done poorly, so that he may not come short in his wages on pay-day.

CLARA.

Don't talk in that way, dear mother! It weakens you.

MOTHER.

No, child, it does me good! Am I not well and strong again now? Did
not the Lord call me merely to let me know that my festal robe was not
yet pure and spotless? And did he not permit me to come back from the
very edge of the grave, and grant me time to prepare myself for the
heavenly wedding? He was not as kind as that to those five Virgins in
the Gospel, about whom I had you read to me last night. And that is the
reason why today, when I am going to the Holy Communion, I put this
dress on. I wore it the day I made the best and most pious resolutions
of my life; I want it to remind me of those which I have not yet carried
out.

CLARA.

You still talk as you did in your illness!



SCENE II

CARL (_enters_).

Good morning, mother! Well, Clara, I suppose you might put up with me,