Oswald—Selma, listen to me. If our dear Lord,
Who died upon the tree that we might live,
Had meant that we should know what this thing means,
He would have told us. Let us show our faith.
Oh, let us say it as He taught us. Come,
Repeat it with me. "Pater—" (Advancing toward her.)
Will you say it?
Selma—(Skipping up the slope and disappearing through
the boughs.)
I will not till you tell me what it means.
(Oswald stands as one who knows not what to do. Along the path leading in from the left, Father Paul, the friar, enters. For a time he stands contemplating the scene before him.)
Father Paul—My son. Come now. Come now. The Lord Christ calls.
Delay is death. Give up this heathen world.
You cannot save her here. But there, who knows?
Prayer can do much. Go now and get the cross.
I shall wait for you in the grotto here. (They go out, right.)
SCENE THREE—In the depths of the forest. Back through the trees, to the right, is seen the home of Canzler, a small cottage built of logs, with antlers over the doorway. It sits in a space partially cleared, and the light falls golden about it. Among the trees in the foreground, where the shadows are thicker, is the stump of a large oak and a newly fallen trunk extending out left. Over to the right, at the foot of one of the trees, lies a small bundle fastened to the end of a stick. At intervals a bird is heard singing in the forest.
Near the stump several men are gathered. Canzler, facing right, stands beside the log with his hand resting upon his ax. He is bareheaded. His sleeves are rolled up above his elbows and his shirt, open in front, discloses his broad, hairy breast. Near the stump stands Hartzel, a man apparently seventy years of age. He wears a long, white beard and his hands are folded on top of a tall rustic staff. The others are Fritz and Rudolph and Wiglaf, the gleeman, in a fantastic garb faded and tattered. On the other side of the log, to the right of Canzler, is Max, another woodman, also in his shirt sleeves.
Wiglaf—Why did they burn my harp, then? I'm a man.
Fritz—
(Leaning forward and speaking in a loud voice in Hartzel's ear.)
You hear what Wiglaf says? Says he's a man;
Why did they burn his harp, then?