_SCENE ONE--A road through a forest. On either side trees
stand thick and dark. Immediately in front the light sifts
down upon a rude bridge spanning a narrow stream. At
the roadside, to the right, a large crucifix, apparently_
_new, stands upon a post some ten feet in height. It is_
_elaborately carved and is set in a deep frame to protect it_
_from the weather. At the foot of the post, cut into the_
_mossy bank which slopes toward the road, is a kneeling_
_place with a white sheep's pelt lying upon it._
_A sound of voices is heard. Fritz and Rudolph enter from the
left and pause where a path leads off through the wood. The
latter has an ax upon his shoulder. Far in the forest a
faint sound of chopping is heard._
_TIME--Mid-day in summer, in the early part of the thirteenth_
_century._
RUDOLPH--He's worth six.
FRITZ-- I'll give you five, you pick them.
RUDOLPH--I'll pick six.
FRITZ-- I'll keep my ewes, then.
RUDOLPH-- And walk
To the mountains?
FRITZ-- We have not gone yet.