Caught in the forest, mistaken in the forge

Walking along with the money in his pocket, the peddler feels pleased with his smartness. But he knows he cannot stay on the public highway, so he turns off into the forest.

There, things go wrong. It is a big, confusing forest, and the paths twist back and forth. He walks and walks without reaching the end, and at last realises he has only been walking in circles. Night falls, and he is lost. Then he remembers his idea about the world and the rattrap, and his own turn has come: he has let himself be fooled by a bait (the thirty kronor) and has been caught. The whole forest, with its trunks and branches, seems to close in on him like an impenetrable prison.

Late at night, he hears a sound: the short, regular thumping of a hammer in a forge. He follows the sound and reaches Ramsjö ironworks. Inside, the master smith and his helper are working at the great furnace. The peddler, wet and exhausted, asks to warm himself, and they let him sit by the fire without paying much attention.

Then the ironmaster, the owner of the works, comes in on his nightly round. In the light of the furnace he looks at the tramp, and thinks he recognises him: 'Captain von Stahle', an old comrade from his regiment, now fallen on hard times. He warmly invites him home to the manor to spend Christmas with him.

The peddler refuses. He is afraid: if he goes to the manor, he may be found out with the stolen thirty kronor in his pocket. It would be like walking into the lion's den.

So the ironmaster sends his daughter, Edla Willmansson. She comes in a fur coat. She sees at once that the man is frightened, and guesses that he may have stolen something, or escaped from jail. But she is gentle and kind, and promises that he can leave just as freely as he came. 'We only want you to have a happy Christmas.' Her friendliness wins his trust, and he goes home with them.