[_Goes._]
_Minna:_ [_To Arno._]
Does Heinrich's regiment go, too?
_Arno:_
Heinrich who?
_Minna:_
Heinrich Berg.
_Arno:_
No. To-morrow.
[_Minna, now thoroughly scared, is slinking to the door when Hedwig
stops her._]
_Hedwig:_
Ha! little Minna, why do you run so fast? Heinrich does not go until
to-morrow. [_Looks at her thoughtfully._] Are you going to be able to
fight it through, little Minna, when the hard days come? If you do give
the empire a soldier, will it be any comfort to know you are helping the
falling birth-rate?
_Minna:_ [_Shivering._]
Oh, I am afraid of you!
_Hedwig:_
Afraid of the truth, you mean. You see it at last in all its brutal
bareness. Poor little Minna! [_She puts her arm around Minna with
sudden tenderness._] But you need not be afraid of me, little Minna. Oh,
no. The trouble with me is I want no more war. Franz is at the war. I'm
half mad with dreaming they have killed him. Any moment I may hear. If
you loved your man as I do mine, little Minna, you'd understand.' Well,
go now, and to-morrow say good-by to your husband--of a day.
[_Minna, with a frightened backward glance, runs out the door.