Lundestad.
Yes, but the stake in the district——?
Stensgård.
I shall take measures to fulfil the demands of my fellow citizens in that respect, Mr. Lundestad. I see a way, a new way; and I will follow it up. I renounce the happiness of toiling in obscurity for the woman I love. I say to my fellow countrymen: “Here I am—take me!”
Lundestad.
[Looks at him in quiet admiration and presses his hand.] You are indeed a man of rare gifts, Mr. Stensgård.
[Goes out to the right.
[Stensgård paces the room several times, now stopping for a moment at the window, now running his fingers through his hair. Presently Bastian Monsen enters from the back.
Bastian.
Here I am, my dear friend.[[20]]