Berent (following him). Shoot, and you will hear a report--that is what you are longing for, I suppose! Or, give up your plan of shooting, think of what you have done, confess, and afterwards hold your tongue! Tjaelde. No; may the devil take both you and me-- Berent. And the horse? Tjaelde. The horse? Berent. I mean the magnificent charger on which you came galloping home from the sale of Moeller's estate. You had better let some one shoot you on horseback--on what was your last and greatest piece of business duplicity! (Goes nearer to him and speaks more quietly.) Or--strip yourself of the tissue of lies which enfolds you, and your bankruptcy will bring you more blessing than your riches have ever done. (TJAELDE lets the revolver drop out of his hand, and sinks into a chair in an outburst of tears. There is silence for a moment.) You have made an amazing fight of it for these last three years. I do not believe I know any one who could have done what you have done. But you have lost the fight this time. Do not shrink now from a final settlement and the pain that it must cost you. Nothing else will cleanse your soul for you. Tjaelde (weeping unrestrainedly, with his face buried in his hands). Oh, oh! Berent. You have blamed me for my method of proceeding in the matter. My answer to that is that I forgive you for yours. (A pause.) Try now to look the situation in the face, and take it like a man. Tjaelde (as before). Oh! Berent. At the bottom of your heart you must be weary of it all; make an end of it all now! Tjaelde (as before). Oh! Berent (sitting down beside him, after a moment's pause). Wouldn't you like to feel your conscience clear again--to be able really to live with your wife and children? Because I am sure you have not done that for many a day. Tjaelde (as before). Oh! Berent. I have known many speculators in my time and have received many confessions. So I know what you have been robbed of for three years--never a good night's rest, never a meal eaten with a light heart. You have scarcely been conscious of what your children were doing or saying, except when accident brought you together. And your wife-- Tjaelde. My wife! Berent. Yes, she has slaved hard enough to prepare these banquets that were to conceal the nakedness of the land. Indeed, she has been the hardest worked servant in your house. Tjaelde. My patient, good wife! Berent. I feel certain you would rather be the humblest labourer earning your daily bread than live through such suffering again. Tjaelde. A thousand times rather! Berent. Then can you hesitate to do what will give every man his due, and bring you back to truthfulness again? Take the paper and sign it!