The priest of Sværdsjœ held Gustavus in concealment for three days, but advised him to seek a more secure hiding place. He sent Gustavus to Swan Elfsson, a hunter to the king, who dwelt in Isala, a short distance from the church of Sværdsjœ. Gustavus had hardly reached this place before the men sent after him by the bailiff arrived. Gustavus stood by the oven warming himself after the ride. The wife of Swan Elfsson was busy baking bread. The men entered, asking if any stranger had been noticed in the neighborhood. The woman of the house saved the situation by resolutely dealing a blow with the bread spade to Gustavus, who was turning his back to her. In an irritated voice she said: “Why dost thou stand here gaping at the strangers? Hast thou never seen people before? Get thee at once out to the barn and do some threshing.” The men did not suspect in the snubbed servant the noble fugitive for whom they were looking. But Swan Elfsson was not sure of the safety of his guest if he remained in Isala. So he concealed Gustavus in a load of hay and left his house with the great unsettled districts as his destination. He met some Danish spies on the way. These suspected the peasant and pierced the load of hay with their lances repeatedly. Gustavus was wounded in the leg, but kept his breath and lay perfectly still. The spies were satisfied that everything was right and told Swan Elfsson to move on. But the peasant noticed that blood was dripping from his load, leaving scarlet tracks on the snow. He quickly drew his knife and cut his horse a deep wound in one foot. After a while the spies noticed the bloody tracks. They returned and commanded Swan Elfsson to halt, inquiring about the blood. Swan Elfsson pointed to the injured foot of his horse and succeeded in making them believe that the horse had met with an accident.
Swan Elfsson left Gustavus at the village of Marnæs, situated in the Finn woods, where he was received by other hunters. These escorted the noble outlaw to a place further away in the woods, where he for three days remained in concealment under a big fallen fir tree. The peasants in the neighborhood brought food to him. The still hunt seemed to be at an end, and so Gustavus risked a visit to the church of Rettvik, situated on the eastern shore of Lake Siljan. He spoke to the yeomanry collected around the church after divine service, reminding them of the stanch patriotism and manliness of their ancestors, and imploring them to save their country from destruction. The yeomen of Rettvik gave a satisfactory answer, telling him that they were ready to resist the Danes. But as they had not heard the opinion of the people of the other parishes, there was nothing to be done for the moment.