duty not to say everything, Alice, not to see everything. It is called forbearance, and all of us need it.

ALICE. Not I! My life lies clear and open, and I have always played my cards straight.

CURT. That is saying a good deal.

ALICE. No, it is not saying enough. Because what I have suffered innocently for the sake of this man, whom I never loved----

CURT. Why did you marry?

ALICE. Who can tell? Because he took me, seduced me! I don't know. And then I was longing to get up on the heights----

CURT. And deserted your art?

ALICE. Which was despised! But you know, he cheated me! He held out hopes of a pleasant life, a handsome home--and there was nothing but debts; no gold except on the uniform--and even that was not real gold. He cheated me!

CURT. Wait a moment! When a young man falls in love, he sees the future in a hopeful light: that his hopes are not always realized, one must pardon. I have the same kind of deceit on my own conscience without thinking myself dishonest--What is it you see on the rampart?

ALICE. I want to see if he has fallen down.

CURT. Has he?

ALICE. No--worse luck! He is cheating me all the time.

CURT. Then I shall call on the doctor and the lawyer.

ALICE. [_Sitting down at the window_] Yes, dear Curt, go. I shall sit here and wait. And I have learned how to wait!

_Curtain_.

_Same setting in full daylight. The sentry is pacing
back and forth on the battery as before_.

ALICE _sits in the right-hand easy-chair. Her hair is
now gray_.

CURT. [_Enters from the left after having knocked_] Good day, Alice.

ALICE. Good day, Curt. Sit down.

CURT. [_Sits down in the left-hand easy-chair_] The steamer is just coming in.

ALICE. Then I know what's in store, for he is on board.

CURT. Yes, he is, for I caught the glitter of his helmet--What has he been doing in the city?

ALICE. Oh, I can figure it out. He dressed for parade, which means that he saw the Colonel, and he put on white gloves, which means that he made some calls.

CURT. Did you notice his quiet manner yesterday? Since he has quit drinking and become temperate, he is another man: calm, reserved, considerate----

ALICE. I know it, and if that man had always kept sober he would have been a menace to humanity. It is perhaps fortunate for the rest of mankind that he made himself ridiculous and harmless through his whiskey.

CURT. The spirit in the bottle has chastised him--But have you noticed since death put its mark on him that he has developed a dignity which elevates? And is it not possible that with this new idea of immortality may have come a new outlook upon life?

ALICE. You are deceiving yourself. He is conjuring up something evil. And don't you believe what he says, for he lies with premeditation, and he knows the art of intriguing as no one else----

CURT. [_Watching_ ALICE] Why, Alice, what does this mean? Your hair has turned gray in these two nights!

ALICE. No, my friend, it has long been gray, and I have simply neglected to darken it since my husband is as good as dead. Twenty-five years in prison--do you know that this place served as a prison in the old days?

CURT. Prison--well, the walls show it.

ALICE. And my complexion! Even the children took on prison color in here.

CURT. I find it hard to imagine children prattling within these walls.

ALICE. There was not much prattling done either. And those two that died perished merely from lack of light.

CURT. What do you think is coming next?

ALICE. The decisive blow at us two. I caught a familiar glimmer in his eye when you read out that telegram from Judith. It ought, of course, to have been directed against her, but she, you know, is inviolate, and so his hatred sought you.

CURT. What are his intentions in regard to me, do you think?

ALICE. Hard to tell, but he possesses a marvellous skill in nosing out other people's secrets--and did you notice how, all day yesterday, he seemed to be living in your quarantine; how he drank a life-interest out of your existence; how he ate your children alive? A cannibal, I tell you--for I know him. His own life is going, or has gone----

CURT. I also have that impression of his being already on the other side. His face seems to phosphoresce, as if he were in a state of decay--and his eyes flash like will-o'-the-wisps over graves or morasses--Here he comes! Tell him you thought it possible he might be jealous.

ALICE. No, he is too self-conceited. "Show me the man of whom I need to be jealous!" Those are his own words.

CURT. So much the better, for even his faults carry with them a certain merit--Shall I get up and meet him anyhow?

ALICE. No, be impolite, or he will think you false. And if he begins to lie, pretend to believe him. I know perfectly how to translate his lies, and get always at the truth with the help of my dictionary. I foresee something dreadful--but, Curt, don't lose your self-control! My own advantage in our long struggle has been that I was always sober, and for that reason in full control of myself. He was always tripped by his whiskey--Now we shall see!

CAPTAIN. [_In from the left in full uniform, with helmet, cloak, and white gloves. Calm, dignified, but pale and hollow-eyed. Moves forward with a tottering step and sinks down, his helmet and cloak still on, in a chair at the right of the stage, far from_ CURT _and_ ALICE] Good day. Pardon me for sitting down like this, but I feel a little tired.

ALICE _and_ CURT. Good day. Welcome home.

ALICE. How are you feeling?

CAPTAIN. Splendid! Only a little tired----

ALICE. What news from the city?

CAPTAIN. Oh, a little of everything. I saw the doctor, among other things, and he said it was nothing at all--that I might live twenty years, if I took care of myself.

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Now he is lying. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] Why, that's fine, my dear.

CAPTAIN. So much for that.

_Silence, during which the_ CAPTAIN _is looking at_ ALICE _and_ CURT _as if expecting them to speak_.

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Don't say a word, but let him begin--then he will show his cards.

CAPTAIN. [_To_ ALICE] Did you say anything?

ALICE. No, not a word.

CAPTAIN. [_Dragging on the words_] Well, Curt!

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] There--now he is coming out.

CAPTAIN. Well, I went to the city, as you know. [CURT _nods assent_] Mm-mm, I picked up acquaintances--and among others--a young cadet [_dragging_] in the artillery. [_Pause, during which_ CURT _shows some agitation_] As--we are in need of cadets right here, I arranged with the Colonel to let him come here. This ought to please you, especially when I inform you that--he is--your own son!

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] The vampire--don't you see?

CURT. Under ordinary circumstances that ought to please a father, but in my case it will merely be painful.

CAPTAIN. I don't see why it should!

CURT. You don't need to--it is enough that I don't want it.

CAPTAIN. Oh, you think so? Well, then, you ought to know that the young man has been ordered to report here, and that from now on he has to obey me.

CURT. Then I shall force him to seek transfer to another regiment.

CAPTAIN. You cannot do it, as you have no rights over your son.

CURT. No?

CAPTAIN. No, for the court gave those rights to the mother.

CURT. Then I shall communicate with the mother.

CAPTAIN. You don't need to.

CURT. Don't need to?

CAPTAIN. No, for I have already done so. Yah!

[CURT _rises but sinks back again_.

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Now he must die!

CURT. Why, he _is_ a cannibal!

CAPTAIN. So much for that! [_Straight to_ ALICE _and_ CURT] Did you say anything?

ALICE. No--have you grown hard of hearing?

CAPTAIN. Yes, a little--but if you come nearer to me I can tell you something between ourselves.

ALICE. That is not necessary--and a witness is sometimes good to have for both parties.

CAPTAIN. You are right; witnesses are sometimes good to have! But, first of all, did you get that will?

ALICE. [_Hands him a document_] The regimental lawyer drew it up himself.

CAPTAIN. In your favor--good! [_Reads the document and then tears it carefully into strips which he throws on the floor_] So much for that! Yah!

ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Did you ever see such a man?

CURT. That is no man!

CAPTAIN. Well, Alice, this was what I wanted to say----

ALICE. [_Alarmed_] Go on, please.

CAPTAIN. [_Calmly as before_] On account of your long cherished desire to quit this miserable existence in an unhappy marriage; on account of the lack of feeling with which you have treated your husband and children, and on account of the carelessness you have shown in the handling of our domestic economy, I have, during this trip to the city, filed an application for divorce in the City Court.

ALICE. Oh--and your grounds?

CAPTAIN. [_Calmly as before_] Besides the grounds already mentioned, I have others of a purely personal nature. As it has been found that I may live another twenty years, I am contemplating a change from this unhappy marital union to one that suits me better, and I mean to join my fate to that of some woman capable of devotion to her husband, and who also may bring into the home not only youth, but--let us say--a little beauty!

ALICE. [_Takes the wedding-ring from her finger and throws it at the_ CAPTAIN] You are welcome!

CAPTAIN. [_Picks up the ring and puts it in his rest pocket_] She throws away the ring. The witness will please take notice.

ALICE. [_Rises in great agitation_] And you intend to turn me out in order to put another woman into my home?

CAPTAIN. Yah!

ALICE. Well, then, we'll speak plain language! Cousin Curt, that man is guilty of an attempt to murder his wife.

CURT. An attempt to murder?

ALICE. Yes, he pushed me into the water.

CAPTAIN. Without witnesses!

ALICE. He lies again--Judith saw it!

CAPTAIN. Well, what of it?

ALICE. She can testify to it.

CAPTAIN. No, she cannot, for she says that she didn't see anything.

ALICE. You have taught the child to lie!

CAPTAIN. I didn't need to, for you had taught her already.

ALICE. You have met Judith?

CAPTAIN. Yah!

ALICE. Oh, God! Oh, God!

CAPTAIN. The fortress has surrendered. The enemy will be permitted to depart in safety on ten minutes' notice. [_Places his watch on the table_] Ten minutes--watch on the table! [Stops _and puts one hand up to his heart_.

ALICE. [_Goes over to the_ CAPTAIN _and takes his arm_] What is it?

CAPTAIN. I don't know.

ALICE. Do you want anything--a drink?

CAPTAIN. Whiskey? No, I don't want to die--You! [_Straightening himself up_] Don't touch me! Ten minutes, or the garrison will be massacred. [_Pulls the sabre partly from the scabbard_] Ten minutes!

[_Goes out through the background_.

CURT. What kind of man is this?

ALICE. He is a demon, and no man!

CURT. What does he want with my son?

ALICE. He wants him as hostage in order to be your master--he wants to isolate you from the authorities of the island--Do you know that the people around here have named this island "Little Hell"?

CURT. I didn't know that--Alice, you are the first woman who ever inspired me with compassion--all others have seemed to me to deserve their fate.

ALICE. Don't desert me now! Don't leave me, for he will beat me--he has been doing so all these twenty-five years--in the presence of the children--and he has pushed me into the water----

CURT. Having heard this, I place myself absolutely against him. I came here without an angry thought, without memory of his former slanders and attempts to humiliate me. I forgave him even when you told me that he was the man who had parted me from my children--for he was ill and dying--but now, when he wants to steal my son, he must die--he or I!

ALICE. Good! No surrender of the fortress! But blow it up instead, with him in it, even if we have to keep him company! I am in charge of the powder!

CURT. There was no malice in me when I came here, and I wanted to run away when I felt myself infected with your hatred, but now I am moved by an irresistible impulse to hate this man, as I hate everything that is evil. What can be done?

ALICE. I have learned the tactics from him. Drum up his enemies and seek allies.

CURT. Just think--that he should get hold of my wife! Why didn't those two meet a life-time ago? Then there would have been a battle-royal that had set the earth quaking.

ALICE. But now these souls have spied each other--and yet they must part. I guess what is his most vulnerable spot--I have long suspected it----

CURT. Who is his most faithful enemy on the island?

ALICE. The Quartermaster.

CURT. Is he an honest man?

ALICE. He is. And he knows what I--I know too--he knows what the Sergeant-Major and the Captain have been up to.

CURT. What they have been up to? You don't mean----

ALICE. Defalcations!

CURT. This is terrible! No, I don't want to have any finger in that mess!

ALICE. Ha-ha! You cannot hit an enemy.

CURT. Formerly I could, but I can do so no longer.

ALICE. Why?

CURT. Because I have discovered--that justice is done anyhow.

ALICE. And you could wait for that? Then your son would already have been taken away from you. Look at my gray hairs--just feel how thick it still is, for that matter--He intends to marry again, and then I shall be free--to do the same--I am free! And in ten minutes he will be under arrest down below, right under us--[_stamps her foot on the floor_] right under us--and I shall dance above his head--I shall dance "The Entry of the Boyars"--[_makes a few steps with her arms akimbo_] ha-ha-ha-ha! And I shall play on the piano so that he can hear it. [_Hammering on the piano_] Oh, the tower is opening its gates, and the sentry with the drawn sabre will no longer be guarding me, but him--_Malrough s'en va-t-en guerre_! Him, him, him, the sentry is going to guard!

CURT. [_Has been watching her with an intoxicated look in his eyes_] Alice, are you, too, a devil?

ALICE. [_Jumps up on a chair and pulls down the wreaths_] These we will take along when we depart--the laurels of triumph! And fluttering ribbons! A little dusty, but eternally green--like my youth--I am not old, Curt?

CURT. _With shining eyes_] You are a devil!

ALICE. In "Little Hell"--Listen! Now I shall fix my hair --[_loosens her hair_], dress in two minutes--go to the Quartermaster in two minutes--and then, up in the air with the fortress!

CURT. [_As before_] You are a devil!

ALICE. That's what you always used to say when we were children. Do you remember when we were small and became engaged to each other? Ha-ha! You were bashful, of course----

CURT. [_Seriously_] Alice!

ALICE. Yes, you were! And it was becoming to you. Do you know there are gross women who like modest men? And there are said to be modest men who like gross women--You liked me a little bit, didn't you?

CURT. I don't know where I am!

ALICE. With an actress whose manners are free, but who is an excellent lady otherwise. Yes! But now I am free, free, free! Turn away and I'll change my waist!

_She opens her waist_. CURT _rushes up to her, grabs her in his arms, lifts her high up, and bites her throat so that she cries out. Then he drops her on the couch and runs out to the left_.

_Curtain and intermission_.

_Same stage setting in early evening light. The
sentry on the battery is still visible through the
windows in the background. The laurel wreaths are
hung over the arms of an easy-chair. The hanging lamp
is lit. Faint music_.

_The_ CAPTAIN, _pale and hollow-eyed, his hair
showing touches of gray, dressed in a worn undress
uniform, with riding-boots, sits at the writing-table
and plays solitaire. He wears his spectacles. The
entr'acte music continues after the curtain has been
raised and until another person enters_.

_The_ CAPTAIN _plays away at his solitaire, bid with
a sudden start now and then, when he looks up and
listens with evident alarm_.

_He does not seem able to make the solitaire come
out, so he becomes impatient and gathers up the
cards. Then he goes to the left-hand window, opens
it, and throws out the cards. The window (of the
French type) remains open, rattling on its hinges_.

_He goes over to the buffet, but is frightened by the
noise made by the window, so that he turns around
to see what it is. Takes out three dark-coloured
square whiskey bottles, examines them carefully--and
throws them out of the window. Takes out some boxes
of cigars, smells at one, and throws them out of the
window_.

_Next he takes off his spectacles, cleans them
carefully, and tries how far he can see with them.
Then he throws them out of the window, stumbles
against the furniture as if he could not see,
and lights six candles in a candelabrum on the
chiffonier. Catches sight of the laurel wreaths,
picks them up, and goes toward the window, but turns
back. Folds the wreaths carefully in the piano
cover, fastens the corners together with pins taken
from the writing-table, and puts the bundle on a
chair. Goes to the piano, strikes the keyboard with
his fists, locks the piano, and throws the key out
through the window. Then he lights the candles on the
piano. Goes to the what-not, takes his wife's picture
from it, looks at this and tears it to pieces,
dropping the pieces on the floor. The window rattles
on its hinges, and again he becomes frightened_.

_Then, after having calmed himself he takes the
pictures of his son and daughter, kisses them in an
off-hand way, and puts them into his pocket. All the
rest of the pictures he sweeps down with his elbow
and pokes together into a heap with his foot_.

_Then he sits down at the writing-table, tired out,
and puts a hand up to his heart. Lights the candle
on the table and sighs; stares in front of himself
as if confronted with unpleasant visions. Rises and
goes over to the chiffonier, opens the lid, takes
out a bundle of letters tied together with a blue
silk ribbon, and throws the bundle into the fireplace
of the glazed brick oven. Closes the chiffonier.
The telegraph receiver sounds a single click. The_
CAPTAIN _shrinks together in deadly fear and stands
fixed to the spot, listening. But hearing nothing
more from the instrument, he turns to listen in
the direction of the door on the left. Goes over
and opens it, takes a step inside the doorway, and
returns, carrying on his arm a cat whose back he
strokes. Then he goes out to the right. Now the music
ceases_.

ALICE _enters from the background, dressed in a
walking suit, with gloves and hat on; her hair is
black; she looks around with surprise at the many
lighted candles_.

CURT _enters from the left, nervous_.

ALICE. It looks like Christmas Eve here.

CURT. Well?

ALICE. [_Holds out her hand for him to kiss_] Thank me! [CURT _kisses her hand unwillingly_] Six witnesses, and four of them solid as rock. The report has been made, and the answer will come here by telegraph--right here, into the heart of the fortress.

CURT. So!

ALICE. You should say "thanks" instead of "so."

CURT. Why has he lit so many candles?

ALICE. Because he is afraid of the dark, of course. Look at the telegraph key--does it not look like the handle of a coffee mill? I grind, I grind, and the beans crack as when you pull teeth----

CURT. What has he been doing in the room here?

ALICE. It looks as if he intended to move. Down below, that's where you are going to move!

CURT. Don't, Alice--I think it's distressing! He was the friend of my youth, and he showed me kindness many times when I was in difficulty--He should be pitied!

ALICE. And how about me, who have done nothing wrong, and who have had to sacrifice my career to that monster?

CURT. How about that career? Was it so very brilliant?

ALICE. [_Enraged_] What are you saying? Do you know who I am, what I have been?

CURT. Now, now!

ALICE. Are you beginning already?

CURT. Already?

ALICE _throws her arms around_ CURT'S _neck and
kisses him_.

CURT _takes her by the arms and bites her neck so
that she screams_.

ALICE. You bite me!

CURT. [_Beyond himself_] Yes, I want to bite your throat and suck your blood like a lynx. You have aroused the wild beast in me--that beast which I have tried for years to kill by privations and self-inflicted tortures. I came here believing myself a little better than you two, and now I am the vilest of all. Since I first saw you--in all your odious nakedness--and since my vision became warped by passion, I have known the full strength of evil. What is ugly becomes beautiful; what is good becomes ugly and mean--Come here and I'll choke you--with a kiss! [_He locks her in his arms_.

ALICE. [_Holds up her left hand_] Behold the mark of the shackles that you have broken. I was a slave, and you set me free.

CURT. But I am going to bind you----

ALICE. You?

CURT. I!

ALICE. For a moment I thought you were----

CURT. Pious?

ALICE. Yes, you prated about the fall of man----

CURT. Did I?

ALICE. And I thought you had come here to preach----

CURT. You thought so? In an hour we shall be in the city, and then you shall see what I am----

ALICE. Then we will go to the theatre to-night, just to show ourselves. The shame will be his if I run away, don't you see!

CURT. I begin to understand that prison is not enough----

ALICE. No, it is not--there must be shame also.

CURT. A strange world! You commit a shameful act, and the shame falls on him.

ALICE. Well, if the world be so stupid----

CURT. It is as if these prison walls had absorbed all the corruption of the criminals, and it gets into you if you merely breathe this air. You were thinking of the theatre and the supper, I suppose. I was thinking of my son.

ALICE. [_Strikes him on the mouth with her glove_] Fogey!

[CURT _lifts his hand as if to strike her_.

ALICE. [_Drawing back] Tout beau_!

CURT. Forgive me!

ALICE. Yes--on your knees! [CURT _kneels down_] Down on your face! [CURT _touches the ground with his forehead_] Kiss my foot! [CURT _kisses her foot_] And don't you ever do it again! Get up!

CURT. [_Rising_] Where have I landed? Where am I?

ALICE. Oh, you know!

CURT. [_Looking around with horror_] I believe almost----

CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the right, looking wretched, leaning on a cane_] Curt, may I have a talk with you--alone?

ALICE. Is it about that departure in safety?

CAPTAIN. [_Sits down at the sewing-table_] Curt, will you kindly sit down here by me a little while? And, Alice, will you please grant me a moment--of peace!

ALICE. What is up now? New signals! [_To_ CURT] Please be seated. [CURT _sits down reluctantly_] And listen to the words of age and wisdom--And if a telegram should come--tip me off! [_Goes out to the left_.

CAPTAIN. [_With dignity, after a pause_] Can you explain a fate like mine, like ours?

CURT. No more than I can explain my own!

CAPTAIN. What can be the meaning of this jumble?

CURT. In my better moments I have believed that just this was the meaning--that we should not be able to catch a meaning, and yet submit----

CAPTAIN. Submit? Without a fixed point outside myself I cannot submit.

CURT. Quite right, but as a mathematician you should be able to seek that unknown point when several known ones are given----

CAPTAIN. I have sought it, and--I have not found it!

CURT. Then you have made some mistake in your calculations--do it all over again!

CAPTAIN. I should do it over again? Tell me, where did you get your resignation?

CURT. I have none left. Don't overestimate me.

CAPTAIN. As you may have noticed, my understanding of the art of living has been--elimination! That means: wipe out and pass on! Very early in life I made myself a bag into which I chucked my humiliations, and when it was full I dropped it into the sea. I don't think any man ever suffered so many humiliations as I have. But when I wiped them out and passed on they ceased to exist.

CURT. I have noticed that you have wrought both your life and your environment out of your poetical imagination.

CAPTAIN. How could I have lived otherwise? How could I have endured? [_Puts his hand over his heart_.

CURT. How are you doing?

CAPTAIN. Poorly. [Pause] Then comes a moment when the faculty for what you call poetical imagination gives out. And then reality leaps forth in all its nakedness--It is frightful! [_He is now speaking in a voice of lachrymose senility, and with his lower jaw drooping_] Look here, my dear friend--[_controls himself and speaks in his usual voice_] forgive me!--When I was in the city and consulted the doctor [_now the tearful voice returns_] he said that I was played out--[_in his usual voice_] and that I couldn't live much longer.

CURT. Was _that_ what he said?

CAPTAIN. [_With tearful voice_] That's what he said!

CURT. So it was not true?

CAPTAIN. What? Oh--no, that was not true. [_Pause_.

CURT. Was the rest of it not true either?

CAPTAIN. What do you mean?

CURT. That my son was ordered to report here as cadet?

CAPTAIN. I never heard of it.

CURT. Do you know--your ability to wipe out your own misdeeds is miraculous!

CAPTAIN. I don't understand what you are talking of.

CURT. Then you have come to the end!

CAPTAIN. Well, there is not much left!

CURT. Tell me, perhaps you never applied for that divorce which would bring your wife into disgrace?

CAPTAIN. Divorce? No, I have not heard of it.

CURT, [_Rising_] Will you admit, then, that you have been lying?

CAPTAIN. You employ such strong words, my friend. All of us need forbearance.

CURT. Oh, you have come to see that?

CAPTAIN. [_Firmly, with clear voice_] Yes, I have come to see that--And for this reason, Curt, please forgive me! Forgive everything!

CURT. That was a manly word! But I have nothing to forgive you. And I am not the man you believe me to be. No longer now! Least of all one worthy of receiving your confessions!

CAPTAIN. [_With clear voice_] Life seemed so peculiar--so contrary, so malignant--ever since my childhood--and people seemed so bad that I grew bad also----

CURT. [_On his feet, perturbed, and glancing at the telegraph instrument_] Is it possible to close off an instrument like that?

CAPTAIN. Hardly.

CURT. [_With increasing alarm_] Who is Sergeant-Major Östberg?

CAPTAIN. An honest fellow, but something of a busybody, I should say.

CURT. And who is the Quartermaster?

CAPTAIN. He is my enemy, of course, but I have nothing bad to say of him.

CURT. [_Looking out through the window, where a lantern is seen moving to and fro_] What are they doing with the lantern out on the battery?

CAPTAIN. Do you see a lantern?

CURT. Yes, and people moving about.

CAPTAIN. I suppose it is what we call a service squad.

CURT. What is that?

CAPTAIN. A few men and a corporal. Probably some poor wretch that has to be locked up.

CURT. Oh! [_Pause_.

CAPTAIN. Now, when you know Alice, how do you like her?

CURT. I cannot tell--I have no understanding of people at all. She is as inexplicable to me as you are, or as I am myself. For I am reaching the age when wisdom makes this acknowledgment: I know nothing, I understand nothing; But when I observe an action, I like to get at the motive behind it. Why did you push her into the water?

CAPTAIN. I don't know. It merely seemed quite natural to me, as she was standing on the pier, that she ought to be in the water.

CURT. Have you ever regretted it?

CAPTAIN. Never!

CURT. That's strange!

CAPTAIN. Of course, it is! So strange that I cannot realise that I am the man who has been guilty of such a mean act.

CURT. Have you not expected her to take some revenge?

CAPTAIN. Well, she seems to have taken it in full measure; and that, too, seems no less natural to me.

CURT. What has so suddenly brought you to this cynical resignation?

CAPTAIN. Since I looked death in the face, life has presented itself from a different viewpoint. Tell me, if you were to judge between Alice and myself, whom would you place in the right?

CURT. Neither of you. But to both of you I should give endless compassion--perhaps a little more of it to you!

CAPTAIN. Give me your hand, Curt!

CURT. [_Gives him one hand and puts the other one on the_ CAPTAIN'S _shoulder_] Old boy!

ALICE. [_In from the left, carrying a sunshade_] Well, how harmonious! Oh, friendship! Has there been no telegram yet?

CURT. [_Coldly_] No.

ALICE. This delay makes me impatient, and when I grow impatient I push matters along--Look, Curt, how I give him the final bullet. And now he'll bite the grass! First, I load--I know all about rifle practice, the famous rifle practice of which less than 5,000 copies were sold--and then I aim--fire! [_She takes aim with her sunshade_] How is your new wife? The young, beautiful, unknown one? You don't know! But I know how my lover is doing. [_Puts her arms around the neck of_ CURT _and kisses him; he thrusts her away from himself_] He is well, although still a little bashful! You wretch, whom I have never loved--you, who were too conceited to be jealous--you never saw how I was leading you by the nose!

_The_ CAPTAIN _draws the sabre and makes a leap at
her, aiming at her several futile blows that only hit
the furniture_.

ALICE. Help! Help!

[CURT _does not move_.

CAPTAIN. [_Falls with the sabre in his hand_] Judith, avenge me!

ALICE. Hooray! He's dead!

[CURT _withdraws toward the door in the background_.

CAPTAIN. [_Gets on his feet_] Not yet! [_Sheathes the sabre and sits down in the easy-chair by the sewing-table_] Judith! Judith!

ALICE. [_Drawing nearer to_ CURT] Now I go--with you!

CURT. [_Pushes her back with such force that she sinks to her knees_] Go back to the hell whence you came! Good-bye for ever! [_Goes to the door_.

CAPTAIN. Don't leave me Curt; she will kill me!

ALICE. Don't desert me, Curt--don't desert us!

CURT. Good-bye! [_Goes out_.

ALICE. [_With a sudden change of attitude_] The wretch! That's a friend for you!

CAPTAIN. [_Softly_] Forgive me, Alice, and come here--come quick!

ALICE. [_Over to the_ CAPTAIN] That's the worst rascal and hypocrite I have met in my life! Do you know, you are a man after all!

CAPTAIN. Listen, Alice! I cannot live much longer.

ALICE. Is that so?

CAPTAIN. The doctor has said so.

ALICE. Then there was no truth in the rest either?

CAPTAIN. No.

ALICE. [_In despair_] Oh, what have I done!

CAPTAIN. There is help for everything.

ALICE. No, this is beyond helping!

CAPTAIN. Nothing is beyond helping, if you only wipe it out and pass on.

ALICE. But the telegram--the telegram!

CAPTAIN. Which telegram?

ALICE. [_On her knees beside the_ CAPTAIN] Are we then cast out? Must this happen? I have sprung a mine under myself, under us. Why did you have to tell untruths? And why should that man come here to tempt me? We are lost! Your magnanimity might have helped everything, forgiven everything!

CAPTAIN. What is it that cannot be forgiven? What is it that I have not already forgiven you?

ALICE. You are right--but there is no help for this.

CAPTAIN. I cannot guess it, although I know your ingenuity when it comes to villanies----

ALICE. Oh, if I could only get out of this, I should care for you--I should love you, Edgar!

CAPTAIN. Listen to me! Where do I stand?

ALICE. Don't you think anybody can help us--well, no man can!

CAPTAIN. Who could then help?

ALICE. [_Looking the_ CAPTAIN _straight in the eye_] I don't know--Think of it, what is to become of the children with their name dishonoured----

CAPTAIN. Have you dishonoured that name?

ALICE. Not I! Not I! And then they must leave school! And as they go out into the world, they will be lonely as we, and cruel as we--Then you didn't meet Judith either, I understand now?

CAPTAIN. No, but wipe it out!

_The telegraph receiver clicks_. ALICE _flies up_.

ALICE. [Screams] Now ruin is overtaking us! [_To the_ CAPTAIN] Don't listen!

CAPTAIN. [_Quietly_] I am not going to listen, dear child--just calm yourself!

ALICE. [_Standing by the instrument, raises herself on tiptoe in order to look out through the window_] Don't listen! Don't listen!

CAPTAIN. [_Holding his hands over his ears_] Lisa, child, I am stopping up my ears.

ALICE. [_On her knees, with lifted hands_] God, help us! The squad is coming--[_Weeping and sobbing_] God in heaven!

_She appears to be moving her lips as if in silent
prayer_.

_The telegraph receiver continues to click for a
while and a long white strip of paper seems to crawl
out of the instrument. Then complete silence prevails
once more_.

ALICE. [_Rises, tears off the paper strip, and reads it in silence. Then she turns her eyes upward for a moment. Goes over to the_ CAPTAIN _and kisses him on the forehead_] That is over now! It was nothing!

_Sits down in the other chair, puts her handkerchief
to her face, and breaks into a violent spell of
weeping_.

CAPTAIN. What kind of secrets are these?

ALICE. Don't ask! It is over now!

CAPTAIN. AS you please, child.

ALICE. You would not have spoken like that three days ago--what has done it?

CAPTAIN. Well, dear, when I fell down that first time, I went a little way on the other side of the grave. What I saw has been forgotten, but the impression of it still remains.

ALICE. And it was?

CAPTAIN. A hope--for something better!

ALICE. Something better?

CAPTAIN. Yes. That this could be the real life, I have, in fact, never believed: it is death--or something still worse!

ALICE. And we----

CAPTAIN. Have probably been set to torment each other--so it seems at least!

ALICE. Have we tormented each other enough?

CAPTAIN. Yes, I think so! And upset things! [_Looks around_] Suppose we put things to rights? And clean house?

ALICE. Yes, if it can be done.

CAPTAIN. [_Gets up to survey the room_] It can't be done in one day--no, it can't!

ALICE. In two, then! Many days!

CAPTAIN. Let us hope so! [_Pause. Sits down again_] So you didn't get free this time after all! But then, you didn't get me locked up either! [ALICE _looks staggered_] Yes, I know you wanted to put me in prison, but I wipe it out. I suppose you have done worse than that--[ALICE _is speechless_] And I was innocent of those defalcations.

ALICE. And now you intend me to become your nurse?

CAPTAIN. If you are willing!

ALICE. What else could I do?

CAPTAIN. I don't know!

ALICE. [_Sits down, numbed and crushed_] These are the eternal torments! Is there, then, no end to them?

CAPTAIN. Yes, if we are patient. Perhaps life begins when death comes.

ALICE. If it were so! [_Pause_.

CAPTAIN. You think Curt a hypocrite?

ALICE. Of course I do!