Gertrud. They have lived a very tranquil life. We of the younger generation try to undertake heavier duties and greater responsibilities than the older generation did. But we must not be angry with them. Harald. I am afraid it is only too easy to feel angry with them. Gertrud. No, do as grandfather does! If he thinks any one is going to be amenable to it, he talks to them quietly; if not, he only behaves affectionately to them. Do you understand, dear?--just affectionately. Harald. Well, to-day--ought I to have put up with their allowing themselves to be treated in such an unseemly way, and their treating me in such an unseemly way? Gertrud. Was it really as bad as that? Harald. You would not believe what it was like, I assure you! Gertrud (standing still). Poor father! Poor father! (Throws her arms round HARALD'S neck.) Be good to them, Harald!--just because of their faults, dear! We are their children, you know, and it is God's commandment, even if we were not their children. Harald. If only I could take you up in my arms and carry you off home with me now! Your love takes possession of my heart and my will, and purifies both of them. I am at a crisis in my life now--and now you should be on my side! Gertrud. Listen!--to begin with, I will go with you to your meeting to-night! Harald. Yes, yes,--I will come and fetch you! Gertrud. Down at the door here! Harald. Yes! Gertrud. And, in the next place, I am going to walls into the town with you now. Harald. But then I shall have to see you home again. Gertrud. Do you object? Harald. No, no! And you shall teach me a lot of things on the way! Gertrud. Yes, you will be so wise before we get back! (They go out to the right.) (The EDITOR and EVJE come out of the park. JOHN follows them, unseen by them, and slips past them to the right when they stop for a moment. The following conversation is carried on in hurried tones, and every time the EDITOR raises his voice EVJE hushes him, and speaks himself in a persistently lowered voice.) Evje. But what concern of yours--or of the public's--are my private affairs? I don't want to have anything to do with politics. The Editor, Well, then, you ought not to have had anything to do with _him_. Evje. When I first made his acquaintance he was not a politician. The Editor. Then you ought to have dropped him when he became one. Evje. Ought I to have dropped you too, when you became one? The Editor. Let me repeat, for the last time, that we are not talking about me! Evje. Hush, hush! What a fellow you are! You get into a rage if any one chaffs you. But you want to hit out at everybody all round! The Editor. Do you suppose I am myself? Evje. Who the devil are you, if you are not yourself? The Editor. I am merely the servant of the public. Evje. The public executioner, that is to say? The Editor. Well, yes, if you prefer it. But you shall pay for that word some day. Evje. There--you see! Always talking of paying for things!--of revenge!