Monsen? Oh, absurd! LUNDESTAD. Fact, Mr. Heire! Ringdal or Miss Thora must have got him persuaded that—— HEIRE. And so he goes and asks him to a state dinner-party! Deuce take me, if that isn’t the best thing I’ve heard for long! No, really now, I can’t keep _that_ bottled up. LUNDESTAD. Sh, sh! Remember your promise. The Chamberlain’s your old school-fellow: and even if he has been a little hard upon you—— HEIRE. Hee-hee! I’ll pay him back with interest! LUNDESTAD. Take care! The Chamberlain is powerful. Don’t play tricks in the lion’s den! HEIRE. Bratsberg a lion? Pooh, he’s a blockhead, sir, and I am not. Oh, won’t I get a rare crop of taunts, and jibes, and innuendoes out of this, when once our great suit comes on! SELMA. [_Calls from the circle._] Learned judge, what shall the owner of this forfeit do? ERIK. [_Unnoticed, to_ HEIRE.] It’s Stensgård’s! Think of something amusing. HEIRE. That forfeit? Hee-hee, let me see; he might, for example—yes—he shall make a speech! SELMA. It’s Mr. Stensgård’s forfeit. ERIK. Mr. Stensgård is to make a speech. STENSGÅRD. Oh no, spare me that; I came off badly enough last night. THE CHAMBERLAIN. Excellently, Mr. Stensgård; I know something of public speaking. LUNDESTAD. [_To_ HEIRE.] If only he doesn’t put his foot in it now. HEIRE. Put his foot in it? Hee-hee! You’re a sharp one! That’s an inspiration! [_In an undertone to STENSGÅRD._] If you came off badly last night, why not put yourself right again to-night? STENSGÅRD. [_Seized with a sudden idea._] Lundestad, here is the opportunity! LUNDESTAD. [_Evasively._] Play your cards neatly. [_Looks for his hat and slips quietly towards the door._ STENSGÅRD. Yes, I will make a speech! THE YOUNG LADIES. Bravo! Bravo! STENSGÅRD. Fill your glasses, ladies and gentlemen! I am going to make a speech which shall begin with a fable; for here I seem to breathe the finer air of fable-land. ERIK. [_To the_ LADIES.] Hush! Listen! [THE CHAMBERLAIN _takes his glass from the card-table on the right, beside which he remains standing._ RINGDAL, FIELDBO, _and one or two other gentlemen come in from the garden._ STENSGÅRD.