A few days were allowed to elapse. Sylvius Hogg, who was now entirely well, took a long walk every day, and persuaded Hulda and her brother to accompany him. One day all three of them went up the valley of Vesfjorddal halfway to the falls of the Rjukan. The next day they went to Moel and Lake Tinn. Once they were even absent twenty-four hours. This time they prolonged their excursion to Bamble, where the professor made the acquaintance of Farmer Helmboe and his daughter Siegfrid. What a cordial welcome the latter gave to her friend Hulda, and what words of tenderness she found to console her!
Here, too, Sylvius Hogg did all in his power to encourage these worthy people. He had written to the Navy Department, and the government was investigating the matter. Ole would certainly return at no distant day. He might drop in upon them, indeed, at any moment. No; the wedding would not have to be postponed more than six weeks! The good man seemed so thoroughly convinced of all this, that his auditors were influenced rather by his firm conviction than by his arguments.
This visit to the Helmboe family did the young Hansens good, and they returned home much calmer than they went away.
At last the fifteenth of June came. The Viking was now exactly one month overdue; and as the distance from Newfoundland to the coast of Norway is comparatively short, this delay was beyond all reason, even for a sailing-vessel.
Hulda seemed to have abandoned all hope; and her brother could not find a single word to say by way of encouragement. In the presence of these poor, unhappy creatures, the professor realized the utter futility of any well-meant attempt at consolation. Hulda and Joel crossed the threshold only to stand and gaze in the direction of Moel, or to walk up the road leading to Rjukanfos. Ole Kamp would probably come by the way of Bergen, but he might come by way of Christiania if the destination of the Viking had been changed. The sound of an approaching karjol, a hasty cry, the form of a man suddenly rounding a curve in the road made their hearts beat wildly; but all for naught. The good people of Dal were also eagerly watching. Not unfrequently they went halfway to meet the postman. Everybody was deeply interested, for the Hansen family was exceedingly popular in the neighborhood; and poor Ole was almost a child of the Telemark. But no letter came from Bergen or Christiania giving news of the absent one.
Nothing new occurred on the sixteenth. Sylvius Hogg could scarcely restrain his restlessness. He began to understand that he must proceed to act in person, so he announced to his friends that if no news was received on the following day he should go to Christiania and satisfy himself that nothing had been left undone. Of course, it was hard for him to leave Hulda and Joel, but there was no help for it; and he would return as soon as his task was accomplished.
On the seventeenth a greater part of the most wretched day they had ever spent together passed without bringing any new developments. It had rained incessantly since early morning; the wind was blowing a gale, and the rain dashed fiercely against the window on the side of the house nearest the Maan.
Seven o’clock came. They had just finished dinner, which had been eaten in profound silence, as if in a house of mourning. Even Sylvius Hogg had been unable to keep up the conversation. What could he say that he had not already said a hundred times before?
“I shall start for Christiania tomorrow morning,” he remarked at last. “Joel, I wish you would procure a karjol and drive me to Moel.”
“Very well, Mr. Sylvius. But wouldn’t you like me to accompany you further?”
The professor shook his head, with a meaning glance at Hulda, for he did not want to see her separated from her brother.
Just then a sound, which was as yet scarcely audible, was heard on the road in the direction of Moel. They all listened breathlessly. Soon all doubts vanished. It was the sound of an approaching karjol coming swiftly toward Dal. Was the occupant some traveler who intended to spend the night at the inn? This was scarcely probable, as tourists rarely arrived at so late an hour.
Hulda sprung up trembling in every limb. Joel went to the door, opened it and looked out.
The noise grew louder It was certain the clatter of horse’s hoofs blended with, the roll of karjol wheels; but the storm without was so violent that Joel was obliged to close the door.
Sylvius Hogg tramped up and down the room in a perfect fever of impatience. Joel and his sister held each other tightly by the hand.
The karjol could not be more than twenty yards from the house now. Would it pause or go by?
The hearts of all three throbbed to suffocation.
The karjol stopped. They heard a voice calling; but it was not the voice of Ole Kamp!
Almost immediately someone rapped at the door.
Joel opened it.
A man stood upon the threshold.
“Is Mr. Sylvius Hogg here?” he asked.
“I am he,” replied the professor. “Who are you, my friend?”
“A messenger sent to you by the Secretary of the Navy at Christiania.”
“Have you a letter for me?”
“Yes, sir; here it is.”
And the messenger handed him a large envelope sealed with the Government seal.
Hulda’s limbs tottered under her, and her brother sprung forward and placed her in a chair. Neither of them dared to ask Sylvius Hogg to open the letter.
At last he broke the seal and read the following:
“Mr. Professor—In reply to your last letter, I enclose a paper picked up at sea on the 3rd instant by a Danish
