Mrs.Bernick: And yet they said such horrible things about him in the
newspapers! But we have quite forgotten to thank you, Mr. Rorlund. It
is really more than friendly of you to sacrifice so much of your time
to us.

Rorlund: Not at all. This is holiday time, and--

Mrs.Bernick: Yes, but it is a sacrifice all the same, Mr. Rorlund.

Rorlund (drawing his chair nearer): Don't speak of it, my dear lady.
Are you not all of you making some sacrifice in a good cause?--and that
willingly and gladly? These poor fallen creatures for whose rescue we
are working may be compared to soldiers wounded on the field of battle;
you, ladies, are the kind-hearted sisters of mercy who prepare the lint
for these stricken ones, lay the bandages softly on their wounds, heal
them and cure them.

Mrs.Bernick: It must be a wonderful gift to be able to see everything
in such a beautiful light.

Rorlund: A good deal of it is inborn in one--but it can be to a great
extent acquired, too. All that is needful is to see things in the light
of a serious mission in life. (To MARTHA:) What do you say, Miss
Bernick? Have you not felt as if you were standing on firmer ground
since you gave yourself up to your school work?

Martha: I really do not know what to say. There are times, when I am in
the schoolroom down there, that I wish I were far away out on the
stormy seas.