AUNE. Oh, the name of Bernick is good enough to bear that, and more. BERNICK. Not just now; precisely at this moment I need all the respect and goodwill of my fellow citizens, I have a great undertaking in hand, as you have probably heard; and if evil-disposed persons should succeed in shaking people’s unqualified confidence in me, it may involve me in the most serious difficulties. I must silence these carping and spiteful scribblers at any cost; and that is _why_ I give you till the day after to-morrow. AUNE. You might just as well give me till this afternoon, Consul Bernick. BERNICK. You mean that I am demanding impossibilities? AUNE. Yes, with the present working staff—— BERNICK. Oh, very well;—then we must look about us elsewhere. AUNE. Would you really turn off still more of the old workmen? BERNICK. No, that is not what I am thinking of. AUNE. I’m certain sure, if you did, there would be a fine to-do both in the town and in the newspapers. BERNICK. Very possibly; therefore I won’t do it. But if the _Indian Girl_ is not cleared the day after to-morrow, I shall dismiss _you_. AUNE. [_With a start._] Me! [_Laughing._] Oh, that’s only your joke, Consul. BERNICK. I advise you not to trust to that. AUNE. You can think of turning _me_ away! Why, my father before me, and _his_ father too, worked in the shipyard all their lives; and I myself—— BERNICK. Who forces me to it? AUNE. You want me to do things as can’t be done, Consul. BERNICK. Oh, where there’s a will there’s a way. Yes or no? Answer me definitely, or I dismiss you on the spot. AUNE. [_Coming nearer._] Consul Bernick, have you rightly bethought what it means to turn an old workman away? You say he can look about for another job. Ay, ay, maybe he can—but is that everything? Ah, you should just see what it looks like in a turned-off workman’s house, the night when he comes home and puts his tool-chest behind the door. BERNICK. Do you think I part with you willingly? Haven’t I always been a good master to you? AUNE.