Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 11).djvu/344



I shall lock the door. Just leave the key in the lock.

Oh, very well; I'll leave it.

[She goes into the house again.

[''Stands silent for a moment, and listens; then goes hastily down the steps and out into the open space.''] Now I am outside the walls, Ella! Now they will never get hold of me again!

[Who has gone down to him.] But you are a free man in there, too, John. You can come and go just as you please.

[Softly, as though in terror.] Never under a roof again! It is so good to be out here in the night. If I went up into the gallery now, ceiling and walls would shrink together and crush me—crush me flat as a fly.

But where will you go, then?

I will simply go on, and on, and on. I will try if I cannot make my way to freedom, and life, and human beings again. Will you go with me, Ella?