Summary

These chapters open up with Old Trond still remembering the past. The reader learns that Trond had found out from his father shortly after their arrival that they were to chop all of the timber down on the North side of the cabin. Trond thought at the time that it was because his father didn't like how it cast a shadow over the cabin for most of the day, or possibly because they needed the money badly.

When they were back in Oslo, Trond's father had told him that they had reached a crossroads. He asked if Trond wanted to come with him to the woods for the summer, or stay in Oslo with his mother and sister. Of course, Trond had jumped at the chance to be alone with his father. Trond's sister had felt slighted, but then had relented when she...