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Halla (warding him off). No, no!

Kari (grasping Bjørn's arm). That man lies! She is mine. (To Halla.) If you two get married to-morrow, still

are mine.

Bjørn. Has my brother's wife become a harlot?

you

[Exit.

Halla. What have you done, Kari? It was to save you I promised to be his wife. I hoped to get a chance to speak to you. He has the letter and is going to give you up to the judge to-day.

Kari. I could not bear that man to touch you.

Halla. You must run for the horses and flee!

Kari. That would be madness. The others have just as good horses. We must take what comes. I shall deny everything.

Halla. What good would that do? It is impossible to mistake the description. I have read it myself.

my

Kari. Did you really mean to marry the bailiff to save life?

Halla. I lied to him, so that I could flee with you. I hate

him.

Kari. I love you, Halla.

Halla (in rising fear). What shall we do? (Wrings her hands.) It is all my fault for holding you back. (On the point of weeping.) I am an unhappy woman.

Kari. You must not cry. Even if I faced the death warrant, I should not be sorry that I stayed. (Kisses her hands.) These summer days we have had together in all eternity no one can take them from us.

Halla (withdraws her hands excitedly). Don't you know of any way? Say that the bailiff is your enemy and has had the letter framed up.

Kari. You know yourself that it would be no use. (Goes to her.) I believe it is God's will that you should not flee with me. I have told you how beautiful it can be in the hills, but all the terrors I have not told you of-the sandstorms, when the whole plain seems to be on fire, the nights as long as a whole winter, and the hunger stealing close to you like an evil mist. You might have come to hate me.

Halla. I will hear nothing of all that. (Under her breath in terror.) They are coming!

Enter Bjørn and the District Judge, followed by a crowd of peasants and farm hands. Others come in as the action proceeds. Bjørn (pointing). There stands the man.

The Judge (goes to Kari). You say your name is Kari. (Shows the letter.) According to this letter, your name is Eyvind, and you are an escaped thief.

Kari. That is a lie.

Bjørn. Read the letter.

(The Judge gives him a sharp look. He opens the letter and reads to himself, now and then raising his eyes from the letter to Kari's face.)

A Peasant (in a low voice). What does the judge say? Bjørn. In the early spring, a man came here who knew him (pointing) as an escaped thief. I wrote to have the case looked up, and yesterday I got the answer.

The Judge. The description fits you. It is my duty under the law to take you into custody.

(Murmuring among the peasants.)

First Peasant. I never should have believed it.

Kari. It is the bailiff to whom this letter was sent. May I be allowed to ask where it came from?

Bjørn. From the southland where you were born. Kari. I was born in the east and have never been south. Bjørn. Will the judge look at the seal?

The Judge. The seal is correct. (To Halla.) He is in your service. Have you

found this man to be a thief? Halla. No. He has shown himself a trustworthy and an able man. (To the people.) Don't you believe, as I do,

that Kari is innocent?

The Crowd (murmuring). Yes, yes!

The Judge. I cannot judge this case. I must send him to the district where Eyvind's home is. (To Halla.) Can you vouch for him a few days? At present I cannot well spare two men for the journey.

Halla. I am not afraid to do that.

Bjørn. It seems to me unwise to set a woman to watch a thief. If the judge wishes it, I will take him into safekeeping myself.

Halla. Does the bailiff think he can give counsel to the judge? I offer my farm as surety for Kari.

The Judge (interrupting Bjørn, who is about to reply). Silence! (To Halla.) Then you are responsible.

[Exit. Bjørn. I must say that the former judge was not wont to delay the law.

Halla (to the peasants). You came here to listen to false charges, but you shall have a better pastime. You shall see the bailiff himself play at glima with the man he calls thief. Bjørn. You must be crazy! I won't touch him.

Halla. My dear brother-in-law made me a promise last spring that he would wrestle with Kari here at the folds. It was a wager, and now he is backing out of it. What do you say to that?

Bjørn. An honest man does not play with a thief.

Halla. He is no more thief than

you are. Should you be a thief, because I said so? (To the people.) He is only too glad to get out of the glima. He is a coward! He is a coward!

(Loud or suppressed laughter all around.)

Bjørn. Never before has Bjørn Bergsteinsson been called a coward. (Takes off his coat.)

(Kari throws off his coat. The crowd draws back, leaving an open space. The "glima” begins. Bjørn pushes Kari out to the back, and the people follow. The heads of the wrestlers are seen; then they disappear to the left. A moment of silence, then a sudden outcry.)

All. Kari has won! Kari has won! (Silence again.) Bjørn is hurt! [Exeunt some of the crowd. Kari. I think he has had enough. (Goes to Halla.) A Peasant. Bjørn had his leg broken. We must help him. Jon. I told them to look out for the rocks.

Halla. It was the bailiff who drew Kari out on the rocks. [Exeunt the rest of the peasants. Bjørn's voice is heard, threatening. You shall pay me back for this, Halla!

Arnes. I am glad he got it.

Arngrim. "Hard upon hard," said the old woman; she sat down on a stone.

The Boy (goes to Kari, almost weeping). You are not a thief!

Kari (patting him on the head). No, no!

Halla (to Arnes). Will you do me the favor to see that my sheep are driven home to-night? I don't want Kari to stay here any longer.

Arnes. I will do it gladly. (To Kari.) I meant to warn you against what has overtaken you now.

Kari. I know it. You meant well.

The Boy. May I go home with Kari?

Halla. No, you must stay here and help Arnes. I will

go home with Kari myself. (Laughs.) You know I must watch my prisoner. You may bring the horses, the black and the sorrel. [Exit the Boy.

Gudfinna. Why all this hurry?

Halla (goes to her). You always had a liking for the little box where my husband kept his money. When we get home, I want you to have that box and all that is in it.

Gudfinna. But you keep your own money there! Halla. Not all. I meant to buy quite a number of sheep here to-day.

Gudfinna (on her way out). I must be getting old. I don't understand anything any more.

Halla. You need not tell them up at the folds that I am going home.

Gudfinna (taking Halla's hand). God bless you! (Her voice breaks.)

[Exit.

Arnes (to Arngrim). We had better be off, too. Arngrim (goes to Kari). If you should happen to ride astray, take care you don't lose her in the mist.

[Exeunt. Kari (to Halla). What do you mean by riding home now?

Halla. Thank God, we have good horses! The folks won't get home with the sheep before nightfall, and they will not begin to look for us until to-morrow. By that time we shall have a good start.

Kari. You must not flee with me, Halla. You don't know the life you are going to.

Halla. You are a great child. Don't you think that I

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