The Crofter reposed confidence in the peddler because he was a lonesome man who used to live alone. He wanted someone with whom he could share his feelings, so he trusted him to the extent of showing him where he had kept his money. Despite the Crofter treating the peddler with hospitality, the peddler robbed him and was quite pleased with his smartness. However, the fear of getting caught haunted him. So, he avoided the public highway and turned into the woods. It was a big and confusing forest, and due to darkness, he lost his way. He got exhausted moving around the same place, and was filled with despair. He began to feel that the forest was like a big rattrap and the thirty kronors he had stolen were like a bait set to tempt him. He felt helpless like a rat who had no way out of the trap in which he had fallen.