Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 6).djvu/288

 calculations and estimates; nothing now stands in our way.

Mrs. Bernick.

[Still standing, along with the other ladies, at the garden door.] But, my dear Karsten, why have you kept all this so secret?

Bernick.

Oh, my good Betty, you would not have seen the situation in its true light. Besides, I have spoken of it to no living creature until to-day. But now the decisive moment has come; now we must go to work openly, and with all our might. Ay, if I have to risk all I possess in the affair, I am determined to see it through.

Rummel.

So are we, Bernick; you may rely on us.

Rörlund.

Do you really expect such great results from this undertaking, gentlemen?

Bernick.

Yes, indeed we do. What a stimulus it will give to our whole community! Think of the great tracts of forest it will bring within reach, think of all the rich mineral-seams it will allow us to work; think of the river, with its one water-*fall above the other! What rare advantages for manufactures of all kinds!

Rörlund.

And you have no fear that more frequent intercourse with a depraved outer world