"What brought you to that idea?"
"The fact that he is such a pious man. Still, let us not go into that now. The gist of the matter is, that I would like to relieve our district of this suspicious guest, before I begin my long visit."
"How?"
"We must burn up that old hay-rick, of which I have said so many times that it has inhabitants summer and winter."
"Do you think that will drive them from our neighborhood?"
"I am quite sure of it. This class is cowardly. They will soon turn out of any place where war is declared against them: they only dare to brawl as long as they find people are afraid of them: wolf-like they tear to pieces only those they find defenceless: but one wisp of burning straw will annihilate them. We must set the rick on fire."
"We could have done so already; but it is difficult to reach it, on account of the old peat-quarries."
"Which our dangerous neighbors have covered with wolf traps, so that one cannot approach the rick within rifle-shot."
"I often wished to go there, but you would not allow me."
"It would have been an unreasonable audacity. Those who dwell there could shoot down, from secure hiding-places, any who approached it, before the latter could do them any harm. I have a simpler plan: we two shall take our seats in the punt, row down the dyke, and when we come against the rick, we shall set it on fire with explosive bullets. The rick is mine, no longer rented: all whom it may concern must seek lodging elsewhere."