Lind.
Those were my words; they must be understood,
Of course, cum grano salis—
Falk.
Very good!
Lind.
In the forenoons I will enjoy my bliss;
That I am quite resolved on—
Falk.
Daring man!
Lind.
I have my round of visits to the clan;
Time will run anyhow to waste in this;
But any further dislocation of
My study-plan I strongly disapprove.
Falk.
A week ago, however, you were bent
On going out into God’s world with song.
Lind.
Yes, but I thought the tour a little long;
The fourteen days might well be better spent.
Falk.
Nay, but you had another argument
For staying; how the lovely dale for you
Was mountain air and winged warble too.
Lind.
Yes, to be sure, this air is unalloyed;
But all its benefits may be enjoyed
Over one’s book without the slightest bar.
Falk.
But it was just the Book which failed, you see,
As Jacob’s ladder—
Lind.
How perverse you are!
That is what people say when they are free—
Falk
[looking at him and folding his hands in silent
amazement].
Thou also, Brutus!
Lind [with a shade of confusion and annoyance].
Pray remember, do!
That I have other duties now than you;
I have my fiancée. Every plighted pair,
Those of prolonged experience not excepted,—
Whose evidence you would not wish rejected,—
Will tell you, that if two are bound to fare
Through life together, they must—
Falk.
Prithee spare
The comment; who supplied it?
Lind.
Well, we’ll say
Stiver, he’s honest surely; and Miss Jay,
Who has such very great experience here,
She says—
Falk.
Well, but the Parson and his—dear?
Lind.
Yes, they’re remarkable. There broods above
Them such placidity, such quietude,—
Conceive, she can’t remember being wooed,
Has quite forgotten what is meant by love.
Falk.
Ah yes, when one has slumber’d over long,
The birds of memory refuse their song.

[Laying his hand on Lind’s shoulder, with an ironical look.

You, Lind, slept sound last night, I guarantee?
Lind.
And long. I went to bed in such depression,
And yet with such a fever in my brain,
I almost doubted if I could be sane.
Falk.
Ah yes, a sort of witchery, you see.
Lind.
Thank God I woke in perfect self-possession.

[During the foregoing scene Strawman has been seen from time to time walking in the background in lively conversation with Anna; Mrs. Strawman and the children follow. Miss Jay now appears also, and with her Mrs. Halm and other ladies.

Miss Jay [before she enters].
Ah, Mr. Lind.
Lind [to Falk].
They’re after me again!
Come, let us go.
Miss Jay.
Nay, nay, you must remain,
Let us make speedy end of the division
That has crept in between your love and you.
Lind.
Are we divided?
Miss Jay [pointing to Anna, who is standing further off in the garden].
Gather the decision
From yon red eyes. The foreign mission drew
Those tears.
Lind.
But heavens, she was glad to go—
Miss Jay [[scoffing].
Yes, to be sure, one would imagine so!
No, my dear Lind, you’ll take another view
When you have heard the whole affair discussed;
Lind.
But then this warfare for the faith, you know,
Is my most cherished dream!
Miss Jay.
O who would build
On dreaming in this century of light?
Why, Stiver had a dream the other night;
There came a letter singularly sealed—
Mrs. Strawman.
It’s treasure such a dream prognosticates.
Miss Jay [nodding].
Yes, and next day they sued him for the rates.

[The ladies make a circle round Lind and go in conversation with him into the garden.

Strawman [continuing, to Anna, who faintly tries to escape].
From these considerations, daughter mine,
From these considerations, buttressed all
With reason, morals, and the Word Divine,
You now perceive that to desert your Call
Were absolutely inexcusable.
Anna [half crying].
Oh! I’m so young—
Strawman.
And it is natural,
I own, that one should tremble to essay
These perils, dare the lures that there waylay;
But from doubt’s tangle you must now break free,—
Be of good cheer and follow Moll and me!
Mrs. Strawman.
Yes, your dear mother tells me that I too
Was just as inconsolable as you
When we received our Call—
Strawman.
And for like cause—
The fascination of the town—it was;
But when a little money had come in,
And the first pairs of infants, twin by twin,
She quite got over it.
Falk [sotto voce to Strawman].
Bravo, you able
Persuader.
Strawman [nodding to him and turning again to Anna].
Now you’ve promised me, be stable.
Shall man renounce his work? Falk says the Call
Is not so very slender after all.
Did you not, Falk?
Falk.
Nay, pastor—
Strawman.
To be sure—!
[To Anna.
Of something then at least you are secure.
What’s gained by giving up, if that is so?
Look back into the ages long ago,
See, Adam, Eve—the Ark, see, pair by pair,
Birds in the field—the lilies in the air,
The little birds—the little birds—the fishes—

[Continues in a lower tone, as he withdraws with Anna.

[Miss Jay and the Aunts return with Lind.

Falk.
Hurrah! Here come the veterans in array;
The old guard charging to retrieve the day!
Miss Jay.
Ah, in exact accordance with our wishes!
[Aside.
We have him, Falk!—Now let us tackle her!
[Approaches Anna.
Strawman [with a deprecating motion].
She needs no secular solicitation;
The Spirit has spoken, what can Earth bestead—?
[Modestly.
If in some small degree my words have sped,
Power was vouchsafed me—!
Mrs. Halm.
Come, no more evasion,
Bring them together!
Aunts [with emotion].
Ah, how exquisite!
Strawman.
Yes, can there be a heart so dull and dead
As not to be entranced at such a sight!
It is so thrilling and so penetrating,
So lacerating, so exhilarating,
To see an innocent babe devoutly lay
Its offering on Duty’s altar.
Mrs. Halm.
Nay,
Her family have also done their part.
Miss Jay.
I and the Aunts—I should imagine so.
You, Lind, may have the key to Anna’s heart,
[Presses his hand.
But we possess a picklock, you must know,
Able to open where the key avails not.
And if in years to come, cares throng and thwart,
Only apply to us, our friendship fails not.
Mrs. Halm.
Yes, we shall hover round you all your life,—
Miss Jay.
And shield you from the fiend of wedded strife.
Strawman.
Enchanting group! Love, friendship, hour of gladness,
Yet so pathetically touched with sadness.
[Turning to Lind.
But now, young man, pray make an end of this.
[Leading Anna to him.
Take thy betrothed—receive her—with a kiss!
Lind [giving his hand to Anna].
I stay at home!
Anna [at the same moment].
I go with you!
Anna [amazed].
You stay?
Lind [equally so].
You go with me?
Anna [with a helpless glance at the company].
Why, then, we are divided as before!
Lind.
What’s this?
The Ladies.
What now?
Miss Jay [excitedly].
Our wills are all at war—
Strawman.
She gave her solemn word to cross the sea
With him!
Miss Jay.
And he gave his to stay ashore
With her!
Falk [laughing].
They both complied; what would you more!
Strawman.
These complications are too much for me.
[Goes towards the background.
Aunts [to one another].
How in the world came they to disagree?
Mrs. Halm.

[To Guldstad and Stiver, who have been walking in the garden and now approach.

The spirit of discord’s in possession here.
[Talks aside to them.
Mrs. Strawman.

[To Miss Jay, noticing that the table is being laid.

There comes the tea.
Miss Jay [curtly].
Thank heaven.
Falk.
Hurrah! a cheer
For love and friendship, maiden aunts and tea!
Stiver.
But if the case stands thus, the whole proceeding
May easily be ended with a laugh;
All turns upon a single paragraph,
Which bids the wife attend the spouse. No pleading
Can wrest an ordinance so clearly stated—
Miss Jay.
Doubtless, but does that help us to agree?
Strawman.
She must obey a law that heaven dictated.
Stiver.
But Lind can circumvent that law, you see.
[To Lind.
Put off your journey, and then—budge no jot.
Aunts [delighted].
Yes, that’s the way!
Mrs. Halm..
Agreed!
Miss Jay.
That cuts the knot.

[Svanhild and the maids have meantime laid the tea-table beside the verandah steps. At Mrs. Halm’s invitation the ladies sit down. The rest of the company take their places, partly on the verandah and in the summer-house, partly in the garden. Falk sits on the verandah. During the following scene they drink tea.

Mrs. Halm [smiling].
And so our little storm is overblown.
Such summer showers do good when they are gone;
The sunshine greets us with a double boon,
And promises a cloudless afternoon.
Miss Jay.
Ah yes, Love’s blossom without rainy skies
Would never thrive according to our wishes.
Falk.
In dry land set it, and it forthwith dies;
For in so far the flowers are like the fishes—
Svanhild.
Nay, for Love lives, you know, upon the air—
Miss Jay.
Which is the death of fishes—
Falk.
So I say.
Miss Jay.
Aha, we’ve put a bridle on you there!
Mrs. Strawman.
The tea is good, one knows by the bouquet.
Falk.
Well, let us keep the simile you chose.
Love is a flower; for if heaven’s blessed rain
Fall short, it all but pines to death—
[Pauses.
Miss Jay.
What then?
Falk [with a gallant bow].
Then come the aunts with the reviving hose.—
But poets have this simile employed,
And men for scores of centuries enjoyed,—
Yet hardly one its secret sense has hit;
For flowers are manifold and infinite.
Say, then, what flower is love? Name me, who knows,
The flower most like it?
Miss Jay.
Why, it is the rose;
Good gracious, that’s exceedingly well known;—
Love, all agree, lends life a rosy tone.
A Young Lady.
It is the snowdrop; growing, snow enfurled;
Till it peer forth, undreamt of by the world.
An Aunt.
It is the dandelion,—made robust
By dint of human heel and horse hoof thrust;
Nay, shooting forth afresh when it is smitten,
As Pedersen so charmingly has written.
Lind.
It is the bluebell,—ringing in for all
Young hearts life’s joyous Whitsun festival.
Mrs. Halm.
No, ’tis an evergreen,—as fresh and gay
In desolate December as in May.
Guldstad.
No, Iceland moss, dry gathered,—far the best
Cure for young ladies with a wounded breast.
A Gentleman.
No, the wild chestnut tree,—in high repute
For household fuel, but with a bitter fruit.
Svanhild.
No, a camellia; at our balls, ’tis said,
The chief adornment of a lady’s head.
Mrs. Strawman.
No, it is like a flower, O such a bright one;—
Stay now—a blue one, no, it was a white one—
What is its name—? Dear me—the one I met—;
Well it is singular how I forget!
Stiver.
None of these flower similitudes will run.
The flowerpot is a likelier candidate.
There’s only room in it, at once, for one;
But by progressive stages it holds eight.
Strawman [with his little girls round him].
No, love’s a pear tree; in the spring like snow
With myriad blossoms, which in summer grow
To pearlets; in the parent’s sap each shares;—
And with God’s help they’ll all alike prove pears.
Falk.
So many heads, so many sentences!
No, you all grope and blunder off the line.
Each simile’s at fault; I’ll tell you mine;—
You’re free to turn and wrest it as you please.
[Rises as if to make a speech.
In the remotest east there grows a plant;
And the sun’s cousin’s garden is its haunt—
The Ladies.
Ah, it’s the tea-plant!
Falk.
Yes.
Mrs. Strawman.
His voice is so
Like Strawman’s when he—
Strawman.
Don’t disturb his flow.
Falk.
It has its home in fabled lands serene;
Thousands of miles of desert lie between;—
Fill up, Lind!—So.—Now in a tea-oration,
I’ll show of tea and Love the true relation.
[The guests cluster round him.
It has its home in the romantic land;
Alas, Love’s home is also in Romance,
Only the Sun’s descendants understand
The herb’s right cultivation and advance.
With Love it is not otherwise than so.
Blood of the Sun along the veins must flow
If Love indeed therein is to strike root,
And burgeon into blossom, into fruit.
Miss Jay.
But China is an ancient land; you hold
In consequence that tea is very old—
Strawman.