leave. She sent for the steward, and it was arranged that next
day all the men should go to the forest for fire-wood, and that
they should make a bargain among them, that the one who came home
last with his load should be hanged. They thought they could
easily manage that it would be Hans who would lose his life, for
the others would be early on the road, while Hans would certainly
oversleep himself. In the evening, therefore, the men sat and
talked together, saying that next morning they must set out early
to the forest, and as they had a hard day's work and a long
journey before them, they would, for their amusement, make a
compact, that whichever of them came home last with his load
should lose his life on the gallows. So Hans had no objections
to make.

Long before the sun was up next morning, all the twelve men were
on foot. They took all the best horses and carts, and drove off
to the forest. Hans, however, lay and slept on, and the squire
said, 'Just let him lie.'

At last, Hans thought it was time to have his breakfast, so he
got up and put on his clothes. He took plenty of time to his
breakfast, and then went out to get his horse and cart ready.
The others had taken everything that was any good, so that he had
a difficulty in scraping together four wheels of different sizes
and fixing them to an old cart, and he could find no other horses
than a pair of old hacks. He did not know where it lay, but he
followed the track of the other carts, and in that way came to it
all right. On coming to the gate leading into the forest, he was
unfortunate enough to break it in pieces, so he took a huge stone
that was lying on the field, seven ells long, and seven ells