Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain Von Stahle?

The peddler was mistaken as Captain Von Stahle (Nils Olof) by the ironmaster in the forge. The things took a sharp turn when he was invited to the manor house to stay with them on the Christmas Eve.

He thought that he was allowing himself in the lion's den. But the ironmaster daughter showed him hospitality and requested her father to have the Christmas in his company.

She wanted him to stay with them and enjoy the Christmas cheer as promised, enjoy a day of peace with them just once in the whole year. It was her friendly, loving and sympathetic behaviour that awakened the essential goodness in the stranger. He was treated as if he had been a real captain. So he decided to treat her as a real captain did. Before leaving their house he left a Christmas present for her and wrote a letter signing himself as ‘Captain Von Stahle’. Thus Edla showered her sympathetic attitude on him that turned the stranger to pose as “Captain Von Stahle.”