BLUMENBERG.

And here--

COLONEL.

"One may be in doubt as to whether the naïveté of the
contributor is comical or tragical, but at all events he has no right
to join in the discussion"--[_Throwing down the paper._] Oh, that is
contemptible! It is a low trick!

_Enter_ IDA _and_ OLDENDORF _from the garden._

SENDEN (_aside_).

Now comes the cloud-burst!

COLONEL.

Professor, your newspaper is making progress. To bad principles is now
added something else--baseness.

IDA (_frightened_).

Father!

OLDENDORF (_coming forward_).

Colonel, how can you justify this insulting expression?