Ha ha ha! What nonsense, brother-in-law. Do you think I belong to the circus? No; it’s true I have turned my hand to all sorts of things, and made a fool of myself in many ways—— MRS. RUMMEL. H’m—— LONA. ——but I’ve never learnt to play tricks on horseback. BERNICK. Then you are not——? MRS. BERNICK. Oh, thank God! LONA. No, no; we came like other respectable people—second class, it’s true; but we’re used to that. MRS. BERNICK. We, you say? BERNICK. [_Advancing a step._] What _we_? LONA. Why, my boy and I, of course. THE LADIES. [_With a cry._] Your boy! HILMAR. What? RÖRLUND. Well, I must say—— MRS. BERNICK. Why, what do you mean, Lona? LONA. Of course I mean John; I have no other boy but John, that I know of—or Johan, as you call him. MRS. BERNICK. Johan——! MRS. RUMMEL. [_Aside to MRS. LYNGE._] The prodigal brother. BERNICK. [_Hesitatingly._] Is Johan with you? LONA. Of course, of course; I would never travel without him. But you’re all looking so dismal—and sitting here in this twilight, sewing at something white. There hasn’t been a death in the family? RÖRLUND. This is a meeting, Miss Hessel, of the Society for the Moral Regeneration of the Lapsed and Lost. LONA. [_Half to herself._] What? These nice-looking, well-behaved ladies, can _they_ be——? MRS. RUMMEL. Oh, this is too much——! LONA. Ah, I see, I see! Why, good gracious, that’s Mrs. Rummel I And there sits Mrs. Holt too! Well, we three haven’t grown younger since last we met. But listen now, good people: let the Lapsed and Lost wait for one day; they’ll be none the worse for it. On a joyful occasion like this—— RÖRLUND. A return home is not always a joyful occasion. LONA. Indeed? Then how do you read your Bible, Pastor? RÖRLUND. I am not a clergyman. LONA. Oh; then you will be one, for certain.—But, pah!—this moral linen here has a tainted smell—just like a shroud. I’m accustomed to the air of the prairies now, I can tell you. BERNICK. [_Wiping his forehead._] Yes; it really is rather oppressive in here. LONA.