we townsfolk safe enough! Let no man know what we are about; we are enough for the task!—And now, away to Elgesæter.
All.
[Softly.] Ay, away to Elgesæter!
[They go out to the left, rapidly but cautiously.
A fir-wood on the hills above Nidaros. It is moonlight, but the night is misty, so that the background is seen indistinctly, and sometimes scarcely at all. Tree-stumps and great boulders lie round about. King Skule, Peter, Paul Flida, Bård Bratte, and other Vårbælgs come through the wood from the left.
Peter.
Come hither and rest you, my father.
King Skule.
Ay, let me rest, rest.
[Sinks down beside a stone.
Peter.
How goes it with you?
King Skule.
I am hungry! I am sick, sick! I see dead men's shadows!
Peter.
[Springing up.] Help here—bread for the King!
Bård Bratte.
Here is every man king; for life is at stake.
