Modern Icelandic Plays | Page 8

(Takes a snuff-box from his pocket.)
Halla (sitting down).
I know nothing wrong of Arnes, and I do know that he is grateful for
what I can offer him.

Bjørn.
I thought you had heard the common talk. His record is not of the best,
I am sorry to say. I have been told that little things are apt to be missing
where he has made his stay.
Halla.
I would rather bear such a loss in silence than perhaps throw suspicion
on an innocent man.
Bjørn.
Finely thought! Yet some one must be the first to warn the unwary.
(Takes snuff.) You must hear what happened to me not long ago. The
boy lost two milch sheep up in the hills. I was vexed that it should
occur so early in the summer when they still had their wool, and
therefore I sent one of my men to look for them. Near Red Peak he
found tracks of the sheep and also the footprints of a large man.
(Lowering his voice.) You could do me a good turn if you would give
Arnes a pair of new shoes; I should pay for them, of course. He will not
suspect anything, if you do it. Then you keep his old shoes for me.
Halla (rising).
No, I will have nothing to do with that.
Bjørn.
Then we shan't speak of it any more. I think I shall find out what I am
after, nevertheless. (He is silent.)
Halla.
You surely didn't come here to-night for Arnes's sake?
Bjørn.
I did not. Was Kari at church last Sunday?

Halla.
Why do you ask?
Bjørn.
I know that he was there. (Sits down.) You are satisfied with him as an
overseer?
Halla (sits down).
In every way.
Bjørn.
All the same, I advise you to get rid of him, the sooner the better.
Halla (laughing).
I thank you for your kind advice.
Bjørn.
My advice is not to be scorned, and besides, am I not your
brother-in-law?
Halla.
My sheep had to learn that to their cost, when they strayed in on your
pastures, and you set your dogs on them.
Bjørn.
Even though we have not always been as neighborly as I might wish,
you must listen to me this time. I have always disliked Kari; I would
never have hired that man. Believe me, there is something underhanded
about him. Nobody knows him, and no one has heard of his people. It
is as if he had shot up out of the ground. The only thing you know
about him is that his name is Kari, and you don't even know that.

Halla (rising).
What are you driving at with all this?
Bjørn.
Sit still. (Halla sits down.) Last fall two strangers who stopped on their
journey through here thought they knew Kari. They said it was easier to
change one's name than one's face. As bad luck would have it, I did not
get a chance to talk with them myself, but my suspicions were roused.
Now there is a man staying with me who has just come from the south.
He saw Kari at church last Sunday, and if he is right, it is an ugly story.
Halla.
What do you mean?
Bjørn (rising).
Neither more nor less than that your overseer's name is not Kari but
Eyvind, that he was locked up for theft, and got away.
Halla (has risen).
You must be mad, both of you.
Bjørn.
The man would not swear that he had seen right. (Smiles.) Somehow he
seemed sorry that he had told me. He said he had never seen two people
more alike, and Eyvind had a scar on his forehead just as Kari has-- that
much he remembered plainly.
Halla.
It was last Sunday at church that he saw Kari?
Bjørn.

Yes.
Halla (laughing).
Kari was not at church last Sunday.
Bjørn.
That's queer. Two of my men were there. But we can easily solve that
riddle, if I bring my guest over here to-morrow.
Halla.
I don't believe for a moment that Kari is a thief.
Bjørn.
You need not believe it. Simply tell him what I have said, and that I
mean to have the judge look into the matter. I warrant he will be out of
the house before sunrise.
Halla.
You are quick to believe evil and quick to run to the judge, but in this
case you will not reap much honor.
Bjørn.
If you suppose I shall act hastily, you are mistaken. I shall write to the
county that Eyvind hails from and give the letter to my guest, who will
see that it gets safely and speedily into the proper hands. The answer
can be here within two or three months.
Halla.
Is it out of kindness to