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 have weighed it all? (Smiles.) If you won't let me come and live with you, I will marry the bailiff.
Kari (kneeling before her). Halla!
Halla (stands for a moment in silence; takes a long breath). To-night we two shall ride alone in the hills!
[ ACT III]
A small grass-grown plot. In the foreground, to the right, a fantastic lava formation, a hollow cone five yards in height and three yards in circumference, once an enormous lava bubble produced by gases in the liquid lava. In course of time, the roof has crumbled, also the nearest wall. The farther wall is still standing, but there is a hole in it, through which the sky can be seen. Farther back and somewhat to the left, the wall of a small hut is seen, though partly hidden by the lava formation. The hut is built of stone, the walls of small stones chinked with sod, the roof of large lava slabs. To the left, a deep gorge, the farther wall of which is so much higher than the one near by that it completely shuts off the view to the left. At the bottom of the gorge, a stream. Farther up, the gorge makes a turn to the left, and here the upper part of a waterfall is seen. Behind this, the glacier. On the grass plot is a hearth with a smouldering fire. Some rocks covered with skins serve as seats. From the gorge comes the murmuring sound of the waterfall.
The stage is empty. A horn is heard, first a short call, then a longer.