PS tI03 American Dramatists Series ®f)e Jutrge Horns f . Plocfe LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Class J__ ^-_- Book ^'^^y ^f S et me ring for Franz. I will go for the good old Doc» tor and return as soon as I can. Or tell me all about it. Perhaps that will give you peace. The time Is short and Von Werner will be punctual, as usual. (Fon Sendlingen caresses him and makes a few inarticulate efforts to speak, then buries his face in his hands on the table before him. His body \quiv' ers with emotion,) Fon Sendlingen (After some time.) George, George, I shall tell you what makes me the most miserable man i8 THE JUDGE in the world, — It is a strange and sad story. (He raises his head and makes a strong effort at mas- tery.) Berger Speak briefly and rapidly. I am this woman's counsellor, and I will help her and you to what ex- tent I can. {Von Sendlingen rises from his chair, paces up and down the room, and mutters half to himself as if absorbed in some dark and agonizing recollec- ti'm.) Von Sendlingen The fate we build up around us by our own action raises its little wall so slowly and gradually that we do not see this at all in the beginning; higher and higher the barracade becomes, and final- ly we are imprisoned, and the sky shows only as a narrow strip of blue over our heads. I felt secure in these latter years; life had been so gentle and benign, I had hoped by good deeds manifold to have expiated and earned my peace, but it is vain to expect absolution except by the definite undoing of the wrong in which we have become entangled. Now this horrible return of my deed, so far away, so long ago! If I could bear it alone! If the suflEering came but to me! Why should anotlier soul, another heart, whose right to all innocence and happiness is incontestable, be forced to endure the woe and shame, and all through me, through me, most helpless and guilty of men. What can I do ? Whither can I turn ? Berger {Greatly agitated.) Victor, master yourself, for my sake, for your own sake, be calm, let me call ACT t 10 for Franz, you are not now in a condition to tell me anything. You no doubt overestimate the diffi- culties of your position as we all do when trouble overtakes us. When you have had time to collect yourself, you will be better able to talk the mat- ter over, and consider what most needs to be done. Von Sendlingen {Breathing heavily and pausing before Berger.) What is that case of the embezzling cashier of the manufacturing establishment, the largest in the city ? Has he been dealt with? Berger {With an expression of amazement.) His mind is giving way. No, he is out on bail. Moreover, his sister, a very wealthy woman, has made good the entire loss, and there has been no interruption of business on his account. Von Werner, however, talks of the majesty of the law and its due vindica- tion. Von Sendlingen Von Werner — Von Werner — he glares back at me everywhere. It ought to be as you say. The man has been amply punished by his loss of posi- tion and the pain he has endured. But Victorine Lippert! Von Werner must preside at her examin- ation and trial, and he has already expressed his judgment upon her. I have myself put the strong- est weapon into his hands by telling him what the Minister of Justice thinks of such offenses. It is another way in which Fate is winding its coils about me. Had I only known! No, she must be saved in some way! I must preside at that exam- ao THE JUDGE jnation and trial. I cannot trust to that correct and righteous man. She must be saved, George, she must be saved! Berger In the name of all that is reasonable, be seated, Victor. I have already been so stirred to pity by the plight in which Victorine Lippert finds herself that I had made up my mind to leave no stone unturned to secure for her the lightest of sentences. Now comes your unaccountable interest in her to pro- voke me to intenser activity. Von Sendlingen (Seating himself and muttering.) Can I tell an> one? Yet it must be. What will become of me? What will become of her? Berger (Firmly.) I can see no use in carrying this hesitation further. I do not see that I can do any- thing fpr you. (Rises as if to go.) Von Sendlingen (Agitatedly.) No — No — No — ^You must stay, you must stay. Berger Who then is this Victorine Lippert? Von Sendlingen Heaven have mercy upon me, George, she is my own child, she is my daughter! Berger Your daughter! Impossible! You are deceiving yourself! Yet take courage! Poor child! Von Sendlingen (Seating himself and with much effort.) No, George, my best and only friend and helper, I can- ACT I ai not mistake, the name, the place, the date, all prove to me the folly of doubting in the least. Would that I might throw off the conviction that deepens and darkens over me with increasing strength and sinister effect. I would leap at the chance which left it open to me to think that I am in error, but I have no time to delude myself. You will show me the way out of this fate, you will find some m.eans of escape both for her and for me. Berger Whatever can be done, I will do. There are many expedients, right and honorable, which you know as well as I, and not one shall be left untried. Von Sendlingen The story of my life must come first. You must judge me as you deem best. Only for God's sake do not abandon me, do not let me fight this battle single-handed. Berger Tell me not a word. The past Is your own ; out of it has come to me the friendship which has lifted me to what I know of the highest. I need not inquire into any antecedents; I am at your side to add what strength I have to yours. I know tliat you are troubled, and I can be of service. Still I feel strongly that you must be mistaken. You can have nothing to do with this Victorine — Vic- tor, — Victor — I am lost and bewildered! Von Sendlingen Yes, everything concurs. Here then in brief are the facts. It is another of those unhappy experi- ences which belong to so many youths and early manhoods, and which we think inevitable adjuncts ^2 THE Judge of our civilization. So little knowledge have we gained of the significance of youthful passions, and so little have we accomplished for their due develop- ment and purification. You know what a family I belong to. We date our ancestry back to the time when Caesar crossed the Rhine to enter into in- decisive conflict with Ariovistus and his Germans; indeed we mention the barbarians who were honor- ed in founding so great a house. It is a long line of heroes and counsellors. As if a man's soul an- tedated the period of his awakening into a consci- ousness of himself, as if he had been before he really learned to live and think. My father made a mesal- liance; he was forced to marry my mother by the proud recititude of my grandfather, but he was exiled to an obscure and wretched estate of the family's, to eat out his heart in despair and solitude. My parents had supposed that they loved each other ; never was there a more terrible mistake. I grew up in an atmosphere of hate and fear and appalling suffering. {He pauses as if overcome with emotion.) Berger Do not torture yourself by lingering over details. Tell me just enough to make me intelligent in my labors for you in the present emergency. Von Sendlingen My father, before his death, made me take a solemn vow that I would never ally myself to a wo- man whose rank was less than my own. He would save me from the agony which had overtaken him. After his decease — my mother had died somewhat earlier — my relatives flocked around me, welcomed me as the legitimate bearer of a great name, and ACT I 23 set me with everything in my favor on the path of my career. I chose the law, made rapid progress, and notwithstanding my youth was appointed Judge in a town in Hungary. Berger What an abominable place for an inexperienced jurist! Von Sendlingen You can really have no conception of the situa- tion. The town was a mass of ruins, inhabited by a population degraded and brutalized. The no- bility were, save for their barbaric love of splendor, worse than the people. They spent their lives in the vainest and most sordid of pleasures, and drew their revenues largely from persistent smuggling and systematized robbery. I held myself aloof as long as I could, and excused myself because of the great pressure of work devolving upon me. Berger A very temporary retirement, I can readily see. Von Sendlingen I delayed the plunge to the uttermost, but was at length obliged to accept the invitations of one Mirescul, the most unscrupulous and daring scoun- drel of the whole villainous nobility. What a travesty that word is as applied to them! It was at his house that I met her — Hermina Lippert, the gentlest, tenderest, sweetest of women, the mother of Victorine, the mother of my child. {He places both his hands upon his heart and trembles violently. Berger stands over him in great alarm. He proceeds.) She was a governess in the family. Why prolong the tale? We loved madly H THE JUDGE from the first ; such vehemence comes to man or wo- man but once in a lifetime. The Miresculs threw us together and gave us every opportunity. When a guest in the house, I was given the room adjoining hers. The catastrophe came all too soon. We were married secretly. Mirescul was brought before me, charged with smuggling. He begged to see me alone. He threatened ruin to her and to me if I did not take measures to secure his release. I was swept off my feet, I was overwhelmed. Berger You entered the thick of the conflict very early. Von Sendlingen I allowed Mirescul to go on his own recogniz- ance. What was I to do? My duty as Judge, my oath to my father, my place as the representative of an old family, my love for the woman who had given up all for me, aroused a storm which was shattering my whole being. I received a note from her. She had been grossly affronted by Mirescul, who had sought to wring from her a promise to exert herself with me in his behalf, and she had fled from the house. She was awaiting me. I went to her immediately and tried by all means in my power to reassure her. Berger How did it come about that you left her? Oh, forgive that question. Von Sendlingen Ask me for no explanations. I was young and beset with frightful complications. My release of Mirescul had enabled that miscreant to tamper with the smuggled goods, and successfully prevent his ACT I 25 conviction for the crimes which he had so long per- petrated with impunity. I found myself accused of complicity in his defeat of justice, and gross failure in official duty. Berger What a perdicament! Von Sendlingen My relatives came at once to my side ; they were stern and imperative; they had but little to say ahout *^he error of my ways and the folly of my ac- tions. They engaged to deliver me from the dis- asters which were hanging over me, but they gave me plainly to understand that life with Hermina was impossible. My father's misfortunes were not left without sufficient and gloomy allusion. I can- not look back upon that time, I cannot account for ray conduct, I cannot defend it. I allowed myself to be rescued ; I never saw Hermina again. I wrote to her and offered her honorable maintenance; she refused, and disappeared. And I never knew that I had a child until I saw her name and birthplace on this paper today. Berger A knock! You cannot see anyone now. Franz (Enters.) Count Riesner very earnestly begs to see yoii. Von Sendlingen Count Riesner? What can he want here today? Riesner of all men in the world ! He, the betrayer of my — my — Berger Victor! You forget that we are not alone. 26 THE JUDGE Franz I knew that there was something going on. He needs me to look after him. I will tell Brigitta. What answer am I to make to the Count ? Berger On second thought I advise you to admit him. Not a chance is to be lost! Von Sendltngen I cannot. It is he who has brought all this shame upon me. Yet what right have I to say a single word against 'him. Am I not as guilty as he? — Tell the Count that I will see him at once. Franz Guilty! You are very strangely altered. You are ill; let me tell the Count to come some other time. You could not have slept well last night and these early breakfasts were never good for you. Von Sendlingen Go at once, and do not keep the Count waiting any longer. Franz He never talked to me in that way before. I shall go for the Doctor at once. At his time of life it is bad staying at hotels in large towns and being so irregular. What can be the matter any- how? (Passes out.) Berger Bring your strength all together in meeting this young man. He may have weighty disclosures to make. He may have come for some cause far from praiseworthy, and you must needs exercise all your ACT I 27 acumen, and pierce his concealments through and through. (The count enters.) Von Sendltngen {After the usual greetings.) Your presence is not wholly unexpected, Count Riesner, and I ad- mire the candor which you display. I take it for granted that you wish to talk about Victorine Lip- pert. Count Henry That is what I am here for. Von Sendltngen My friend, Berger, is her counsel, appointed by the court, and your communications need his ear as well as mine. Count Henry I trust that you will pardon me, if I seem agitat- ed, and even incoherent. I have been through so much in these last days, and I have had such diffi- culty in getting here that I need some time to be calm enough to ask you a few questions. I had, indeed, been sent away to England, but I succeeded in eluding my companions, and I am now doing what I can to prevent — my mother — from finding my abiding place. I would do what lies in me to make reparation to Victorine, whom I love more deeply today than ever before. My mother is in- flexible. She is infuriated at the poor girl. I was kept away when the quarrel took place or I should have been at Victorine's side. I would have mar< ried her if they had not driven her out of the house. I found it out through an inadvertence of one of my traveling companions, and I made all expedi- 28 THE JUDGE tion I could in returning. What can I do, what can I do? Von Sendlingen You say that you are stopping in town? Count Henry Not exactly in town, but very near it. My moth- er as yet knows nothing of my return, but she must find it out soon, this very morning, no doubt, and then the difficulties surrounding me will be much increased. Von Sendlingen You would help this woman accused of so dark an offense? Count Henry Yes, I appeal to you as I would to a father. You can help her, you can show me what to do. You can be as a father to both of us. I love her with all my heart, and the days were so full of happiness. I cannot allow myself to think what she has endured, it makes me feel as if I should go mad. I will marry her, and we can go far away. She is as innocent of any crime as God himself, who made her to be glad and happy and beautiful. Berger These things are not so easily settled as you suppose. We are no longer discussing some trifling misfortune transpiring within the charmed realm which we are pleased to call society. This is an affair in which society, properly so called, is con- cerned, and the part you are to play is not without serious danger to yourself. ACT I 29 Count Henry You wrong me, you wrong me greatly by these insinuations. Has she not been placed in jeopardy of her life? Is she not now menaced with the pun- ishment of death ? I shall take my place beside her, to suffer with her, to expose my guilt and shame, and with your help to rescue her from the peril that enrings her. Can anything be done? Von Sendlingen Are you willing to appear in Court and testify in her behalf? Count Henry That is a small matter. I will do anything, everything. Von Sendlingen You are willing to make reparation in the way of marriage? Count Henry To watch over her, to win her forgiveness, to make her future forget this past, will be the en- deavor of my whole life. Von Sendlingen Remember what you sacrifice. Can you hope for happiness in such a marriage? It has been tried, and the consequences have been most wretched. Count Henry To save her is the only thought that has lodg- ment in my brain. Till she is safe, I can speak of nothing. What have I to do with my own happi- ness? Should I never know another minute of gladness, it would not heap upon me half the misery through which she has been dragged; and through no fault that deserved such relentless persecution. 30 THE JUDGE The devotion of a whole life, at whatever cost, is not an equivalent for the agony which has been hers. Berge?- As counsellor for this poor creature, hounded and sore beset, and close to the perilous precipice, where an ignominious death awaits her, I shall accept this unforeseen assistance. I shall come to you and con- sult with you more fully. You will entrust me with your address? You know where to find me. Count Henry {Writing on a card.) It is here; but you will be cautious. For the present I must not be seen. Von Sendlingen I may see that card ? Count Henry It is on you chiefly that I rely. (Berger hands Von Sendlingen the cardj and the latter places it at once in a drawer of his desk.) Berger {To Riesner. Smilingly.) You can trust me. Von Sendlingen You shall redeem yourself and her. Not an ex- pedient known to the law will be left untried. The outlook is dark, but we have some reason to hope for better things. Count Henry Thank you both for that. {Leaves.) Berger {Coming closer to Von Sendlingen.) Providence is working for us in unexpected ways. Who could have supposed that a young man like Riesner would act thus? His imperious mother has, it appears, brought into the world a son with a determination ACT I 31 stronger than her own. Fortunately for us his will has taken a direction opposite to hers. We shall certainly be able to avoid — Von Sendlingen The death penalty. You can speak plainly. I am prepared for anything. An imprisonment of indefinite duration would not be an alleviation; it would, in truth, be far worse; and then who shall preside at these examinations? — ^Who shall be her Judge? — and mine! Berger Von Werner is an idiot, determined that the very letter of the law be observed. Can not you preside at the preliminary? Von Sendlingen The law forbids that a father should preside in any case affecting his family. Think of it, George, put yourself in my place. As Judge I am the mouth- piece of the life that beats in the veins of the nation, and further I must see to it that no injury ensues to that life through any error of mine. All my thought, my hope, my deeds have been given to the service of this high reality ever since maturity claim- ed me. Now I am called to sit in judgment upon her, my own flesh and blood, whom my eager pas- sion and reckless seizure of delight brought into being, and she now staggers under the weight of the destiny which should be mine. What she en- dures is what I ought to endure; if she dies, it is I who ought to stand in her place. Innocent girl, caught in the mad whirl of my actions, she bears the blame and the burden, while I am honored of 32 THE JUDGE men, called to a higher post of administering justice, and drinking in with ardent ears the gratulatory speeches of my fellows. I am the doer; she is the expiator! It is horrible! Ber get- In the very views which you are now expressing you are acting as the high-thoughted Judge of the Judge; who so well fitted to think the right and to give it outward potency as yourself? If the law does not explicitly forbid, it is your duty and priv- ilege to take upon yourself this serious task. You can be trusted to be severe enough upon yourself. In you always the stern impersonality of justice has shown its milder aspect of merciful regard for the erring and misguided and hapless, and that mingled strength and tenderness will speak through you the words and decision of the Highest, yes, Victor, of God! Von Sendlingen You tempt me sorely, but it must not, Cannot be. Find some other path out of the labyrinth, help me, help me! Brigitta (Entering in haste.) Von Sendlingen greets her with much feeling.) I could not stand it a minute more. I waited to have you send for me, and I hope/i tbat all this business, would soon be over. Franz said you were far from well. We have long- ed to see you, and expected to welcome you in our good homely way, and we find that you are ill and troubled and so engaged that you do not want us to come and speak to you. ACT t S3? f^on Sendlingen My gooxi Bi?Igitta, my best thanks are d^e you and Franz, and I shall be more suited to the oM pleasures and quietude in a short while.- Only be' patient with me a little longer. But Brigitta, t have a word to say to you just now. You have heard of this — this— Victorine Lippert? Brigitta My heart went out to her as I saw her entering her cell a short time ago. Von Sendlingen That is quite like yourself. I wish you to go to her. — I will see that the necessary permission is granted. You will bring to her the womanly min- istrations of which she must be in need. You will be gentle with her, and speak comfort to her, and ease her overburdened soul. For my sake, Brigitta, for my sake! Brigitta For j^our sake? Von Sendlingen Yes, I will explain at some other time. You must go to her this very afternoon. Now, Brigitta, I shall have some gentlemen at dinner, and I shall also wish you to take some of the best we have from my own table to the wretched girl yonder. Brigitta It shall be done as you wish, but I have a small commission to fulfill. Here is an old bunch of keys which I found in a disused drawer of your desk — we have had a thorough cleaning up in your ab- sence — and I have taken great care of them. They should be put away in a secure place. U THE JUDGE Von Sendlingen I have some vague recollection of them. They belonged to my predecessor. I did not attach any importance to them. Berger {Taking the keys.) Curious lot of old rusty rubbish 1 I do not believe that any one of them can be of the smallest use. Brigitta Yet this insignificant one {pointing to it distinct- ly) opens a door in the w^all betw^een the hous^ yard and the prison yard. The door is so con- structed, and time has so colored it and the adjacent masonry, that you can find it only v^ith difficulty. Franz and I looked for it, and at last came upon it after a close survey of the whole vk^all. Franz re- membered the fact of this key being the one that fits in the old lock. Von Sendlingen That is the key to the door, you say? {Takes it and scrutinizes it very seriously.) Berger In this old-fashioned, not to say mediaeval, com- bination of prison and dwelling, no doubt we can find any number of doors and posterns and corri- dors that no one today suspects of being at all. Queer that we should still allow ourselves to live in a style that has nothing to do with our century. Here are Judge's dwelling, court-rooms, and pris- ons, all practically under one roof. A hideous ar- rangement and one which we shall change in due time. Act I 3S Fon Sendlingen Thank you for your care of the keys, Brigitta. It would not be well if they fell into the wrong hands. I must blame myself for not having put them carefully away, and am glad that I have pos- session of them with full knowledge of their value again. I had supposed them worthless, and admis- sion to the prison yard would, indeed, be of sniall avail. Have a good dinner for us, Brigitta. {Bri- gitta goes out.) How all these discoveries over- whelm me! What a piece of criminal negligence to leave the keys lying around in this way. Berger You exaggerate everything this morning, Victor. Ah, there is Von Werner again. {Von Werner enters.) Von Werner I hope that you are recovered. I returned more out of solicitude for you than for any other reason. Looking over the reports can wait until tomorrow. {Throughout with queer stares and overdone concern for Von Sendlingen.) Von Sendlingen No, we will proceed at once. You will both dine with me today, and the reading of them can be completed this afternoon. Von Werner Have you decided about the Lippert examina- tion ? Berger We have been giving the matter some con- sideration. 36 THE JUDGE Von Sendlingen You will forgive me, Von Werner Fon Werner I do not suppose I am to be relieved of respon- sibility. {Chuckles.) Von Sendlingen Some new evidence has unexpectedly turned up. I should like the examination postponed. It could occur a week from today, and the trial a week or two from that. Can the arrangement be made ? Von Werner It is within your province to do in the affair as you deem best. And also — {Exhibiting great sur- prise.) Von Sendlingen {Slowly and deliberately.) I shall preside at the examination. The Curtain Falls ACT II SCENE. — Library of Von Sendlingen as before. It is arranged for a judicial examination. Franz and Brigitta. A week has elapsed. Brigitta Everything is ready and it is about time for them to begin. Franz I believe that I have done just as you told me; or is there something more? The Baron is very ill, and he always had a dislike to the Court Room. I don't wonder. Just think how old it is, and what scenes have been enacted there. Brigitta This is not the first time that an examination has been held in this room. It is a little unusual, but the Judge's condition is a sufficient excuse. Franz What is the matter anyhow? You seem to be m the secret, for there is a secret, and you needn't try to deny it. I am an old man, and it is hard that I can't be trusted as well as you, who have not been in this house half as long as I. Brigitta Don't find any fault; you are as good and as faithful as you can be, and, when your help is need- ed, it will be called for, you may be sure. Franz Are you to be allowed in the room this morning? 37 sS The juixiE Brigitta Yes, the Countess Riesner may need me, and perhaps the prisoner as well. Franz Don't talk to me about the Countess. She is a dreadful old woman, and she will have people enough to look out for her. You go in to see the prisoner every day, and you are to be at the ex- amination for her sake; she is in the hospital ward now, isn't she? Brigitta Yes; her health is utterly broken down. She sees nothing, she speaks to no one, she accepts what is done for her in a dull and unmeaning way, she asks only to be judged, and to die as soon as may be, that all her miseries may come to an end at once. Franz Yes, yes, but what have we to do with her? We've had trying cases before now, but never one that sets us all by the ears as this one does. Why should I be left out of it all? It makes me mad, and I'm going to have it changed. I want to help, too. Brigitta Hush, they are coming. You will learn about it soon enough, everybody will learn all that there is to be known, I am greatly afraid. {They pass out.) (Berger and Von Sendlingen enter. The latter has aged perceptibly in the week, his eyes are heavy and dull, his hair has whitened about the temples, and he looks altogether like a very sick man.) ACT II 39 Von Sendlingen The day looks dark through the windows, and we may have snow. I feel cold and strengthless. Berger It seems sufficiently warm in the room. Von Sendlingen No doubt. You and the others will find it so. The chill is in my heart, and a winter bitterer than that outdoors is in my brain. Berger You are again allowing yourself to be overmas- tered by your depression, a state which is wholly foreign to you. I have always observed in you a courageous confronting of untoward conditions, which made you appear more like a man of the eld- er time than of our own weak and vacillating gen- eration. What has become of your strength in the hour of greatest need? Von Sendlingen I do not know. It is my despair that I have it no longer. I grope around in my futile weakness, and grow less and less capable of facing the emergency. I seem to be the plaything of some re- vengeful power outside and beyond myself that is gradually paralyzing my very heart and soul. Yet I would not have it otherwise, strange to say. As we have sown, so must we reap. Deed is conjoined to deed, no link is missing anywhere, the whole for- ever dwells in every part, and woe be to him who opposes the overwhelming movement forwards. Wrong can be righted only by an expiation which replaces what has been done by what ought in truth to be. We must pay to the uttermost farth- ing. I shall judge both my child and myself. 40 THE JUDGE Berger There must be some way of escape. Von Sendltngen Escape? What would you have? You who so deeply know the law cannot talk of escape. A crime cannot be atoned by an injustice. Is there anything that I can do? Berger Just now you can shake off the man that you are, and put on again the man that you were. These forebodings verge upon the superstitious. You have always hitherto had fortitude in abundance both for yourself and your friends. Von Sendltngen I am, indeed, selfishly forgetful. {Franz brings in the Countess Riesner, Marian- na Brandes, and Dr, Rohn. After the usual greet- ingSj they take the seats pointed out to them. Franz goes out.) Dr. Rohn I endeavored to dissuade the Countess from com- ing at all. Her health, at no time very strong, has suffered much through the agitations of the last months. I fear greatly any further excitements. I suggested to the Countess the writing out of her account of the circumstances and sending it to me. Von Sendltngen That would, undoubtedly, have saved the Coun- tess Riesner a disagreeable hour or two, but would hardly have been satisfactory from our point of view. The privileges of rank and station are ex- tensively recognized in our laws and practices, but ACT II 41 at important crises they yield of necessity to higher considerations. Dr. Rohn The law in that way is unquestionably defective as in so many others. Von Sendlingen I have been a life-long advocate of legal reforms, but have been, nevertheless, inclined to regard the disposition of the law to deal with the person as such, without considering differences of class or riches, as one of its noblest qualities. Dr. Rohn Moreover, Miss Brandes is a witness more ef- fective, as she was with the Lippert woman on the morning after the murder. Von Sendlingen {Starts perceptibly.) We have not begun the investigation as yet. Countess Riesner One thing, however, overcame all my scruples. For this I waived my failing health, my increasing pain, my hatred of vulgar publicity. Berger The latter you could hardly escape in any case, my dear Countess. Marianna Brandes Collect yourself, Madame; be strong. We seem to find that justice in the very seat and palace there- of wears a face and garb different from the one to ^vhich we are accustomed. But the right will pre- vail, heaven watches over us. 42 THE JUDGE Countess My son's interests bring me here. For rhat de- signing and wicked female, who dwelt under my roof, and enjoyed privileges there not ordinarily granted to one in her position in life, I can have only feelings of mingled pity and aversion. I suppose that she came into my house with her plans duly ma- tured. The punishment for such libels upon my sex, who drag our name and purity into the mire, cannot be harsh enough. The world has too many of them, and the removal of one will hardly mend matters. Von Sendlingen {With evident anger.) I must again make it clear to you that a condemnation before a hearing docs not belong in this room. Countess Her own act is already her condemnation. Von Sendlingen We shall see to it, however, that the consequences of an act do not exceed the act itself. Countess My son's welfare concerns me more nearly than that of this scheming and ambitious girl. Von Sendlingen Your son has in all probablity some views of his own in the matter. Countess I have hitherto found him willing to admit that my larger knowledge of life has led me to a clearer understanding of what is needed than he possessed, young as he w^as and blinded by the excess of feel- ing. ACT II 43 Berger He differs from you, then, in this important concern ? Countess {Looks at him with some curiosity.) The de- fender of crime and debauchery will, doubtless, look upon my son's strange and misguided views with leniency and support. Berger The exact seat of the debauchery remains yet to be disclosed and properly held to execration. Marianna Brandes There is a Providence which looks down upon the world. It provides for every moment of our existence the exact pain or pleasure which belongs to it. You cannot tell why sorrows should come to those so little deserving them, but be courageous to meet them, dear Countess, and you will arise from them as from a bath of clear waters, nobler, purer, if that be possible. Countess My son may appear at the investigation. Should he do so, I wish to say beforehand, that his words will be those of a wholly irresponsible being, and they must not be taken as absolving the criminal from the least shadow of her evil intents. Dr. Rohn I am ready to present my professional statement in atiy form demanded that the young man needs the greatest oversight, and ought not to be heard at ail. Berger In plain terms you mean that he is mad. 44 THE JUDGE Marianna Brandes Be calm, dear madame. I warned you of all this. Heaven is over us; it will guide and protect you, the truest of its children. {Enter Von Werner, overdressed in a somber style of extreme dignityj Dernegg and a guard. After the customary greetings, they take the places prepared for them. At a sign from Von Sendlingen the guard passes out,) Dernegg (To Von Sendlingen.) It is your preference, I believe, to make this examination informal. As public prosecutor I am perforce made to proceed against the young person so heavily accused, but inasmuch as the circumstances have never been fully developed, I am only too glad to find it possible to seek extenuating or wholly clearing incidents in this complication of misfortunes. Von Sendlingen You express my wishes. Von Werner (Raising his hands in horror,) We must guard, however, against the intrusion of sympathy with youth and inexperience. (Looks with appealing eyes at the Countess.) Crime is yet crime, what- ever its attendants ; the State, the whole of civiliza- tion, rests upon correct judicial proceedings. (Gazes profoundly into vacancy,) Marianna Brandes The angels look down upon us again, dear. Countess They are forever on the side of the right. Be assured that all will be well. Due punishment ACT II 45 must be meted out upon the offenders against our old and venerated aristocracy. (Count Henry enters and at a motion from Von Sendlingen seats himself opposite to his mother.) Countess (To her son.) You venture here? In your con- dition of mind? Dr. Rohn, will you act now? Dr, Rohn I wish to ask permission and aid in removing Count Henry from the room. I give it as my pro- fessional opinion — Count Henry I appeal to the Judge. I was never better. This is a manoeuvre to keep me from doing what is the most important act of reparation in my life. Von Werner {Hurriedly interrupting.) Dr. Rohn*s request is not in accordance with any rule that occurs to me now. (Smiles.) All light is desirable in such a preliminary as this. (Clasps his hands in front of him.) Count Riesner may be the bearer of very conclusive intelligence. (Coughs.) We shall learn all about his condition of mind when he is called upon to speak. His dismissal cannot be entertained now. (Nods his head sagaciously a number of times.) Berger God be thanked for pedantry once, at least. (The door at the side opens and Victorine Lip- pert enters accompanied by Brigitta and the guard. She walks slowly like a person in a dream. Her eyes stare before her and she seems to see no one. She places her arm over her face as if to hide it, cow^ 46 THE JUDGE ers down into the chair assigned her, and trembles piteously in every limb.) Brigitta Look up at the good Judge. His heart is full of compassion for everyone— certainly for you. Berger (Steps up and speaks softly to her,) Courage, my young friend, courage! Victorine {As if to herself,) Why should one suffer so much as I have done? Why does not Death open the door into his rest and peace more easily? Why did they not let me die in the cold out under the trees? Why was I saved for this? Berger (Softly,) You shall not die. Life will begin for you again. Speak your mind freely and entire- ly. You will be heard by ears that wish you well in every way. Stand firm against every false accu- sation. Hope for the best. Light and life and friendship and love are waiting for you after this trial is over; I promise them to you, my suffering child, I promise them to you. Victorine No, no; why do you disturb me? I do not know at all what you can mean. I am ready for the worst; let it only come quickly. Dernegg This woman, your honor, is accused of the dread- ful crime for whose investigation we are met this morning. Von Sendlingen Let her arise and face the Court. ACT II 47 Brigitta Stand up, Victorine, I am here to support you. Be not afraid. Victorine Spare yourself any unnecessary care of me. What- ever fear I had is dead long ago. I have but one anxiety, and that is that they will let me live. What can they want of me? Von Sendlingen It is, indeed, a dreadful crime with which you stand charged. Are you guilty or guiltless of these sad accusations ? Answer as you value your life and your soul. Victorine What can I say to all this? I do not know any man or anything any more. I am a poor dead wo- man who somehow yet breathes in your presence. I have sinned deeply, I am guilty of much, oh, so much — I am guilty, your Honor, before men and before God — but I have been very ill, and I am ignorant of many things that must have transpired while my heart was burning with pain and remorse and fever. Dernegg You are charged with slaying your newly born child. Victorine Ah, God is my witness — surely he has not al- together abandoned me — as the angels in heaven know and could tell if they only had pity on a miserable woman like me — as the good Saviour, Christ, is aware — I can reveal nothing about the death of my child; they placed it cold and still in 48 THE JUDGE my arms; that is all I know about it; I am not sure that it ever breathed the chilly morning air; punish me for my fault, do with me as you will, bring me quickly into the arms of waiting death, but of the crime that you speak so loud against me I am not guilty. Berger Your honor will doubtless allow me to enter the formal plea of not guilty in behalf of my client who will tell her story afterwards. Von Werner {With tremendous and chilling bitterness,) We shall reach no adequate results in these extraordinary proceedings unless more usual and better methods prevail. Countess Why proceed with the examination at all ? Would it not be better to wait until the regular trial? Such would be my pleasure, and a properly ac- credited deposition would relieve me of the dis- agreeableness of a further presence in Court. Marianna Brandes Heaven will surely bring this to pass. Von Sendlingen The ascertainment of the real facts in the case, and all the facts, can, perhaps, be more successfully achieved by some departure from legal usage, and we should hardly be justified in the convening of this assembly unless we showed results from it val- uable both to the prisoner and the State. Count Henry I suppose it is thoroughly understood by all present that I am here in support of the prisoner. ACT II 49 Countess We know it only too well. Victorine (Apparently seeing him for the first time.) Is he against me too ? Did they succeed in tearing him from me? No doubt he has abandoned me. I tried by all means in my power to see him, but they sent him away, and I had to suffer alone. Brigitta He is your friend. He never abandoned you. You have many friends here, more than you know of at present. Von Sendlingen The statement of the Countess will be first in prder. Many of the facts are undisputed and need no prolongd attention; the evident ailing condition of the accused warns us to be as brief as possible. Her strength must be as fully restored as may be for the coming trial. Let no one speak aught save what he deems to be the truth— the very truth it- self. The Countess will proceed. Countess The motherless children left to mc by my dear, departed daughter had been for some time under the religious care of Miss Brandes, who had been in my family for a number of years, a guide and a men- tor in the higher life which we should all live and of which so few of the younger women of this un- godly generation know anything. so THE JUDGE Von Sendlingen This is wholly irrelevant, my good Countess. Miss Brandes will be heard later. Countess Miss Brandes' health, however, was not good, and the care of the children wore upon her terribly. I trembled lest I should lose her. I made up my mind to have a governess for them. I searched with care, and hoped to have found a suitable one in Victorine Lippert, who came with satisfactory tes- timonials, and whose shyness and reserve, conspicu- ously assumed at our first meeting and for somt time after very successfully maintained, inclined me to favor her. I supposed that I saw in her what Marianna — Miss Brandes — had been a few years be- fore. How woefully was I deceived. The tmiidity and devotion to duty which marked the woman's behavior during her first months in my liouse were thrown aside at once with the return of my son from Paris, where he had been for some time con- nected with the Austrian Embassy. . The friendship, wholesome and elevating with Miss Brandes, which I had gladly seen growing from her advene into our circle, was abruptly broken off, and poor Mari- anna was constantly in tears over the rebuffs she was obliged to endure. So sudden was the change coming over Victorine Lippert that the fact of her having played a shrewd and well matured part was apparent at once. Her real character came to the surface, she shamefully and passionately threw her- self into Count Henry's arms, and evidently hoped to gain everything from his youth and inexperience. ACT n 51 Count Henry Mother, I must still call you by that name, how can you speak thus in the shadow of death, the dark cloud of ignominy, hovering over a woman like yourself ? Victorine {With a pale burst of joy.) I am not wholly abandoned. I shall die, I shall go alone into the abyss, the gloom there is deep, but I see the beckon- ing of friendly hands, their light pierces the dark- ness around me as I sink into it beyond recall. Von Werner {Very decidedly j with waving of the hands.) The Countess must go on without interruption. Countess The consequences rapidly ensued when unprin- cipled passion in the woman meets more than half way the hot blood of the young man of today. The latter cannot be blamed; these are mere and com- mon incidents in his career. At last the woman's condition was such that her further stay in my house was no longer endurable. I was forced to make it plain to her that she must go. She proved re- fractory, but she went, nevertheless. Dernegg That is the whole of your evidence? Berger The conduct of the accused is very differently re- ported by other witnesses. Countess I know nothing further directly. Miss Brandes saw the woman on the morning after she left my house. 52 THE JUDGE Fon Sendlingen Miss Brandes will take up the thread of the nar- rative where the Countess has left it. Marianna Brandes As I am heard in Heaven, I will tell in a few words what I saw further, and I will not permit myself to deviate a hair's breadth from the narrow path I must pursue. How right the Countess was to keep her son from this contamination — Countess May I not be heard a moment? I have known the woman speaking for years, you all know her, and — Von Werner No, no; this is an interruption. {Half rises and smiles.) Miss Brandes will go on. Marianna Brandes Heaven aid me to bear calumny. I surely can in the service of the right. To save the house from further scandal, Miss Lippert was forced to leave. True it is, that it was an inclement night, and the distance to the nearest village considerable. On the morning following, quite early, I thought it best, accompanied by a faithful serving man, to find out what had become of Miss Lippert. As we passed through the wood intervening between the house and the village, we found her delirious on the ground, a dead child with cruel finger marks on its neck by her side. A woman from the village was beside her. \Perger It had snowed during the night? ACT II 53 Marianna Brandes I believe so. My memory does not serve me well in regard to these minor points. Berger Is the woman from the village somewhere at hand this morning? Dernegg She lies in her home very ill and was wholly un- fit to come. We hope to produce her and the serv- ing man at the trial. Fon Sendlingen This is all? Dernegg I believe this is all for the present. Berger (To Von Sendlingen,) You doubtless wish to interrogate the accused? Fon Sendlingen You have heard, Victorine Lippert, this arraign- ment, which, I am informed, is supported by other corroborative statements. You can now refute it by such means as are within your power. Speak fearlessly; you are in the presence of justice; noth- ing shall come to you as punishment save what you have duly brought upon yourself. Fictorine I am weak, and my head whirls. I do not under- stand all that has been going on. I have done great wrong, and I ought to be punished. They have told a great many things, I have been bitterly hurt while listening to them. Why do you wish a repe- tition from me? 54 THE JUDGE Countess She confesses her guilt. What need we more ? Berger She will speak for herself in a moment. We have letters to dispute the charges of premeditated plot- ting; we need also very much to hear from the peasant woman. Count Henry And you need to hear from me. Brigitta Stand up, child, and tell your story. The Judge looks upon you mildly and generously. Von Sendlingen Did you plot against the peace of this noble family ? Victorine {Starting as if awakening.) Did I plot against anyone? Who was I to think of plots? I thought but of my young charges, they were sweet and good, and it was a pleasure to be with them. I was then but a mere girl, I had lived only in the seclusion of the school where my mother had placed me. When she died, it was necessary for me to do some- thing for myself. What knowledge had I of men and the world? The brilliant life in the great house was such a change to me. I did not feel my- self at home in it, the Countess was cold and im- perious, and Miss Brandes told me about doing things which I did not approve, saying one thing and meaning another. I was bewildered with it all. Marianna Brandes Shameless creature! Protect mc, Countess! {She ACT II 55 covers her face with her handkerchief and seems to be weeping.) Victorine I had been warned about the way of life in great families, but I had forgotten at first. At last, I thought that I saw through it all, and began to be more myself, and stronger. Then the Count came — and then — - Berger Do not falter. We listen to you very attentively. Every word you utter is important. Fictorine The Count came, the house was always full of guests, he seemed tired of the life which only feebly aped the life he had been living in Paris, we were then thrown much together. Spare me additional details; you know it all as well as I can tell it. Von Sendlingen Much depends upon the story as it comes from your lips. Did the Count promise you marriage? Victorine Yes, yes ; he has my mother's ring, and I have the one he gave me. (She shows upon her finger a quaint circlet set with alternate small diamonds and pearls. ) Countess An heirloom in our family. It must be restored to us. Count Henry I promised her marriage, your Honor. Von Werner {In his usual prompous manner.) This must S6 THE JUDGE cease. If these interpolations recur, we must un- dertake another form of examination. Von Sendlingen The accused will go on — Victortne We saw a great deal of each other. Miss Brandes encouraged me in many ways to allow the intimacy to take its course. The Countess told me that her son was never happy at home, and she hoped that I would not let the time hang heavy on his hands. Miss Brandes assured me again and again that Heaven gave special privileges to the rich and the titled, and that it was a duty to obey the higher will. Countess I protest against all this. Marianne Brandes We shall not be forsaken. Let us look to the skies for protection. Shameless wicked creature! Von Sendlingen We are all attentive to your story. Victorine I was carried away in the storm. Ah, God, that I should say such things here, that I should thus be forced to bare my inmost heart before strangers, and before those who have treated me cruelly! Brigitta Strength, Victorine, strength! Victorine {As if mastering herself with much effort,) Yet what does it signify to me? Away false modesty and maidenly reserve! They have been torn from me savagely already. After what I have endured, ACT II 57 these last pangs are easily bearable! I loved Count Henry with all my soul. I was young, I had no one to counsel me, the atmosphere of that house was hot and intoxicating. He seemed the one gen- erous person there. I believed that he loved me, he promised to marry me, and — oh, Heaven, and my mother in Heaven, forgive me — I fell. Countess We are able to give the particulars of your life before you came to us. You were retained at school with the utmost difficulty. The wildness was in your blood and very origin. Victorine Why do you let her insult me thus? I stand here pleading for my life, not that I value it, take it and take it quickly, and release me from the scorn and agony. I have sinned, and I accept ig- nominy and death for my punishment, but I am not the only one to blame. I did not sin alone, must the woman always expiate alone? And save me from those women, they are blacker than the storm and wickeder than night! Countess Who will listen to your ravings or your accusa- tions ? Such women as you must suffer alone. What pity or consideration have you the right to ask? Crime and intrigue lead to the gutter and the scaf- fold. Victorine Oh, God, I thought that I had patience to the end. I had brought myself to believe that I should soon be out of the whirl of sorrow and at peace, but the whole affair sweeps back into my brain. 58 THE JUDGE Why should I suffer alone? Punish her, the de- ceiver, the procuress, punish him, the stately man of the world, who breaks hearts for his pastime! Are there two Justices in this world, one for the poor, and another for the rich? One for the wo- man and another for the man? Have I not borne the heat of exposure shrivelling and devouring me? Shall she go on to catch more maidens in her net? Shall he walk free to indulge his passions again and again? I am poor and friendless, he is rich, and his haughty mother laughs at these boyish escapades. There must be right somewhere, the same for high and low, the same for man and wo- man. Why is not she arraigned as well as I? Why is he not at my side? Count Henry {Impetuously.) I am at your side! I am ready to walk into the cell with you! I am shamed be- yond measure, I am broken and overcome. I would take upon myself all that they can inflict upon us both. What you have endured is far too much. You should pass hence, free as the air, with- out a stain, and it is I who should suffer for my wife — my wife in the sight of Heaven, and I swear it in the sight of man, if I can but bring it to pass. Von Werner {The pedantic tone to be maintained in this speech.) This is unprecedented. Silence. We may be obliged to call upon the guard. This is scandal- ous. We must follow the proper course of the in- vestigation. Dr. Rohn I beg leave to interfere. We had reason to ex- ACT II 59 pect some such wilful exhibition on the part of the Count. I must ask that he be removed and placed in custody. I am ready to show that for some time his mind has been giving way. It is for this very cause that he was brought home from Paris. His talk is the wildest insanity. Countess Let me go, I cannot stay longer. Martanna Angels and ministers of grace look down upon us. Von Werner {Throughout with forced voice and extravagant gesticulation.) There must be order in the Court. The self accusations of the Count signify nothing. He is not now on trial nor is it our business to look into his Tightness of mind. We must allow the witness to go on. But let all see to it that we are not again disturbed. You agree with me? {To Von Sendlingen.) Von Sendlingen We must hear your story through, Victorine Lippert. Victorine What more have I to tell? It is soon finished. They became furious with me. I feared for my life and the life of my child. I was wretchedly ill, maddened, beside myself. The Count disappeared. They told me that he had gone to England to be wedded to some one in his own rank in life — what do men mean by rank in life? Count Henry Poor girl ! 6o THE JUDGE Victorine They drove me from the house, ailing as I was, drove me forth with scorn, with savage insults. They would not let me clothe myself properly. I had but an old shawl, worn and small, for my head, and nothing to wrap around me. Thinly clad as I was, they forced me out into the night and storm. They told me to betake myself to the first muck-heap, and bring my brat into the world there. The night was fearful. The winds were howling, and a wet snow was falling. Not a light anywhere. Some instinct led me to the wood. I found a place a little dryer than the rest. I fell down in frightful agony, I be- came wild, delirious. Then I knew nothing at all. When I opened my eyes, I found a woman and Miss Brandes beside me. They put the dead boy in my arms. If there were any finger marks on his neck, I know nothing of them. I cannot tell what happened in that night. I only know that I wanted to die and take my baby with me. Oh, your Honor, do you think that I could have hurt my little baby; I am guiltless of that! Countess Who will believe this trumped-up story, and from her whose mother — Victorine My mother ! She is a saint in Heaven. She looks down in pity on her child. I shall go to her soon, and she will fold me in her arms, and I shall forget, and peace will be mine once more. Countess Her mother! That person set her daughter a ACT II 6i worthy example. What could one expect in the child? The mother before her was a wanton. Victorine That is a lie — a base lie — an infamous lie — my mother is a saint in Heaven! Yes, I have told you all. I am ready to die, if you judge me to that. What men may think of me, a dying woman, has little import to me. God knows the truth. He knows that my story is true; I make no defense; but here in the very presence of death, it may be, I say that my mother was good and pure ; never was a mother better, never a woman purer. She trusted a villain in the form of a human being — and he must have been the worst of men to have abandoned her — but she was noble. I ask nothing for myself, but blame her not because I am unworthy. (Bursts into violent and hysteric weeping,) Count Henry Let me be heard in her behalf. Let me have an opportunity to corroborate her story, even though it tear me forever from those that I love and honor yet in spite of all. Fon Sendlingen Look at the accused! Terrible indeed it is to hear her. {Throughout the act Von Sendlingen has shown by face and gestures his extraordinary interest in the accused, and at this point his excitement and agita- tion are most marked.) Von Werner {In his exaggerated manner.) We must ad- journ this court. Nothing useful can be gained by prolonging these disgraceful scenes. 6a THE JUDGE Count Henry Will you not listen to mc? Von Sendlingen It is best to adjourn. {In a choking voice.) Von Werner (Assuming fully the airs of the sole master,) Lead away the prisoner. {IVhile they are doing so. Count Henry crosses the stage, and seizes Victorine by the hand. She allows him to take it, and they gaze each into the other s eyes a moment. The guard steps in between and Count Henry passes out rapidly.) Von Werner The examination is closed. I am afraid but little of value has come from it, but such use as can be made of it will be done. Countess (To Dr. Rohn.) Look after Henry. Dr. Rohn He has gone already. Countess May I ask assistance in taking my son into proper custody, so that he may not in his folly injure himself ? Von Werner (A little more in a normal manner, but stiffly and with command.) Such help as we can give is as a matter of course yours. (Countess, Marianna and Dr. Rohn leave the room.) What is the trouble, Von Sendlingen? Arouse yourself. You have been behaving strangely during most of the examination, and I saw that you ACT n 63 were far from recovered from your recent illness. It was therefore that I took so much upon myself. Von Sendlingen I owe you great thanks. Dernegg You appoint the trial for two weeks from today? Von Werner {Learnedly, and with the judicial mien.) I do not see any reason for delay. No attention can be given to the wild ravings of Count Henry. The young man's conscience is aroused, an unusual fact among his class. He must be looked after and pro- tected. His very remorse shows him to be the more worthy of it. The indiscretions of youth must not wholly cloud his future. The testimony of Miss Brandes and the village woman is clear as to the guilt of the Lippert girl. Things are very wrong in our world today, and we must not be too lenient. The Minister of Justice urges severity in cases of this kind. Dernegg Will the Baron preside at the trial? Berger Von Sendlingen — Von Sendlingen No, I am not well. Von Werner will do so. Von Werner {With ill-concealed pleasure.) I wish you an early improvement. {Von Werner and Dernegg pass out.) Berger What have you done? Placed the fate of your innocent child in the hands of that unthinking man! 64 THE JUDGE Von Sendlingen I could not do otherwise. I am a Judge as well as a father. Berger What a tragedy is all this! The good and noble are the ones who suffer in it all ! Were you willing to swerve from the prescribed path, what might you not gain ? Von Sendlingen Do you advise me to that? Berger No, but why should things be thus? Can we not find something to do? Does not a solution of this grief and difficulty exist, or are we greater and gentler in our thought than is the destiny which prevades the world? Von Sendlingen There are two worlds, George, the world of fate, and the world of will. They do not neces- sarily coincide. When this is the case, our wills may interfere and set affairs to rights, but if in so doing we offend against the purposes of fate, we must endure the consequences, whatever they may be. Berger Are law and right always coincident? Von Sendlingen Perhaps not. Berger You refuse to take upon yourself the presiding at the trial because a father should not intervene in a case affecting his daughter; but you place the trial in charge of a man who is sure to give prcce- ACT II 65 dency to the formal and technical. Have you the right to injure the right in the interest of the merely legal? Do you not thus enact a greater wrong by being true to the law, and bitterly false to the just and right? Von Sendlingen I will find a way out of the maze. Berger What do you mean? Vo7i Sendlingen Would that the hour might be spared me that will solve for you this riddle. You will some day echo the wish from your innermost heart, dear friend. Meanwhile a thousand thanks and good day. {Berger leaves. Von Sendlingen goes to his desk, unlocks a drawer, and takes out the rusted hunch of keys. He selects a small one, and looks at it intently.) Von Sendlingen I hold the key, indeed, and I shall not hesitate to use it when there is need. The Curtain Falls ACT III SCENE. — The library of Von Sendlingen as before. On the wall hangs a new and superb por- trait of the Judge in his Judge's robes. It is evening and the room is brilliantly lighted. Three months have passed. Brigitta enters leading Victorine. Brigitta How firm and strong and noble you were at the trial ! Victorine I had learned wisdom at my former ordeal. What a life has been mine! All other people seem able to give expression to their thoughts and feel- ings, and friends hang upon their words, and en- courage them with smiles to reveal what is going on within them. I, however, am forever thrust back upon myself. When I claim the usual rights ot everyone born into the world, I must at once suffer the direct punishment. Do you suppose it will be different up there? After I have gone through the chill and murky avenue which leads through death to light? Up there in the silver realms of peace, where my mother is waiting for me? Brigitta {Stroking her hair, and gazing at her fondly,) Child, it is indeed a strange and dreary night which engirds you, but I know that the bitterest part of it is past, and I see the quivering of morn- ing across the apparently moveless blackness. Take 66 Act 111 i^ heart, and do not sink from the height of simple courage on which you stood to the admiration of every one. Vicforine The morning comes, a flood of radiance, a morn- ing of forgiveness, a radiance of consolation, over there, on the other side of the dark weaves, v^^hich I so long to cross. Ah me! Why is young life so strong? I have had enough to break a dozen lives. But where is Count Henry? I have not dared to ask that question before, although it has been constantly on my lips. I had nearly died when he abandoned me, his sudden return was an unspeakable uplift. Has he again deserted me? His mother has won him away from me? Brigitta No, indeed. He has left his great home, and all their efforts to find him have been unavailing. Vtctorine Shall I see him again? Brigitta Yes, you^ shall certainly see him again. Victorine But why am I here? Why did you come in that mysterious way to my cell, and lead me forth through the prison yard, and that small scarce-seen gate in the wall? What do you want with me, a girl condemned to death for a heinous crime? Brigitta You were wrongfully condemned. The good Judge felt that a condemnation produced by Vort Werner, the pedant, could not be right. I am not versed in such affairs, but the letter of the law has been too strictly followed. 68 THE JUDGE Vicforine What then? What comes of that? And this strange release? This taking me out of my prison? Brigitta The good Judge has desired it. Appeals of all sorts to all sorts of courts have been made in your favor. Unfortunately they failed. The Minister of Justice has decided against you. Vicforine All this has been done for me? And wherefore? Brigitta In the interest of justice, and now the good Judge wishes to see you and you have been brought here. Victorine He is coming to see me? Oh, I remember him. He was so mild and full of sympathy for me. I had a strange and unaccountable feeling as I looked at him. Had I ever seen him before, do you suppose? Brigitta He has taken your misfortunes very much to heart. All the world knows him and loves him and honors him. Speak to him freely, he can be of much assistance to you. Victorine Let it be over, as soon as it may be. I only ask that his may be my last visit — save yours, Brigitta, do not let me lose you. I cannot endure any more. I shall evade their penalty. Death will come to me soon ; long before that fearful day arrives. I would much prefer to be alone, to make my peace with everything, and then to suffer no interruption. The good minister I can see and hear, he always leaves me calmer. You will pardon all this, and receive ACT III 69 such sincere and profound thanks as a poor girl like me can offer. Let the Baron come now, and then let me prepare for the end, which is not far off. {Throwing her arms around Brigitta.) You will stay with me during this interview, you must stay with me. Brigitta I believe that the Baron wishes to see you alone. He will be very kind to you and he has much to say to you. {Von Sendlingen appears at the door.) Thert now. {Kisses her.) Open up all your heart to him. {Embraces her again and passes out.) Von Sendlingen You are feeling much stronger, I hope, this morn- ing. Victorine I cannot echo that hope. I gladly find that I am getting weaker every hour. It will be over soon; I shall need no one's care very long; and I shall escape that — that last horror. Von Sendlingen My poor child, I know. But you are young, you must not lose hope. Heaven will interfere in your behalf. Victorine Heaven indeed. How long is it since Heaven took any care of the poor and miserable? Why bring into my mind the thought of pardon? That would be terrible. How should I re-enter life? It has neither need nor desire for women like me; but my agony will not be very long now. I shall leave this cell to rest in death. 70 trite juiiGE Fon Sendlingen Surely the physician has given you no such intima- tion. Victorine No one is to be blamed. I read it plainly enough in his face and eyes and unwillingness to answer my questions. Then the Minister with his many pre- cepts and warnings — Von Sendlingen Poor child, they have not been torturing you with their zealous anxieties for your spiritual welfare? Victorine Oh, no. With the abandonment of my moth- er in my memory, and my own fate before my eyes, it is hard to believe in a just and merciful power that rules the world and men. The good minister gives me such consolation as he can, but it is not by him that I am helped. I believe that there will be recovery somehow, somewhere, from all these ills. There was one thing, however, that the minister asked me, and he came back to it again and again, although I could give him but one answer. It tor- ments me yet to think of it. Von Sendlingen What may that have been, my child? Victorine You ask me about it, too. I cannot tell why I speak so freely to you. Yet I saw from the first that you meant to be kind to me. You were so different from the severe judge, who frowned upon me down from his great height of goodness. Then I am a poor dying girl, and you are older and gentle and wise. ACT III 71 Von Sendlingen I do not wish you to give yourself any needless anguish, but tell me what was it that the minister asked of you? Victorine He asked me whether there was any one to whom I cared to send a message, any friend that thought much of me, and I told him there was none. Von Sendlingen Not one? Victorine Oh, Count Henry, I suppose that I shall never see him again. Besides his mother says he is not well. The minister, though, persisted in asking me questions, and spoke to me of my^ — my father. Von Sendlingen And what did you answer him? Victorine He wished me to say that I forgave him. I must be in the right spirit before I enter Eternity: what answer could I give him? I told him that I did not know who my father was, my mother al- ways refused to mention the name, and I further told him that I scorned my father, that my misfor- tunes were made by my father, that I might pity, but should never be able to forgive my father. Von Sendlingen My child, do not forget the shadow in which we are standing. Say no bitter words. They cannot have a real place in your heart. What do you know of this man? Perhaps he was true and sore-bcset and forced by the bitterest of circum- 72 THE JUDGE stances to the course which it may have been a very living death for him to take. Victorine I know him; I need not have seen him for that. I understand his character, his high and noble name, his circumstances, his career that faithfulness to my mother would have interfered with. I know him from the lips of my mother, the saintliest and purest of women. Once only she spoke to me, "Had he been of light and frivolous mind," she said, "I might have forgiven him; had he been one of the mere pleasure-loving crew, I might have blamed my own folly and overlooked his sin, but he was strong and earnest and thoughtful. Life to him was no mere game to be played lightly; young as he was, he had penetrated somewhat into its mean- ing. His abandonment of me was, therefore, no mere impulse of the moment ; it was the cool calcu- lating decision of one who took into account all points of view. He left me because I should hav^ been a hindrance to his success." So she spoke to me, and what am I to think of him? Her death— and my murder — be upon his head! May he meet the full reward of his deed! I only dare not say that I hate his very memory. Von Sendlingen Unsay that word! You are not aware of the wrong that you are doing. There is much to be told you, and many extenuating circumstances to bt unfolded to you. Do not be wrathful. He has suffered even as you and your mother have suffered. He would make expiation by all ways that He in his power. Name, rank, fortune, honorable recogni- tion of genuine work done for his fcllow-mcn, he ACT III 73 would give all to learn that In some way he could undo the miserable past, he could upbuild a dwell- ing for those he has wronged, he could yield up his life to make atonement. Fictorine Who authorizes you to say all this to me? Have you come from him? Has he sent you here? In this hour to look upon the last effect of his act, the last poisonous flower that has grown from the root of his pleasure? Do you know him? Why did he not come himself? My mother was his lawful wife; why did he abandon her? Fon SendUngen What have I said? Did I tell you that I knew your father ? I was but constructing a possible case ; — you must be willing, child, to forgive as you hope yourself to be forgiven. Your life has been, indeed, an unhappy one, but why allow yourself to indulge in such bitterness of feeling? You have made your peace, you have pardoned, you have no more hatred for any one; surely not for him whose punishment will be direful, I am certain, who doubtless would be willing to take your place here if he only could. Fictorine Ask me to pardon or forgive? Who has looked on me with mercy or kindliness? What was the fate of my poor mother? Fon SendUngen Surely life holds nothing better than this, to for- give injuries, and to pardon offenses, however great. As for me, I would that I might put myself in your place. I would that I might exchange everything 74 THE JUDGE with you, my past with yours, my experiences with yours, my joys and loves with yours. I would gladly assume all, have suffered all, be weighed down with all, rather than stand where I do now. Fictorine These are empty words. Why do you come here to torment me with these strange and inexplicable speeches ? Fon Sendlingen I pray you will pardon me. You cannot think me so vain and cruel as to be here without full re- gard for your welfare and betterment. I know that you arc pure and innocent — pure — like your mother — ^who looks down upon you and me — ^who blesses you — and — and — Fictorine What can you have known of her? Encircle me as you will with your mist of words, but do not touch her. Fon Sendlingen Listen to me. I have hitherto shrunk from making myself entirely clear. I should have known that the simple truth is always the best, always gives help and life and light. I do know youi father. I come from him. I wish to receive from you the assurance that you will not be too harsh in your view of him, that you will consent to see him. His has been no ignoble life; whatever his youthful sins, he has sought to undo them; men speak of him in high and endearing terms. Fictorine I have suspected that such was your errand. No, I must not sec him. I think that my mother loved ACT III 75 him to the last, even though she spoke bitterly ot him to me. It was but once that she did so, and then she was overcome by illness and sorrow. She asked me not to despise him, but how could I do otherwise ? Von Sendlingen Your mother judged him aright. He left her not out of weakness, not out of frivolous disre- gard for deep and real relations, but just as little out of cold and calculating consideration of worldly claims and dignities. He was held by no mere external constraint, but by a deeper and more in- ward pressure of his bringing up, of his convictions, of his view of manhood and the life around him, in which he, too, would have to bear his part. Victorine The part of a rich and petted darling, the part of one of those who have everything made easy for them, for whom all the rewards are gathered and waiting, while we, my mother and I, belong to the unhappy poor, who draw no breath without hard- ship, whose life is a something permitted us by those needing us, and who are to wear the thorny crown of shame and destruction at the last. No one with a heart ever made this world ; it could only have been a God who forgot everything save his own pleasure. Just as that man — my father — for- sooth, — did, fit scion of nobility and power; — and will you explain to me why he never in the slight- est degree gave himself any care about his child? Von Sendlingen He did not know that a child of his was alive. 76 THE JUDGE Victorine What is that you say? Von Sendlingen Furthermore, I can assure you, had the knowledge come to him by whatsoever way or accident that you, his child, were alive and struggling with the bitter fate that here confronts us, he would never have rested until he had drawn you to his breast, until in his home, in his arms, he had shielded you from every conflict with want and wrong and the hardness of men. Victorine {Gloomily.) What have I to do with it? If he is filled to the brim with pain, it is but his just punishment. What have not we, my mother and I, borne, and all through him. Von Sendlingen Would you not spare him a single pang? Victorine I do not know how to answer you. I wish no one any ill, I have not sunk so low as that, not even Marianna, who has lied about me at this time when my life is at stake. If he is such a man as you say that he is, he must now be filled with a remorse at which I shudder; yet can his agony be no greater than mine, and my fault is not measurable with his, nor does he repent with the sacrifice of his life and his honor. Von Sendlingen Perchance with both. Victorine I will not hear it! It does not concern me! I will not have you rob me of my feeling against ACT III 77 that man! You ask me to fail in justice to my mother; he suffers as he ought, and that is enough! Von Sendlingen You are right, and you are just, above all, just! You are capable of largeness of spirit, you above all women, you can forgive this worst of sinners and criminals. Victorine Did he send you to make this request for him ? Von Sendlingen Will you deny him even that poor privilege? Victorine I deny him nothing; yet he might have been sure that I should feel thus toward him. Von Sendlingen He did not think that you would be so hard to him. Victorine Did he not? He thinks, perhaps, that all will be forgiven him because he wishes to overwhelm the guilty, the condemned woman, with the honor of a visit. This is the noble, the deep-feeling man! Von Sendlingen You wrong him! You wrong him! Victorine I will not see him, I cannot see him ! Keep him away from me! Von Sendlingen I cannot promise that. Victorine This too I must bear! It is too much! I can- not hear another word! 78 THE JUDGE Von Sendlingen His life, his reason, depends upon it! Victorine I wish nobody's death, I wish nobody's harm! I would have him live if he yet cares to live! I forgive him ! Almighty God in Heaven, strengthen me,, I forgive him, but I cannot see him! Von Sendlingen There is one privilege that you can grant him. You can let him link his fate with yours. You can let him enter into the feelings of your heart, and live with you the breath which you draw. You can let him make the sacrifice which he longs to make, to throw off the adventitious garb of worldly successes which he is clothed withal, and take upon himself the toil which is too much for you, the toil of restoring to you all of which you have been de- prived, and which belongs to you of right, to take upon himself a father's real task, the building around you of a world which will enable you to think and act as you ought, to overthrow the hos- tility which has met you from the first, and to assure to you the attainment of what your young heart sees and seeks. Grant him this, Victorine. Victorine I want for nothing. I am prepared for the death that is so close at hand. Von Sendlingen If that dark hour should come, his place is at your side, his hand should be in yours; his right is to share every gloom which belongs to your peril, and every hope which accompanies your possible rescue. ACT III 79 Victortne How you disturb and trouble me ! Perhaps what you wish is best. Of what avail are any doubts or tumults of mine, the last glimmerings of thoughts and emotions which fleet through the soul of a con- demned girl? I have been very weak and yielding, and my strength cannot resist any more; wronged as I and mine have been, trampled into the dust as all our most precious longings have been, miserable as has been the cup which the world has given us to drink, I would not add to the horror of my existence by any needless harshness even to him. Let it be as you ask. Von Sendlingen God be thanked for that, and you, my child, a thousand times, you, my child, my child — Victortne What is this thought that gleams through my brain — you, you — Von Sendlingen Yes, Victorine, I am your — Victorine Father? Father? Von Sendlingen Come to me, my daughter, let me clasp you in these arms that have so hungered to hold you. Let my heart beating against your heart, know itself permitted to work for and help you, Victorine. Victorine Shelter and guardianship I need very much from the world, from myself, from my memories, from my — father? father? 8o THE JUDGE Von Sendlingen You are mine now as you should have been always? Victorine Whatever comes will find me strong to face and endure it. Take comfort to yourself, but, believe me, I say it with what is almost my dying breath, I am innocent except for the misery of having loved too much. Von Sendlingen I know it, my child. It is the cruel law, that, having been brought into existence to secure the right, through its own weakness, brings to pass the bitterest wrong. But it shall not do it. I will save you though I tear the fabric of the law in pieces with these very hands. My child, my daugh- ter. Victorine Father. {She sinks into his outstretched arms. He pas- sionately covers her face, her neck, her hair with kisses.) Von Sendlingen (Calls,) Brigitta — Brigitta. (Brigitta enters.) There you are now. Go take my daughter away. I shall not have her long. Prepare her for every- thing. (Embraces Victorine.) There is much to be told you and to be arranged. Come back soon, Brigitta. (Victorine and Brigitta pass out. The Judge silently paces back and forth. In a few mo- ments, Brigitta returns.) Brigitta There is no one in the house but ourselves. ACT III 81 Von Sendlingen I must act then quickly. What a thing is this for me to do, Brigitta? Brigitta All will come out right. You are acting for the best, as always. She is brave and firm; she is resting now, and seems stronger than I supposed. Everything will go well. Von Sendlingen I hope so, — but with me. {A knock, Brigitta passes out and returns with Berger.) Berger It has stopped raining at last. You look a lit- tle white, Brigitta. I cannot wonder at that. The life of so many years is broken, and changes arc always trying. {Brigitta bows to him and leaves,) You are quite ready for the evening, dear friend, I hope. I shall expect you to stand firm tonight as you have done so long, and then we will look out for the future. Von Sendlingen I am thinking of that future. Berger How much you have to endure, Victor, and how nobly you are doing it. Von Sendlingen Could a more unfortunate complication be imagined, George? Could a more diabolic fate be invented against any man? And she is innocent, Marianna Brandes perjured herself. Berger Yes, the death penalty could only have been brought about by a Judge so narrow as Von Wern- er. Then the uproar among the people, the dread 82 THE JUDGE of possible revolutionary excesses among them, steels the heart of the Minister of Justice, and the final appeal is denied save for the granting of a few months' reprieve to give the sick girl a little more strength. Von Sendlingen That seems a piteous mockery, docs it not? The mere prolongation of her agony; it may turn out very different from the Minister's expectations. In spite of all care of the doctor and myself, she gains very slowly, and she may slip through our grasp at any moment. Berger A consummation, perhaps, devoutly to be prayed for. Von Sendlingen No, that would be the last verge of cruelty; an innocent woman should be saved. Berger Fortunately there is yet time. The emperor — Von Sendlingen The emperor? Do you forget the terrible affair of the attempted assassination? What can be done with the Emperor in his wounded and angered con> dition? That ruffian's assault upon him seemed to me like a bolt of vengeance from the very heavens. Just as I was on the point of making a personal appeal, was going to tell him all, and intercede for her and for me, that villain wounds him as he is riding through the street. That takes away the last hope. Everything has been tried and ever3rwhere the same inexpugnable opposition confronts us. Now my term of office here is ended and I must be away ACT III 83 to another city. It is thus that one is forced to the last desperate act. (J knock. B?'igitta crosses the roonij and Dern- egg and Von Werner enter, Brigitta passes out again as she had come in.) Von Werner {He is elaborately dressed. He is dignified to the point of absurdity. He speaks with the most pompous of exaggerations.) It has cleared up rapid- ly, and, while the streets are rather muddy, yet nothing now will interfere with the several torch- light processions. We left one marshalling a short distance below. ( Goes to a glass to adjust his neck- tie.) Dernegg The town has never been so stirred to its depths. You can look upon the approval of your life In this community as one of the rewards, perhaps, to be expected, but none the less gratifying when it comes. We lose the best Judge in all Austria; but your crowning career is opening to you; your promotion is another step on the way, not a long one, to the highest place of all. Von Sendlingen You are both of you very kind as is also my good Berger to come so early, and give me the honor of your company to the hotel, where the processions are to be viewed, and afterward the banquet occurs. And now I recall another matter, George, did you engage a room for me? I shall need some change of dress after the banquet, if I take the late train for Vienna. 84 THE JUDGE Berger All has been seen to ; I have engaged for you the small room which you have had before. The ho- telkeeper told me that it was the one which you always used. It has a door opening on an inner staircase and a hallway but little traversed, so that you can make your final escape to your carriage with- out encountering any interruptions. Von Sendlingen Yes, that is right. There are always on these occasions so many farewells to be said, that one never knows when he can tear himself loose from them, and I must on no account fail to make my train tonight. Berger Is it not about time for us to go? Dernegg There is no need of haste. The Judge looks tired, and not very well. Surely you have recov- ered your health fully? Von Sendlingen I am afraid not, and I imagine that I never shall. The trouble is a serious one. The physicians seem little able to reach it, and I allow for that reason no new ambitions to enter my mind; who knows when the end may come? It is nearer than any of us thinks. {Shouts are heard outside gradually coming near- er.) Dernegg That is the band of workingmen, headed by John Novyrok; they are coming here, I believe. They wish to make a presentation to the Baron. ACT III 85 Dernegs Prepare yourself for their laudations. {There is a knock. Brigitta appears. After a pause Novyrok comes with a committee of working- men. Franz also enters and stands at one side with Brigitta. Novyrok advances: he places on the ta- ble a loving cup,) Von Sendlingen You are most welcome, friends. This evening would have been lacking in one of its most essential features to me, if I had not met you here. I have endeavored to understand the point of view from which you see things, and I have sympathized with many of your hopes and plans. The difficulties in the way are serious and manifold, but the light of the new and noble shines clearly upon you from below the horizon. The organizations of states and societies have set too much value upon external and adventitious matters of wealth and descent. They will feel the gradual breath and life of regeneration all through them, and they will give permanent effect to that alone, which is of genuine worth — the achievements of the high and just human will. From that standpoint all artificial distinctions fall away, and every man is honorable, and every man is the whole of life, and the whole commonwealth. Wc must, however, have no violence, we must let the God of History take his own time, wc must watch for the hints which He gives, and set out feeble hands to His work, and we may be sure that the end will surpass all human expectations and imag- inings. 86 THE JUDGE Novyrok We are here to give our thanks to you who have been to us a friend in so many ways. The good God above, the God of History, as you finely call him, seems sometimes to us to have fallen asleep, and no doubt the work he has to do is very wearing, and he needs rest like others, who are always trying to do good, and are so often failing; yet I do not entirely agree with my friends, who find unhappi- ness to be the lot of the poor, and a great joy to be the lot of the rich. Each has his own sort of mis- ery, and neither is on the road that leads to what is worth most for all. We must act for ourselves, for the days when the powers above stood ready to help have gone forever. Yet you have been a helper to us, you have not feared to speak out what was in your heart, you have taken us by the hand, and brought us out of many and severe trials. So now we are here to give our thanks for your many ser- vices to us. Von Sendlingen What has been done, good friends, has been too little to bring about much change in your condition for the better, and such improvement is so much to be sought. Novyrok (Holding up the loving cup.) You see this vessel. If you think that it is made of silver, you are greatly mistaken. It is covered only with a thin wash that will wear off in a very short time. It has cost very little indeed, and even then, perhaps, we have paid more for it than it is worth; but this small sum has been so divided that three hundred ACT III 87 workingmen have united in paying it, and express through this slight thing their feelings toward you. If it may be as they wish, the bread which you will eat in the future will be sweetened by the thought of the many to whom your life has given hope and help, and the savor that will be all through your meals will be the memory, that many and many poor and troubled workmen, at morn or noon oi night, when they gather round their tables, scantily served though they be, will have in their minds, and arouse in the hearts of their wives and children, the thought that, whoever has deserted them, the angels and the sleeping God, you have ever been true and just to them. Von Sendlingen George, this is too much. ( Von Werner steps forward, rubs his hands, and gazes on the workingmen with immense sternness. Von Sendlingen gently puts him aside.) Novyrok We know very well what we shall ask for you in return for what you have done for us. A happy life and a glad heart to you and to all who are deai to you. Yet wishes are but weak, and we can do nothing in your behalf although each of us would give of his blood and breath to further you, and prayers we find receive answers only slowly. There- fore, we can but say: When you are tried, and at odds with the world, think of us and your soul will grow lighter. You will say to yourself : I have lifted these people out of their sorrow, I have borne for them as much of their burden as I could; and your eyes will grow clearer, and your sun will cast 88 THE JUDGE off the clouds that threaten to overwhelm it. For I believe that this is the truest comfort that anyone can have in this poor and mistaken earth. Thanks from us all, for you are good and honorable, what you do is well done, and wrong cannot touch you. Thanks again and again. Fon Sendlingen {Grasping him by the hand.) Blessings upon you and all who toil and look for the harvest thai is surely coming. I receive your cup and shall al- ways prize it among my chief possessions, and when I drink from it with my friends we shall think of you and how to help you. ( The workingmen press around Von Sendlingen and shake hands with him as they pass out.) Von Sendlingen Get my coat, Franz. So, dear Franz, you are to have a short rest too. You will go tonight to your friends in the country. Well, I have told you all that is necessary; and in about ten days you return. Be sure you take every care of your- self, and think of nothing except how you are free from every obligation save the one to be good to yourself. For a few days, my dear fellow, goodby. You have been so near to me for so many years that I never know how I can get on without you when I am away from you. Goodby. And you too, Brigitta. (Shakes hands with both. The gentlemen go out.) Brigitta Every one is doing his best to honor him. The great processions, the banquet, the speeches, the pre- ACT III 89 sentatlon of this picture, the letters from all over the country, show the esteem in which he is held. The good and much-suffering man. Franz Now there is something that I ought to know. I have been his man for over twenty years, and he talks about everything with me, in the way I like. This time, though, he says nothing. He is strange and tired. He eats nothing at all ; he sits in his chair and thinks and thinks; when I speak to him, he wakes up out of a sleep, as it were. He wanders around at night. Once I saw him in the yard looking for the old door in the wall next the prison. It was past twelve o'clock and the snow was falling. I was ready for him. I thought of the time Mr. Berger brought him home half-dead and delirious. Tell me, Brigitta, what is it anyhow? Brigitta You are the best of men, Franz, and you will have a good time in the country. Tonight you know the Baron goes to Vienna on business after the great banquet. You have a key to the house so that you can get in when you return. Franz Yes, so it goes. Well, I see that I am to be left out for this time. It hurts me after long service to be treated so. I must be on my way. May all be well with him. You, too, are going away on business of your own. I shall not be here for a long time. Or are you never coming back? Goodby, Brigitta. Brigitta Goodby, Franz. It will be a long time before I shall see you again. Every day we have been 90 THE JUDGE together for all these years, and now we are to separate. Think well of us all, dear Franz. We have understood your devotion and loved you. {He gets as far as the door; she calls hirrij and takes both his hands.) Goodby, Franz, goodby. {Franz leaves. She seats herself. A double knock — evidently a signal previously agreed on.) So, he has come. {She hastens from the room, and returns in a mo- ment with Count Henry.) Count Henry Everything is prepared and in order. Seine streets away I have left the carriage in an obscure place. The night is gloomy, and the tumult in the principal streets is all in our favor. How does she bear it? Has she gained strength of late? Brigitta She is of the nature that meets an emergency with the power of dealing with it that it calls for. She is frail, however, and, when we are far away, she will be in some danger of a relapse. I would we were already on the broad rolling ocean. Count Henry You will be as a mother to her, and it cannot be that after so much suffering and hardship, after such terrible atonement, the heavens will not relent and give us some hours of tranquility; but bring her to me. Let me see her and hear her speak. Is every- thing ready for the departure? Brigitta What preparations we have been able to make are over. The few belongings that we can take with us are below, where we can lay easy hands on ACT III 91 them. The Baron has arranged affairs so that he can excuse himself from the banquet early — he is very ill. He goes to his private room, whence he can slip away unseen, and he will be with us. No one will miss him. He returns to the banquet, and from thence to Vienna by the late train. Count Henry Bring her at once, Brigitta, bring her to me. (She passes out and returns in a few moments. Vic- torine walks behind her slomly and gravely. She is in elegant traveling attire.) Brigitta I have some last things to arrange below, and will look out besides for the Baron. All your wraps and mine, Victorine, are also there. {Passes.) Count Henry The hour has come at last when we can clasp hands, and feel that no power on earth or in heaven can sunder us again. You look grave and strange; see, I am awaking out of a slumber, as it were, that has seemed like death. Outside it is yet winter, but it will not be long before milder winds and clearing skies will call down into the earth, and the life teeming there will spring up anew to greet the in- creasing sunlight. For us, also, Victorine, begins a new life, a new experience, a new joy. Victorine I cannot yet wholly free myself from the chill and the gloom wherein I have been dwelling. I seem like one riding in the night along the verge of a viewless precipice; down below I hear the hoarse voice of the stream dashing over the rocks and steeps ; behind me I perceive I know not what of danger, 92 THE JUDGE eager to pluck me back into the grief and doom. I am strong, Henry, and fear can never again come near me — how should I fear after all that I have borne — but yet I would that my part in this play were well over. Count Henry Think of the new life that waits in a new land, under a new and warmer sun, with new friends. Once out of the shadow of these horrible walls, and far away from the misjudging people, we can clasp hands more firmly than we do now, look deeper each into the other's eyes, and see opening before us the paths of happiness. Victorine But the past that will haunt me, the dread in which I may have to live, the joyousness that seems a dark flower plucked from the grave, and embody ing in strangeness of form and hue so many tears and sobs and sins. Count Henry Throw away these evil fancies and bewilderments. I shall be at your side. Oh, forgive me that I ap- peared even for a moment to have been led away from you. You will trust me, for every wrong you have endured I will see that a delight comes to fill up its place, for every deed which they say you have done and call strange and mysterious I will take it upon me to make requital. The woman shall not stand alone as the vain and senseless world has hitherto placed her; in the new world we begin the new life; in joyance and certitude the man be- side the woman who loves him, in night and gloom the man bearing the burden with her, toiling up the ACT III 93 steep with her, catching from the glow that shines first in her eyes the glory re-arisen and replenish- ing the gladdening air and answering vault of the heavens. Victorine My lover and my husband! Count Henry We shall have joy, bliss, heaven. Victortne No, we shall have calm, duty, forgiveness. Our bond is not wholly like that of others; at least not until the benediction of a nobler inner life, and generous deeds to all mankind, comes to us with its healing out of the skies. We are to be to each other guides to strength and purity, we must not ask that our steps shall be along walks bordered with flowers, we must not demand that the air shall be filled with perfumes for our delight; our meai and drink shall be patience and unwearied well- doing; it shall be ours to hunt out the oppressed and misguided, to bring solace where the day wears no smile, to join our small power to the force which is making man the image and the vessel of the all-renovating love. Oh we shall not ask for joy nor ecstasy, but for whatever comes with the fact that our hearts are pure and that our hands are held forth to all who may need them. Count Henry I shall be most myself when I am with you in the doing of any act, however small, that is per- meated with this spirit which is your inmost heart and hope. (Folds her in his arms. The bell rings twice sharply and distinctly.) 94 THE JUDGE Brigitfa {Entering.) He has returned. {Exit and in a moment Von Sendlingen appears with her,) Von Sendlingen You are together at last. {Takes Count Henry by the hand, and then embraces Victorine,) I have you only for so short a time, my daughter; I deserved better of the world. I should have had the happiness of bringing you up, of treasuring your early laughter, and your quaint baby fears; and now that you have come to me through so much sorrow, I must give you up; but you will think of me always, and well. Victorine Dear father, it cannot be long before you will be with us? Von Sendlingen I hope not, child. I shall resign that new post. I want no more honors and dignities. I want only rest and forgiveness. But time hastens — Count Henry Do not allow yourself to be troubled for us, father, my own precautions have been adequate. We shall be rich in that far land, that noble land in the southern seas. Von Sendlingen And you, Brigitta, you shall not suffer for the great sacrifice which you make for mine and mc. Good Brigitta, it is hard to leave behind all the associations which must be so much to you, and I can never thank you enough. You have been a noble friend to us all. Be assured that no harm can come to you for what you are doing, and if our best ACT in 95 love and care can repay you, they shall be yours in stintless abundance. Brigitta I ask for nothing. I have tried to do w^hat I thought right. I feel calm and strong, and the fu- ture does not trouble me. Fon Sendltngen And you, Count Henry, can I trust my child to you? Count Henry I will care for her as I do for my own soul. Von Sendltngen See, I have this ring. It mv^s given to me by your mother, Victorine. It shall be a symbol of union between you, it shall forever heal the breach which has brought such sorrow and disaster into so many lives. {He gives it to Count Henry, who in his turn places it on Victorine's finger. They stand with clasped hands.) You have been sorely tried, but may the years bring to you that true en- joyment which comes from deep-hearted allegiance to the right, to man, and to God. So all is done. And now we have small time for parting words. Good-by, Brigitta, best and truest of friends. ( They shake hands. Brigitta bursts into tears and goes out.) My son, you have shown yourself a man, whose like I see not anywhere. Be strong in the future as in the past. My Victorine, I shall hear from you soon. There, do not weep. These eyes have shed too many tears already. I can hardly bear to let you go, but it must be. I shall hear from you soon. There, take her, Henry. One more em- brace. God protect both of you, farewell, farewell. 96 THE JUDGE ( They pass out, and after a short pause the shutting of the door is heard. He falls into a chair. The rest is in the manner of a person speaking to himself in a half delirium.) That is over. My heart hurts terribly. Great God, what is this strange feeling that comes over me now? {He sinks back half- fainting.) No, I must arouse myself, or all will be lost. So, I am getting better, I feel relieved. {Stands with some difficulty.) I will not fail now, I must return to the banquet. {Masters himself with great effort.) Now I can go. {Pauses be- fore the portrait.) The perfect Judge — what am I now? I shall atone, I shall atone. They shall re- member not what I am, but what I was, what I ought to be! {He prepares to put out the lights. The cries are heard again: *'Long live the just Judge! The perject Judge/* He trembles and shrinks together with agony.) The Curtain Falls ACT IV SCENE. — Library of Von Sendlingen. He comeS in a dressing gown, and seats himself. He looks very ill, feeble and old. Two weeks have elapsed. Franz {Enters and places a letter on the table.) Do you need me? Von Sendlingen ( Tearing open the envelope and reading raven- ously.) No, not at present. {A knock. Franz passes out. Berger enters.) Berger You are stronger today, Victor, I see it in youi eyes. Von Sendlingen No, you are mistaken ; I shall never be any better. Pray hand me that taper. Now light it for me. So, that is well. {He holds the letter in the flame, and watches it consume with eager eyes. Berger looks upon him with inexpressible wonder and grief. ) Berger You appear very anxious to dispose of that trifle. Von Sendlingen The papers accumulate so. I have been burning letters and dispatches ever since I returned. What a rubbish heap the past builds up around us! Every once in awhile we must take an account of stock, and dispose of the refuse in some way. This letter 97 9^ THE JUDGE tells me only that all is well, that a work in which I have been engaged has succeeded, that the wrong will be undone, that those who need it will be made happy at last. Berger Will you not learn to let the dead past bury its dead? And yet it confronts us just now with more than its usual vigor. Has any information arrived? Is there any light on the unaccountable disappear- ance? Von Sendlingen She has vanished as though she had never been. I am left all alone again, even my agony does not find it desirable to house with me. I am strangely free from pain or anxiety. But I shall pass soon, and I am not eager to linger much longer. Berger Tut, tut! You expect Von Werner this morn- ing? He is wild with grief, such as he can feel, over the inauspicious opening of his term of office. Von Sendlingen Yes, he ought to be here now. I am sorry for him. The strange man, whose limitations are so apparent, and who in so much is but a half-develop- ed child. I should expect him to wail and even tear his hair, but he will not suffer much longer, and it is to be hoped that he will through this untoward matter gain a little wisdom, which will be all the better for others and for him. Berger Victor, you terrify me. I am torn by doubts and agitations that I dare not express even to my- self. Victor, if the ordeal through which you have been has — Act IV 9$ Fon Sendlingen No, George, be seated again, and do not peer into the outer darkness which only a few ghosts of re- flected lamplight illumine. If ever man had a friend, true, tried, loving, sacrificing, I have had him in you. Trust me to the end, it will not be long. {A knock. Von Werner enters. He looks forlorn and amazed. He maintains his extravagant r.ianner with difficulty; every now and then he breaks down and almost whimpers, then recovers himstlf suddenly, and gazes about to see if anyone has observed him.) Ah, Von Werner, you are come just in the nick of time; Berger is here. The pres- ence of both of you is especially welcome this morn- ing; but where is Dernegg? Von Werner Important business took him away from the city. (Pauses and stares.) I hope you are able to stand the rigor of an interview? {Whimpers.) Von Sendlingen Vienna does not agree with us old fellows any more. Time was when we could hold our own with anybody, but it is past. Berger We shall see you Minister of Justice yet. Von Werner {With a terrified solemnity.) You are aware that the great official has arrived, and that he will be here shortly to make some interrogatories, are you not? Von Sendlingen The sooner, the better. 100 THE JUDGE Von Werner {Stands up as if he would like to go.) A post- ponement to the afternoon is possible, if you will be stronger then. Von Sendlingen No, we will get to the end this morning. Berger I should advise this course. Von Werner {Rises and strides about, groans and almost weeps.) Thanks, thanks. It is a terrible misfor- tune with which I assume the office so honored by you. What can I do about it? You will stand by me, and keep any and every reflection from my good name? What could I do about the escape? {Lays hand on Von Sendlingen.) Von Sendlingen Nothing, my good friend; console yourself; who could for a moment blame you? It will all be made plain in due time, be patient. {A knock. Franz ushers in the Minister of Justice. The Min- ister seats himself.) Minister It is a most calamitous circumstance which comes under my observation here. Have you any ex- planations to offer? Von Werner {Eagerly and with sudden and ludicrous assump- tion of his old manner.) None. The whole affaii verges on the miraculous. The doors seem to have been opened from within, they were locked again after the fugitive had released herself, and the final flight must have been taken throught a small postern ACT IV loi In an inner wall. She could hence easily reach the street, and this house was wholly deserted on that night, It being the occasion of a banquet to the Baron. It is a riddle to which no answer is forth- coming. Minister Have the necessary precautions been taken to secure the prisoner in case of her discovery? Fon Werner {With increasing vigor and many gestures,) All that is possible has been done, but she is lost to view as if she had never been. This beginning of my incumbency is a terribly disastrous one. Minister One cannot discover any failure on your part. There is no reason for the overestimating of this shadow so far as you are concerned. A properly exonerating statement can be made public officially. Von Werner Thanks, thanks. (Shakes hands with the min- ister. Gazes about triumphantly.) Minister (To Von Sendlingen.) You seem to be in a very disturbed condition of health? Von Sendlingen I do not believe that it will much longer be a question of health with me. Minister A short rest and a sojourn in a warmer climate will bring you around. We have too much need of you to be willing to think otherwise. idi THE JUDGfi Von Sendlingen You may, perhaps, change your views when you hear what I shall take this opportunity of saying to you. Minister Leave it to some better time, you are now too much agitated. Von Sendlingen It must come now, or not at all. Minister Proceed, then. Berger This is the atonement, the expiation. I under- stand it all. Von Sendlingen I shall come to the heart of my communication at once. I do not wish that this upright and honor- able man {to Von Werner ivho nods and bows and smiles vacantly) should know another moment of anxiety. It is of Victorine Lippert and her mys- terious disappearance that I wish to speak. Von Werner {With excitement, stands and crosses his hands on his breast.) I always felt that you would do for me all that lay in your power. Minister Proceed. There may be other things of equal con- sequence with your vindication. Von Werner. {Von Werner subsides rapidly.) Von Sendlingen In the first place I must state that the unhappy girl was my own daughter, and that her release from prison was effected by me. I sent her away in the care of my housekeeper, Brigitta. ACT IV 103 All Your daughter, you set her free, you obtained her release — the jailer! the jailer! Von Sendlingen No, no, the jailer is as innocent as any one of you. I was the only one who effected this crime. I am at your disposal. I await the consequences of my confession. Minister You are not well, you are mad! Von Sendlingen No I am clearer in my intelligence than ever I was. I see with the unclouded sense of a dying man, I am a criminal and I deliver myself up to justice. Berger Victor I am here at your side. You bewilder me, but I shall always be near you in your time of trial. Von Sendlingen Best of friends! Minister That girl your daughter! Von Sendlingen My daughter. The story is a long one, and cannot now be told. It may be hereafter. Minister But why resort to these desperate means? Were no others at hand ? Von Sendlingen None. She was condemned to die. It was a judicial murder. She was innocent of the crime charged to her. Von Werner The judges were nearly unanimous. The higher I04 THE JUDGE court affirmed the decision. The evidence against her was conclusive. Minister You did not preside at the trial ? Von Sendlingen It was a conflict between my sense of right and love of my child, intensified by knowledge of her great misfortune. I suppressed my love for her with what strength lay in me, and allowed my feeling of obligation to the law to gain the victory. She was condemned on evidence that I shall be able to show was inconclusive. The chief testimony in her favor was thrown out on purely technical grounds. She is innocent. The thought came to me: Against this wrong only another wrong can bring to pass the right. Minister A fearful dilemma. Von Sendlingen Even so. Yet I came to this conclusion only as the last resort of desperation. She was condemned. I could free her only by committing a crime. I re- volted therefrom. My whole life was arraigned against me. Then came to me the awful conflict. Should she die or I? Should she pass out of the world a criminal or I? The verdict was not alone pronounced upon her, it was pronounced upon me. Had I the strength to take this criminality upon my- self? I shuddered upon this verge for a long time, but I felt that, when the limitations put upon a man by destiny were too great for him to bear, he had the right to free himself by any way whatsoever. I ex- ercised this right, gave life to her, and surrender myself to the law. ACT IV 105 Minister Why were these facts not brought to me before in time to prevent all this? Fon Sendlingen My affiliations with the working people had, as you will remember, put me out of favor with your- self. Minister But the emperor — a personal appeal to him? Von Sendlingen The attack upon his life and his long illness frus- trated that, just as I had reached Vienna for that very end. Minister What a tragedy! Von Sendlingen I am in your hands. Minister The case demands the deepest consideration. The struggle between the love of a father for his child, and that reverence for the law which seems to be the inmost principle of your nature, must have been a most severe one. Von Werner I must beg that I shall be wholly left out of the necessity of any dealing with the case. I am utterly broken down with the mere recital, and old friend- ship would make me powerless to manage it. {Stares around and mutters incoherently.) Berger I shall take the Baron's defense in hand at once. Von Sendlingen I do not desire any defense, I absolutely refuse all defense. My act in the eyes of the law is wholly io6 THE JUDGE indefensible, whatever it may be before that higher law which so imperfectly and inadequately expresses itself in any human institutions. I can only be punished, and for punishment I place myself at tht disposal of the authorities. Between my child's judicial murder, and my own disgrace, I choose the latter. Minister No so simple a settlement is possible. Innumer- able considerations have been left out of your view. In the passion of the moment, and in the heat of your action, you could see but a little way before you. For the present you must remain here in your own rooms, but under the supervision of the new judge. Your word of honor not to transgress this regulation is needful. Von Sendlingen I give it. Von Werner {PFith staring eyes and real horror.) I beg you, I entreat you, leave me out of this strange aflFair. Minister How can you expect to be left out? Was not the girl convicted by you? Von Werner {His artificial manner collapses gradually and visibly. The veneer rubs off. He is terribly ex- cited, and his voice breaks into strange cadences. Many gestures.) My brain is in a whirl. I have always clung to the closest interpretation of the law, and, if I have been wrong in this most im- portant case of my life, I feel that it will take me some time to fathom the thoughts that arc storming within mc. ACT IV 107 Minister I shall at once make a complete re-investigatlon. I shall go over the evidence and the whole pro- cedure, and should my conclusions coincide with yours, Von Sendlingen, an interview with the Em- peror will soon lead you out of this labyrinth. The further pursuit of the young woman will cease for the present, let this be managed judiciously, inas- much as she can doubtless be produced if we shall have any need of her. I shall wish to confer with you, Berger. Berger As you please. Von Sendlingen I am entirely at a loss. I do not apprehend. I can allow no infringement of the law. Minister All shall be duly arranged with every regard to the proper interpretation of all legal provisions. Von Sendlingen I am not then permitted to make that recompense which my crime demands? I am peradventure to be granted an immunity which a lesser criminal would not have received ? Which was indeed denied to my daughter? Von Werner (Wringing his hands.) It is I who am now on the rack. Minister What would you have? Von Sendlingen The public disgrace and condemnation which I deserve. io8 THE JUDGE Minister That must be left with me. Von Sendlingen You can only decide as I have decided. Minister No, I must decide very differently. In the pres- ent disturbed state of the public mind, the disclosure of these affairs would be simply ruinous. The very government itself is in danger. The wildness of revolution might be upon us. You have not chosen an ill time for your demonstration of the existence of a law beyond the law. Von Sendlingen You go too far. I demand the unsaying of that last. Minister As you wish; but the successful composition of your difficulties shall be my affair. I am not a father distracted with grief over a host of disasters and strange eventualities. I am free from passion and desperation. I am not fettered by a slavish reading of the law. I shall know how to be truly, really just. Moreover, the welfare of the common wealth is paramount, patriotic attachment to the land higher than all; the impeachment of one among our foremost judges would be to play with an out- burst of destructive forces; so soon upon his eleva- tion to a higher position, so upon the heels of the attempt against the life of the sovereign ; to the state we must sacrifice all, our wealth, our souls, our lives, our deepest rectitude, our very belief in justice. Von Sendlingen I shall refuse all such tampering with the fate ACT IV 109 which I call my own. I shall make the expiation which is right and due. I cannot live without mak- ing it. My life would be a hell of the most savage remorse unless I am given this privilege. Minister Let some time intervene before you fully make up your mind. Von Sendlingen No, I am aware of what that means. I am put to the last and bitterest trial. Even the right to atone is taken away from me. The law appears most lawless at its very source and fountain. Thus is it that the whole life of the time is directed toward death and ruin. Thus is it that my child is involved in miseries unspeakable, they are not hers, they come from the diseased commonwealth. I too am drawn into the whirlpool. Some day let us hope that misfortunes like my child's will be impossible, and disasters like mine cannot occur. I shall therefore be my own judge and executioner. {He takes a phial from his pocket and attempts to place it to his lips.) Berger What madness is this, Victor? Von Werner God have mercy upon me! Minister Seize his arm there. {The struggle is brief, the bottle drops to the floor. Von Sendlingen falls back in his chair, white and overcome. He looks like a dying man. A knock. Franz enters.) Franz The Countess Riesner desires to see the Minister. no THE JUDGE Minister I can see no one. Von Sendlingen {Arousing,) Let her come. Is Marianna Brandes with her? Franz She is. {Steps Jo Von Sendlingen.) Can I do anything for you? You are fearfully ill. Von Sendlingen No, not now. I beg of you, let the ladies come in. I am strong again. It is important, I assure you. Minister Admit them then. Franz It will not last long. I will remain near. He is dying. I see it clearly. Something has been killing him. If they would only go and leave him to me. {Exit. After an interval enter the Countess and Marianna. The ladies seat themselves.) Minister To what are we indebted for the honor of this visit, madame? Countess I come especially to see you. I heard a few days ago that you were expected. Minister I hope that I may be of service. Countess My son, Count Henry, who has for some time been giving me the greatest cause for sorrow, has disappeared. For two weeks no trace of him is to be discovered. ACT IV HI Minister I do not altogether see how I can be of any use to you in those premises. Countess The woman, Victorine Lippert, convicted of a heinous crime, has through some unlooked-for fa- voritism, succeeded in escaping from her prison. I have at last, after a long struggle, succumbed to the conviction that he has somewhere met her and accompanied her flight. Minister I remember now, he was the man involved. Von Sendlingen From information received by me and equally trustworthy with that of the Countess I tan say that the Count is now the husband of Victorine Lippert. Countess I feared as much. Unheard of misfortune! For- getting his rank, his rights, he has allied himself to that false and designing murderess. Marianne Brandes Do not forget, madame, that to the best, trials must come. Lean on a strength superior to your own. Von Werner I am to blame for much of this. I begin to see what a terrible error I am in. I must undertake the work of my life all over again. {Breaks into hoarse noises like sobs.) Berger Summa lex, summa injuria. The extremity of the law is the extremity of injury. The freer and larger interpretation is forever the safer. 112 THE JUDGE Countess But he must be found, he must be brought back, he must not be made to pay with his whole life foi a youthful folly, an unimportant event in the career of a man of the world. He cannot remain per- manently attached to that vulgar girl. I implore the aid of every one of you. Let her be brought to justice, and my son, after a period of travel, can resume the place which is his of right. Marianna Brandes The saints and heavenly powers will grant it. Von Sendlingen That may not be so easy as you suppose. The chief witness, however, against Victorine is here again. A brief interrogation is possible and really necessary under the eye of the Minister. Can it not be undertaken? Countess I protest most earnestly. To what end? And for what purpose ? The whole action is now closed. Poor child! Marianna has had enough of it, and so free from blame and mixture with the afEair as she is. Marianna Brandes I am at the disposal of a strength that is greater than my own. I am made to be the instrument of powers larger than myself. I am content. Meekly and humbly will I take up my burden and bear it. I am thus disciplined and built into the life that I most wish to be. Minister The suggestion is a noteworthy one, and I scii no reason for failing to take it. You will tell the ACT IV 113 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Berger will be as generous in his questions as he can be. Countess I do not think this should go any further. 1 protest against it again. Marianna, you need not speak. Minister She will speak. Berger, proceed. Berger Did you overhear a conversation between the Count and Victorine Lippert? Marianna Brandes Good saints in heaven, do you mean to call mc an eavesdropper? Berger Answer the question. Marianna Brandes I was behind a curtain, it was purely by an ac- cident, they came into the room after I did. Berger Answer the question. Marianna Brandes I was behind a curtain, it was purely by an ac- cident, they came into the room after I did. Berger Could you hear what they said? Marianna Brandes They spoke indistinctly; I heard, — I heard some- thing. Berger Did you hear anything about a marriage? 114 THE JUDGE Marianna Brandes The Count did say that he would marry — how can I remember? — it was very dark, — but it was about a marriage with Victorine. Countess It is not so, and even if it were, it is immaterial. My son could make no promises that were binding to such a girl. Berger Did you hear anything more? Marianna Brandes I moved just then. Oh, look down upon mc, protecting spirits! — the Count came towards me, and I left the room — Berger Hastily? Marianna Brandes Yes, hastily, quite so. Berger What sort of a night was it when Victorine left the house? Marianna Brandes Very stormy. I preferred to be indoors. Berger Did she go willingly? Marianna Brandes I should have preferred remaining in the house; she was forced to go. Berger You saw her the following morning. Marianna Brandes Yes, the village woman was there first. ACT IV 115 Berger Did you see any marks of violence on the child? Marianna Brandes I did not dare to take It up. I — I — am not cer- tain. The village woman held it. Countess I will listen no further. This Is an outrage upon me and mine. I will appeal to higher authority. Minister Do not hasten away yet. We are not entirely through. Berger Where is the village woman now? She could not be found at the time of the trial. Marianna Brandes In America. Berger How did she obtain the means for the journey? Marianna Brandes That I do not know. Berger I believe that I am through. Von Sendlingen (To Berger.) You were never more a friend to me than now. Von Werner {In dull and husky tones.) Why did I not set through all this before? Countess All this signifies nothing to my son or to me. This woman Is condemned and has been allowed to escape. She must be brought back and my son freed from her. ii6 THE JUDGE Minister So be it then. I will take the needed measures, but first you must bear in mind one thing. Countess What may that be? Minister I do not doubt that the abiding place of Victorine Lippert, or I mistake, Victorine Riesner, can be readily found. There is no government but will extradite under the circumstances; with her, how- ever, will return your son — to be arraigned on the double charge of deceiving her, and then assisting her, a condemned criminal, to escape. Do you wish me to speak to the servant? Countess {After a pause.) I must ask you to excuse me, I am a broken hearted woman and mother, re- member to act for me and for him. Minister We shall forget neither, madame. Countess Come with me, Marianna. Marianna I beg you will forgive me. I shall go to my brother's. I do not believe that my further stay in your house would be desirable. I shall send for my few things, and ask for my dismissal. The angels of the highest heaven keep you in charge, dear Countess. Countess This last pin-prick adds very little to my pain. Good morning, gentlemen. (She leaves with calm dignity.) ACT IV 117 Marianna Brandes You do not wish anything more from me? Minister No, you may go to your brother's. It is, however, only by a sad combination of circumstances that you are not dealt with very differently. Marianna Brandes The guardianship that has always had me in its especial care has not deserted me now. {She passes out rapidly.) Von Werner I am chagrined, dismayed, overwhelmed. I pre- sent my resignation. {Breaks down completely,) Minister No, you are the better judge for all you have heard and felt today, you will remain. Von Send- lingen — Von Sendlingen They have taken from me everything. They will find those wretched ones, and bring them back. I shall have failed totally, utterly. Minister No, you cannot think us so inhumanly cruel. Bestir yourself, take heart, all shall be well. Von Sendlingen But I shall be allowed to take my guilt upon my- self finally? Minbter That remains for further consideration. Von Sendlingen No, it must be, it shall be, I demand it as my right, I will have it so, I will proclaim it everywhere. ii8 THE JUDGE Minister You wish me to proceed to extremities? Von Sendlingen Do your worst. I — I — . {He screams and falls back in his chair.) Franz — George — {Franz rushes in.) Berger Franz, I am afraid that there is nothing more that we can do. He is dying. Franz {Falls at Van Sendlingen s knee.) I have been looking for it all the time. What have they done to you? What can I do? Von Sendlingen Nothing at all. It is indeed the end, I did not think it would be so soon. After all, no man can do more. I die for them and the right, but the terrible cloud is lifted, the bondage in which three generations have been held is broken, they are free again. Minister Yes, they are free again. Von Sendlingen I can die content, then. I am not wholly dis- honored, I thought it would be otherwise, but no doubt this is best. You will look after everything, George. All is prepared for them, and for you, Franz. So it is over — good night — goodby. {He dies.) Franz My master! Von Werner I shall begin my life anew, illumined by the light of this sacrifice. ACT IV 119 Berger Good friend, good Judge, farev/ell. This was a man, and heaven is more heaven because he enters it. Minister Truth is not less truth, and justice is not less justice, because mercy and love shine through them with a radiance that is divine. The Curtain Falls The End AMERICAN DRAMATISTS SERIES A series of plays by contemporary American aramatists; uniformly bound in antique boards, each, $1.00 net. THE FL.OWEB SHOP. 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