The two men followed me. The constable grinned and said:
"Did you _see_ a man pass by here yesterday?"
"No," I said.
They looked at each other, and took counsel together; then they left the
hut and returned to the village.
I thought: What zeal this policeman showed in the execution of his duties,
how he shone with public spirit! There will be bonuses for the capture and
transport of the criminal; there will be honor in having carried out the
deed. All mankind should adopt this man because he is its son, created in
its image! Where are the irons? He would rattle the links a little and
lift them on his arm like the train of a riding skirt, to make me feel his
terrifying power to put people in irons ... I feel nothing.
And what tradesmen--what kings of trade--we have today! They instantly
miss what a man can carry off in a sack, and notify the police.
From now on I begin to long for the spring. My peat hut lies still too
near to mankind, and I will build myself another when the frost has gone
out of the ground. On the other side of the Skjel, I have chosen a spot in
the forest which I think I shall like. It is twenty-four miles from the
village and eighteen across the fjeld.