SANDSTAD.
Impossible, Consul; think how much you have at stake.
BERNICK.
What does it all matter to me now? Whom have I now to work for?
RUMMEL.
Can you ask? You have us and society.
VIGELAND.
Yes, very true.
Sandstad.
And surely, Consul, you don’t forget that we——
MARTHA _enters by the second door on the left. Music is
heard, from far down the street._
MARTHA.
Here comes the procession; but Betty is not at home; I can’t think where
she——
BERNICK.
Not at home! There, you see, Lona; no support either in joy or sorrow.
RUMMEL.
Back with the curtains! Come and help me, Mr. Krap! You too, Sandstad!
What a terrible pity that the family should be scattered just at this
moment! Quite against the programme.
_The curtains over the door and windows are drawn back. The
whole street is seen to be illuminated. On the house
opposite is a large transparency with the inscription,_
“Long live Karsten Bernick, the Pillar of our Society!”
BERNICK.
[_Shrinking back._] Away with all this! I will not look at it! Out with
it, out with it!
RUMMEL.
Are you in your senses, may I ask?
MARTHA.
What is the matter with him, Lona?
LONA.
Hush!
[_Whispers to her._
BERNICK.
Away with the mocking words, I say! Can you not see, all these lights
are gibing at us?
RUMMEL.
Well, I must say——
BERNICK.
Oh, you know nothing——! But I, I——! They are the lights in a dead-room!
KRAP.
H’m——!
RUMMEL.
Come now, really—you make far too much of it.
SANDSTAD.
The boy will have a trip over the Atlantic, and then you’ll have him
back again.
VIGELAND.
Only put your trust in the Almighty, Consul.
RUMMEL.
And in the ship, Bernick; she’s seaworthy enough, I’m sure.
KRAP.
H’m——
RUMMEL.
Now, if it were one of those floating coffins we hear of in the great
nations——
BERNICK.
I can feel my very hair growing grey.
MRS. BERNICK, _with a large shawl over her head, comes
through the garden door._
MRS. BERNICK.
Karsten, Karsten, do you know——?
BERNICK.
Yes, I know——; but you—you who can see nothing—you who have not a
mother’s care for him——!
MRS. BERNICK.
Oh, listen to me——!
BERNICK.
Why did you not watch over him? Now I have lost him. Give him back to
me, if you can!
MRS. BERNICK.
I can, I can; I have him!
BERNICK.
You have him!
THE MEN.
Ah!
HILMAR.
Ah, I thought so.
MARTHA.
Now you have him again, Karsten.
LONA.
Yes; now win him as well.
BERNICK.
You have him! Can this be true? Where is he?
MRS. BERNICK.
I shall not tell you until you have forgiven him.
BERNICK.
Oh, forgiven, forgiven——! But how did you come to know——?
MRS. BERNICK.
Do you think a mother has no eyes? I was in mortal terror lest you
should hear of it. A few words he let fall yesterday——; and his room
being empty, and his knapsack and clothes gone——
BERNICK.
Yes, yes——?
MRS. BERNICK.
I ran; I got hold of Aune; we went out in his sailing-boat; the American
ship was on the point of sailing. Thank Heaven, we arrived in time—we
got on board—we searched in the hold—and we found him. Oh, Karsten, you
mustn’t punish him!
BERNICK.
Betty!
MRS. BERNICK.
Nor Aune either!
BERNICK.
Aune? What of him? Is the _Indian Girl_ under sail again?
MRS. BERNICK.
No, that is just the thing——
BERNICK.
Speak, speak!
MRS. BERNICK.
Aune was as terrified as I was; the search took some time; darkness came
on, and the pilot made objections: so Aune ventured—in your name——
BERNICK.
Well?
MRS. BERNICK.
To stop the ship till to-morrow.
KRAP.
H’m——
BERNICK.
Oh, what unspeakable happiness!
MRS. BERNICK.
You are not angry?
BERNICK.
Oh, what surpassing happiness, Betty!
RUMMEL.
Why, you’re absurdly nervous.
HILMAR.
Yes; the moment it comes to a little struggle with the elements—ugh!
KRAP.
[_At the window._] The procession is coming through the garden gate,
Consul.
BERNICK.
Yes, now let them come!
RUMMEL.
The whole garden is full of people.
SANDSTAD.
The very street is packed.
RUMMEL.
The whole town has turned out, Bernick. This is really an inspiring
moment.
VIGELAND.
Let us take it in a humble spirit, Mr. Rummel.
RUMMEL.
All the banners are out. What a procession! Ah, here’s the Committee,
with Doctor Rörlund at its head.
BERNICK.
Let them come, I say!
RUMMEL.
But look here: in your agitated state of mind——
BERNICK.
What then?
RUMMEL.
Why, I should have no objection to speaking for you.
BERNICK.
No, thank you; to-night I shall speak myself.
RUMMEL.
But do you know what you have got to say?
BERNICK.
Yes, don’t be alarmed, Rummel—now I know what I have to say.
[_The music has meanwhile ceased. The garden door is thrown
open._ DOCTOR RÖRLUND _enters at the head of the Committee,
accompanied by two porters carrying a covered basket. After
them come townspeople of all classes, as many as the room
will hold. An immense crowd, with banners and flags, can be
seen in the garden and in the street._
RÖRLUND.
Consul Bernick! I see from the surprise depicted in your countenance,
that it is as unexpected guests that we intrude upon you in your happy
family circle, at your peaceful hearth, surrounded by upright and
public-spirited friends and fellow citizens. Our excuse is that we obey
a heartfelt impulse in bringing you our homage. It is not, indeed, the
first time we have done so, but the first time on so comprehensive a
scale. We have often expressed to you our gratitude for the broad moral
basis upon which you have, so to speak, built up our society. This time
we chiefly hail in you the clear-sighted, indefatigable, unselfish, nay,
self-sacrificing citizen, who has taken the initiative in an undertaking
which, we are credibly assured, will give a powerful impetus to the
temporal prosperity and wellbeing of this community.
VOICES.
[_Among the crowd._] Bravo, bravo!
RÖRLUND.
Consul Bernick, you have for many years stood before our town as a
shining example. I do not here speak of your exemplary domestic life,
your spotless moral record. To such virtues we pay tribute in the secret
chamber of the heart; we do not proclaim them from the house-tops. I
speak rather of your activity as a citizen, as it lies open to all men’s
view. Well-appointed ships sail from your wharves, and fly our flag on
the furthest seas. A large and prosperous body of workmen looks up to
you as to a father. By calling into existence new branches of industry,
you have brought comfort into hundreds of homes. In other words—you are
in an eminent sense the pillar and cornerstone of this community.
VOICES.
Hear, hear! Bravo!
RÖRLUND.
And it is the halo of disinterestedness resting upon all your actions
that is so unspeakably beneficent, especially in these times. You are
now on the point of procuring for us—I do not hesitate to say the word
plainly and prosaically—a railway.
MANY VOICES.
Bravo, bravo!
RÖRLUND.
But this undertaking seems destined to meet with difficulties,
principally arising from narrow and selfish interests.
VOICES.
Hear, hear! Hear, hear!
RÖRLUND.
It is no longer unknown that certain individuals, not belonging to our
community, have stolen a march upon the energetic citizens of this
place, and have secured certain advantages, which should by rights have
fallen to the share of our own town.
VOICES.
Yes, yes! Hear, hear!
RÖRLUND.
You are of course not unaware of this deplorable circumstance, Consul
Bernick. But, nevertheless, you steadily pursue your undertaking, well
knowing that a patriotic citizen must not be exclusively concerned with
the interests of his own parish.
DIFFERENT VOICES.
H’m! No, no! Yes, yes!
RÖRLUND.
We have assembled, then, this evening to do homage, in your person, to
the ideal citizen—the model of all the civic virtues. May your
enterprise contribute to the true and lasting welfare of this community!
The railway is, no doubt, an institution by means of which elements of
evil may be imported from without, but it is also an institution that
enables us to get quickly rid of them. From elements of evil from
without we cannot even now keep ourselves quite free. But if, as I hear,
we have, just on this auspicious evening, been unexpectedly relieved of
certain elements of this nature——
VOICES.
Sh, sh!
RÖRLUND.
——I accept the fact as a good omen for the undertaking. If I touch upon
this point _here_, it is because we know ourselves to be in a house
where family ties are subordinated to the ethical ideal.
VOICES.
Hear, hear! Bravo!
BERNICK.
[_At the same time._] Permit me——
RÖRLUND.
Only a few words more, Consul Bernick. Your labours on behalf of this
community have certainly not been undertaken in the hope of any tangible
reward. But you cannot reject a slight token of your grateful fellow
citizens’ appreciation, least of all on this momentous occasion, when,
as practical men assure us, we are standing on the threshold of a new
era.
MANY VOICES.
Bravo! Hear, hear! Hear, hear!
[_He gives the porters a sign; they bring forward the basket;
members of the Committee take out and present, during the
following speech, the articles mentioned._
RÖRLUND.
Therefore, I have now, Consul Bernick, to hand you a silver coffee
service. Let it grace your board when we in future, as so often in the
past, have the pleasure of meeting under this hospitable roof.
And you, too, gentlemen, who have so zealously co-operated with the
first man of our community, we would beg to accept some trifling
mementos. This silver goblet we tender to you, Mr. Rummel. You have many
a time, amid the ring of wine-cups, done battle in eloquent words for
the civic interests of our community; may you often find worthy
opportunities to lift and drain this goblet.—To you, Mr. Sandstad, I
hand this album, with photographs of your fellow citizens. Your
well-known and much-appreciated philanthropy has placed you in the happy
position of counting among your friends members of all sections of the
community.—And to you, Mr. Vigeland, I have to offer, for the decoration
of your domestic sanctum, this book of family devotion, on vellum, and
luxuriously bound. Under the ripening influence of years, you have come
to view life from a serious standpoint; your activity in the daily
affairs of this world has long been purified and ennobled by thoughts of
things higher and holier. [_Turns towards the Crowd._] And now, my
friends, long live Consul Bernick and his fellow workers! Hurrah for the
Pillars of Society!
THE WHOLE CROWD.
Long live Consul Bernick! Long live the Pillars of Society! Hurrah!
hurrah! hurrah!
LONA.
I congratulate you, brother-in-law!
[_An expectant silence intervenes._
BERNICK.
[_Begins earnestly and slowly._] My fellow citizens,—your spokesman has
said that we stand this evening on the threshold of a new era; and
there, I hope, he was right. But in order that it may be so, we must
bring home to ourselves the truth—the truth which has, until this
evening, been utterly and in all things banished from our community.
[_Astonishment among the audience._
BERNICK.
I must begin by repudiating the panegyric with which you, Dr. Rörlund,
according to use and wont on such occasions, have overwhelmed me. I do
not deserve it; for until to-day I have not been disinterested in my
dealings. If I have not always striven for pecuniary profit, at least I
am now conscious that a desire, a craving, for power, influence, and
respect has been the motive of most of my actions.
RUMMEL.
[_Half aloud._] What next?
BERNICK.
Before my fellow citizens I do not reproach myself for this; for I still
believe that I may claim a place among the foremost of our men of
practical usefulness.
MANY VOICES.
Yes, yes, yes!
BERNICK.
What I do blame myself for is my weakness in constantly adopting
indirect courses, because I knew and feared the tendency of our society
to suspect impure motives behind everything a man undertakes. And now I
come to a case in point.
RUMMEL.
[_Anxiously._] H’m—h’m!
BERNICK.
There are rumours abroad of great purchases of property along the
projected line. This property I have bought—all of it—I alone.
SUPPRESSED VOICES.
What does he say? The Consul? Consul Bernick?
BERNICK.
It is for the present in my hands. Of course, I have confided in my
fellow workers, Messrs. Rummel, Vigeland, and Sandstad, and we have
agreed to——
RUMMEL.
It’s not true! Prove!—prove——!
VIGELAND.
We have not agreed to anything!
SANDSTAD.
Well, I must say——
BERNICK.
Quite right; we have not yet agreed on what I was about to mention. But
I am confident that these three gentlemen will acquiesce when I say that
I have this evening determined to form a joint-stock company for the
exploitation of these properties; whoever will can have shares in it.
MANY VOICES.
Hurrah! Long live Consul Bernick!
RUMMEL.
[_Aside to_ BERNICK.] Such base treachery——!
SANDSTAD.
[_Likewise._] Then you’ve been fooling us——!
VIGELAND.
Why then, devil take——! Oh, Lord, what am I saying!
THE CROWD.
[_Outside._] Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!
BERNICK.
Silence, gentlemen. I have no right to this homage; for what I have now
determined was not my original intention. My intention was to retain the
whole myself; and I am still of opinion that the property can be most
profitably worked if it remains in the control of one man. But it is for
the shareholders to choose. If they wish it, I am willing to manage it
for them to the best of my ability.
VOICES.
Yes, yes, yes!
BERNICK.
But, first, my fellow citizens must know me to the core. Then let every
one look into his own heart, and let us realise the prediction that from
this evening we begin a new era. The old, with its tinsel, its hypocrisy
and hollowness, its sham propriety, and its despicable cowardice, shall
lie behind us like a museum, open for instruction; and to this museum we
will present—will we not, gentlemen?—the coffee service, and the goblet,
and the album, and the family devotions on vellum and luxuriously bound.
RUMMEL.
Yes, of course.
VIGELAND.
[_Mutters._] When you’ve taken all the rest, why——
SANDSTAD.
As you please.
BERNICK.
And now to come to the chief point in my settlement with society. It has
been said that elements of evil have left us this evening. I can add
what you do not know: the man thus alluded to did not go alone; with him
went, to become his wife——
LONA.
[_Loudly._] Dina Dorf!
RÖRLUND.
What?
MRS. BERNICK.
What do you say?
[_Great sensation._
RÖRLUND.
Fled? Run away—with _him_! Impossible!
BERNICK.
To become his wife, Doctor Rörlund. And I have more to add. [_Aside._]
Betty, collect yourself to bear what is coming. [_Aloud._] I say: Honour
to that man, for he has nobly taken upon himself another’s sin. My
fellow citizens, I will get clear of the lie; it has gone near to
poisoning every fibre in my being. You shall know all. Fifteen years
ago, it was _I_ who sinned.
MRS. BERNICK.
[_In a low and trembling voice._] Karsten.
MARTHA.
[_Likewise._] Ah, Johan——!
LONA.
At last you have found your true self!
[_Speechless astonishment among the listeners._
BERNICK.
Yes, my fellow citizens, I was guilty, and he fled. The false and vile
rumours which were afterwards current, it is now in no human power to
disprove. But of this I cannot complain. Fifteen years ago I swung
myself aloft by aid of these rumours; whether I am now to fall with them
is for you to decide.
RÖRLUND.
What a thunderbolt! The first man in the town——! [_Softly to_ MRS.
BERNICK.] Oh, how I pity you, Mrs. Bernick!
HILMAR.
Such a confession! Well, I must say——
BERNICK.
But do not decide this evening. I ask every one of you to go home—to
collect himself—to look into himself. When your minds are calm again, it
will be seen whether I have lost or gained by speaking out. Good-night!
I have still much, very much, to repent of, but that concerns only my
own conscience. Good-night! Away with all this show! We all feel that it
is out of place here.
RÖRLUND.
Assuredly it is. [_Softly to_ MRS. BERNICK.] Run away! So, after all,
she was quite unworthy of me. [_Half aloud, to the Committee._] Yes,
gentlemen, after this, I think we had better withdraw as quickly as
possible.
HILMAR.
How, after this, one is to hold high the banner of the ideal, I for
one——Ugh!
[_The announcement has meanwhile been whispered from mouth to
mouth. All the members of the procession retire through the
garden._ RUMMEL, SANDSTAD, _and_ VIGELAND _go off disputing
earnestly but softly._ HILMAR TÖNNESEN _slips out to the
right._ CONSUL BERNICK, MRS. BERNICK, MARTHA, LONA, _and_
KRAP _alone remain in the room. There is a short silence._
BERNICK.
Betty, can you forgive me?
MRS. BERNICK.
[_Looks smilingly at him._] Do you know, Karsten, you have made me feel
happier and more hopeful than I have felt for many years?
BERNICK.
How so?
MRS. BERNICK.
For many years I have thought that you had once been mine, and I had
lost you. Now I know that you never were mine; but I shall win you.
BERNICK.
[_Embracing her._] Oh, Betty, you _have_ won me! Through Lona I have at
last learnt really to know you. But now let Olaf come.
MRS. BERNICK.
Yes, now you shall have him. Mr. Krap——!
[_She whispers to him him the background. He goes out by the
garden door. During the following all the transparencies and
lights in the houses are gradually extinguished._
BERNICK.
[_Softly._] Thanks, Lona; you have saved what is best in me—and for me.
LONA.
What else did I intend?
BERNICK.
Yes, what—what did you intend? I cannot fathom you.
LONA.
H’m——
BERNICK.
It was not hatred then? Not revenge? Why did you come over?
LONA.
Old friendship does not rust.
BERNICK.
Lona!
LONA.
When Johan told me all that about the lie, I swore to myself: The hero
of my youth shall stand free and true.
BERNICK.
Oh, how little has a pitiful creature like me deserved this of you!
LONA.
Yes, if we women always asked for deserts, Karsten——!
AUNE _and_ OLAF _enter from the garden._
BERNICK.
[_Rushing to him._] Olaf!
OLAF.
Father, I promise never to do it again.
BERNICK.
To run away?
OLAF.
Yes, yes, I promise, father.
BERNICK.
And I promise that you shall never have reason to. In future you shall
be allowed to grow up, not as the heir to my life-work, but as one who
has a life-work of his own to look forward to.
OLAF.
And will you let me be whatever I want to?
BERNICK.
Whatever you like.
OLAF.
Thank you, father. Then I won’t be a pillar of society.
BERNICK.
Ah! Why not?
OLAF.
Oh, I think it must be so tiresome.
BERNICK.
You shall be yourself, Olaf; and we won’t trouble about anything else.
And you, Aune——
AUNE.
I know it, Consul: I am dismissed.
BERNICK.
We will not part company, Aune; and forgive me——
AUNE.
What? The ship can’t get away to-night.
BERNICK.
Nor yet to-morrow. I gave you too little time. She must be overhauled
more thoroughly.
AUNE.
She shall be, Consul—and with the new machines!
BERNICK.
So be it—but thoroughly and honestly, mind. There are a good many things
here that need thorough and honest overhauling. So good-night, Aune.
AUNE.
Good-night, Consul—and thank you heartily.
[_He goes out to the right._
MRS. BERNICK.
Now they are all gone.
BERNICK.
And we are alone. My name no longer shines in the transparencies; all
the lights are out in the windows.
LONA.
Would you have them lighted again?
BERNICK.
Not for all the world. Where have I been? You will be horrified when you
know. I am feeling now as if I had just come to my senses again after
being poisoned. But I feel—I feel that I _can_ be young and strong
again. Oh, come nearer—closer around me. Come, Betty! Come, Olaf! Come,
Martha! Oh, Martha, it seems as though I had never seen you during all
these years.
LONA.
No, I daresay not; your society is a society of bachelor-souls; you have
no eyes for womanhood.
BERNICK.
True, true. And for that very reason—it is settled, Lona, is it not?—you
won’t leave Betty and me?
MRS. BERNICK.
No, Lona; you must not!
LONA.
No; how could I think of going away and leaving you young people, just
beginning life? Am I not your foster-mother? You and I, Martha, we are
the two old aunts——What are you looking at?
MARTHA.
How the sky is clearing; how it grows light over the sea. The _Palm
Tree_ has fortune with it——
LONA.
And happiness on board.
BERNICK.
And we—we have a long, earnest day of work before us; I most of all. But
let it come! Gather close around me, you true and faithful women. I have
learnt _this_, in these days: it is you women who are the pillars of
society.
LONA.
Then you have learnt a poor wisdom, brother-in-law. [_Lays her hand
firmly upon his shoulder._] No, no; the spirits of Truth and
Freedom—_these_ are the Pillars of Society.
THE END.
Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED
Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Note
There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The conventional
period following the character’s name is sometimes missing and has been
added for consistency’s sake without further comment. Those missing from
setting and stage direction are also added without comment, since there
is no obvious purpose to be served by the omission. However, the
restoration of punctuation missing from dialogue is noted below, since
the punctuation is frequently expressive.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and
are noted below. The references are to the page and line in the
original.
In the Introduction to _The League of Youth_, mention is made of a
‘usually long’ pause before publication of the work, but based on the
following discussion, the word was certainly meant to be ‘unusually’.
Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume, and
noted one correction for Volume VI. On p. 288, ‘railways’ should have
been ‘railway’. The correction is applied here.
xii.15 in the second act[./,] Replaced.
xvi.6 a small [c]ollection Restored.
xvi.22 to the [un]usually long pause Added.
11.10 Oh yes, with pleasure[.] Added.
13.2 What[!] Unclear, but
probable.
21.27 Adventurer and d[a/e]magogue Replaced.
30.30 Me[./,] Chamberlain? Replaced.
36.30 this terrible storm?[”] Added.
37.2 several years ago[.] Added.
42.2 it has been delightful[.] Added.
48.29 Yes, I am[.] Added.
98.9 Doctor, what have you done[?] Added.
109.8 nonsensical prejudices[.] Added.
109.18 You are an adventurer[,] Added.
116.24 higher interest on loans[.] Added.
122.7 We shall soon find that out[.] Added.
135.18 One would suppose so[.] Added.
150.24 Yes[,] look closely at it. Added.
171.9 I am an old hand at prophecy[.] Added. Perhaps
semi-colon.
182.27 about the Chamberlain[.] Added.
183.26 ASLA[SK/KS]EN. Transposed.
188.24 what has happened at Stonelee[./?] Replaced.
190.28 be good enough to drop that title[.] Added.
210.20 the order of the day[.] Added.
214.4 What in[s]trusiveness Removed.
245.6 [r]emember I am quite new Added.
247.20 no one knows exactly about that[,] Added.
261.28 Mr[.] Bernick. Added.
288.22 railway[s] accidents Removed, per
Errata.
307.14 why did you think I wou[ld] come? Restored.
324.27 Not a word more to-day[!] Added.
329.19 It was complet[e]ly repaired Inserted.
336.10 not a halfpenny was missing[.] Added.
351.14 Aha, he has been here[.] Added.
357.9 prosper with the railway[.] Added.
365.26 Why, Rummel, what[ is] the meaning Restored.
373.31 I will take such care of you[.] Added.
386.29 No, no[!] Added.