_Kari._

You know yourself that it would be no use. (_Goes to her._) I believe it is G.o.d'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 sand-storms, 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 Bjrn and the District Judge, followed by a crowd of peasants and farm hands. Others come in as the action proceeds._

_Bjrn (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.

_Bjrn._

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?

_Bjrn._

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?

_Bjrn._

From the southland where you were born.

_Kari._

I was born in the east and have never been south.

_Bjrn._

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.

_Bjrn._

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

_Halla._

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

_The Judge (interrupting Bjrn, who is about to reply)._

Silence! (_To Halla._) Then you are responsible. [_Exit._

_Bjrn._

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

_Halla (to the peasants)._