CURT. [Enters from the left after having knocked] Good day, Alice.
ALICE. Good day, Curt. Sit down.
CURT. [Sits down in the left-hand easy-chair] The steamer is just coming in.
ALICE. Then I know what's in store, for he is on board.
CURT. Yes, he is, for I caught the glitter of his helmet—What has he been doing in the city?
ALICE. Oh, I can figure it out. He dressed for parade, which means that he saw the Colonel, and he put on white gloves, which means that he made some calls.
CURT. Did you notice his quiet manner yesterday? Since he has quit drinking and become temperate, he is another man: calm, reserved, considerate——
ALICE. I know it, and if that man had always kept sober he would have been a menace to humanity. It is perhaps fortunate for the rest of mankind that he made himself ridiculous and harmless through his whiskey.
CURT. The spirit in the bottle has chastised him—But have you noticed since death put its mark on him that he has developed a dignity which elevates? And is it not possible that with this new idea of immortality may have come a new outlook upon life?
ALICE. You are deceiving yourself. He is conjuring up something evil. And don't you believe what he says, for he lies with premeditation, and he knows the art of intriguing as no one else——