settled in Norway takes the form of lawlessness and an entire
absence of moral restraint.

Violence of the most atrocious kind goes unpunished because Kurt is
powerful and has friends at court. In his two legitimate sons, Adler and
Max (he has a host of illegitimate ones), the family temperament is
modified, though in Max, who perpetuates the race, the modification is
not radical. Adler is a weakling of enormous vanity, silent and moody,
and addicted to the pleasures of the table. Max, on the other hand, is a
man of inexhaustible vitality, violent like his father, but possessed of
a gift of speech and a tremendous voice which serve to establish his
authority over the simple inhabitants of the little coast town.
Moreover, he is endowed with great shrewdness and practical sense, and
is an expert in ship-building, agriculture, and other pursuits. But he
is the terror of women, and his sensual excesses so undermine his
strength that he becomes insane, and believes that he is continually
pursued by the spirit of his brother, whose death he had caused. Konrad
Kurt, the son of Max, runs away from home because he cannot endure to
see his mother maltreated by his father. He inherits a shattered
constitution and poor nerves; outwardly he is quite a respectable man,
but he has a strong physical need of drink, and every night he goes to
bed intoxicated. It is the author's purpose to show how the sins of his
fathers, by a physiological necessity, predisposed Konrad Kurt to drink.
His son, John Kurt, who is the result of a criminal relation, is the
complete incarnation of the genius of the family. The fresh blood which
he has derived from his English mother has postponed the doom of the
race and enabled him to repeat, in a modified form, the excesses of his
ancestors. He first distinguishes himself as a virtuoso in swearing. The
magnificent redundance and originality of his oaths make him famous in
the army, which he chooses as the first field of his exploits. Later he
roams aimlessly about the world, merely to satisfy a wild need of
adventure. On his return to his native town he signalizes himself by his
vices as a genuine Kurt. The little town, however, cannot find it in its
heart to condemn a man of so distinguished a race, and society, though
it is fully cognizant of his mode of life, not only tolerates but even
pets him. He is entertaining, has been everywhere and seen everything.
He meets a young girl, named Thomasine Rendalen,