Mrs. Halm.
Well, then, good-night.
[To the others.
Now friends, what would you say
To drinking tea?
[To Mrs. Strawman.
Pray, madam, lead the way.
[Mrs. Halm, Strawman, his wife and children, with Guldstad, Lind, and Anna go into the house. Miss Jay [taking Stiver's arm].
Now let's be tender! Look how softly floats Queen Luna on her throne o'er lawn and lea!— Well, but you are not looking!
Stiver [crossly].
Yes, I see; I'm thinking of the promissory notes.
[They go out to the left. Falk, who has been continuously watching Strawman and his wife, remains behind alone in the garden. It is now dark; the house is lighted up.
Falk.
All is as if burnt out;—all desolate, dead—!
So thro' the world they wander, two and two;
Charred wreckage, like the blackened stems that strew
The forest when the withering fire is fled.
