* * * * * AN EXPENSIVE CALL TO PAY.--A Call to the Bar. * * * * * LITTLE MOPSËMAN. THE THIRD ACT. _An elevation and rockery in_ FRÜYSECK'S _back-garden, from which--but for the houses in between--an extensive view over the steamer-pier and fiord could be obtained. In front, a summer-house, covered with creepers and wild earwigs. On a bench outside_, MOPSA _is sitting. She has the inevitable little travelling-bag on a strap over her shoulder._ BLOCHDRÄHN _comes up in the dusk. He, too, has a travelling-bag, made of straw, containing professional implements, over his shoulder. He is carrying a rolled-up handbill and a small paste-pot._ _Sanitary Engineer Blochdrähn_ (_catching sight of_ MOPSA'S _handbag_). So you really _are_ off at last? So am I. _I_'m going by train. _Mopsa_ (_with a faint smile_). Are you? Then _I_ take the steamer. Have you seen ALFRED anywhere about--or SPRETA? _San. Eng. Bloch._ I have been seeing a good deal of _Mrs._ FRÜYSECK. She asked me to come up here and paste one of these handbills on the summer-house. To offer a reward for Little MOPSËMAN, you know. I've been sticking them up everywhere. (_Busied with the paste-pot._) But you'll see--he'll never turn up. _Mopsa_ (_sighing_). Poor SPRETA! and oh, poor _dear_ ALFRED! I really don't know if I _can_ have the heart to leave him. _San. Eng. Bloch._ (_pasting up the bill_). I shall not believe it myself until I actually see you _do_ it. But why shouldn't you come along with me, if you _are_ going--h'm? _Mopsa._ If you were only a married man--but I have to be so careful _now_, you know! _San. Eng. Bloch._ It tortures me to think of our two handbags each taking its own way; it really does, Miss MOPSA. And then for me to have to plumb all by myself. Though, to be sure, one can always get round the district surveyor alone. _Mopsa._ Ah, yes, _that_ you can surely manage alone. _San. Eng. Bloch._ But it takes two to connect the ventilating shaft with the main drainage. [Illustration: "It takes two to connect the ventilating shaft with the main drainage."] _Mopsa_ (_looking up at him_). Always two? Never more? Never many? _San. Eng. Bloch._ Well, then, you see, it becomes quite a different matter--it cuts down the profits. But are you sure you can never make up your mind to share my great new job with me? _Mopsa._ I tried that once--with ALFRED. It didn't quite answer--though it was delightful, all the same. _San. Eng. Bloch._ Then there really _has_ been a bright and happy time in your life? I should never have suspected it! _Mopsa._ Oh yes, you can't think how amusing ALFRED was in those days. When he distinguished himself by failing to pass his examinations, and then, from time to time, when he lost his post in some school or other, or when his big, bulky manuscripts were declined by some magazine--with thanks!