Summary
The men sit in silence for a few moments. During this time, Ulrich feels his hate for Georg subside. He calls out to Georg as his “neighbour” and promises that if the Gradwitz men arrive first then he will have them help Georg first. Ulrich proclaims that the feud has lasted long enough and asks Georg to be his friend.
Georg is silent for a long time but then begins to speak about how peace between the two men would be good for the entire town. Again, he expresses gratitude that there are no "interlopers" to prevent their peacemaking. Georg accepts the offer to be Ulrich’s friend.
The two men silently process the happy change for a long time. Then, Ulrich proposes that they call out for help to hasten the arrival of the foresters. Together, they begin shouting. Ulrich hears something. They shout again. Ulrich spies figures approaching in the distance. Again they shout. Ulrich sees the figures stop at the top of the hill and begin running in his direction.
Unable to see, Georg asks Ulrich how many men there are. Ulrich spots nine or ten and Georg concludes that they must be Ulrich’s foresters since Georg only had seven in his party. Ulrich is glad to see the figures moving so rapidly to their aid.
As they near, Georg asks again whether they are Ulrich’s men. Ulrich says no and laughs aloud “unstrung with hideous fear” (395). Georg asks again who the men are. “Wolves,” says Ulrich (395).
Analysis
In the second part of the story, the two men reconcile their differences. Saki again employs a frame narrative, this time of a story set in the future. The two men imagine and discuss the revelry that will result when the townspeople learn of their peacemaking. They begin to plan holidays and hunting trips together (394). They imagine riding into market and relish in the unprecedented nature of a von Gradwitz-Znaeyem friendship (394). This hint of peace contrasts sharply with the actual ending of the story, though in describing it Saki provides a glimpse of a happier future for the two men. This contrast contributes significantly to the impact of the surprise ending, which occurs shortly after the men resolve to be friends.
Saki is famous for his surprise endings and “The Interlopers” certainly includes one. Indeed just as the two men make peace with one another, nature once again appears in order to deliver a violent blow (this time a deadly one). As the two men call out for help they are heard by a pack of wolves instead of their fellow men. Though Saki leaves the violence off the page, the reader is given enough to know the characters’ fate.
A theme that is common in many of Saki’s short stories and appears again here is the dominance of nature. Saki greatly respected Darwin and continually positions wild animals as dominant over socially respectable human beings in his works. In this story, the wolves, classically wild, and natural forces generally prevail over the landowning men. The wolves’ appearance upends both the men’s and the readers’ expectations and prompts a violent end. This interruption (or correction) occurs precisely when Saki offers peace by having the two men reconcile.
This dominance of nature also relates back to Saki’s choice of title for this short story. “The Interlopers” as a title is ambiguous because it does not signal who the true interlopers are. Are the men the interlopers to one another? Are the wolves interlopers to the men? Ultimately, given Saki’s respect of the wild over the aristocratic, as well as the ending of this story, it appears most likely that the humans are interlopers on a natural order that would remain undisturbed but for their meddling (Byrne 184-5). Particularly, the men here attempt to impose a set of aristocratic norms and values, namely landownership, on a landscape that is resistant to control and containment. Saki cautions against such attempts by having the men meet such a violent and fatal end.
