t not land, and be now making a fire among the birds' nests?"

"Nonsense!" cried Hund. "What became of the skiff, then?"

"True," said the man; and, shaking his head, he passed on, and spoke to
the master.

In his own secret mind, the master of the schooner did not quite like
his present situation. The little harbour was well sheltered and hidden
from the observation of the inhabitants of the upper part of the fiord:
but, after hearing the words dropped by his crew, the master did not
relish being stationed between the bewitched islet and the head of the
fiord, where all the residents were, of course, enemies. He thought
that it would be wiser to have a foe only on the one hand, and the open
sea on the other, even at the sacrifice of the best anchorage. As there
was now a light wind, enough to take his vessel down, he gave orders
accordingly.

Slowly, and at some distance, the schooner passed the islet, and all on
board crowded together to see what they could see. None,--not even the
master with his glass,--saw anything remarkable: but all heard
something. There was a faint muffled sound of knocks,--blows such as
were never heard in a mere haunt of sea-birds. It was evident that the
birds were disturbed by it; they rose and fell, made short flights and
came back again, fluttered, and sometimes screamed so as to overpower
all other sounds. But if they were quiet for a minute, the knock,
knock, was heard again, with great regularity, and every knock went to
Hund's heart.

The fact was, that after breakfast, Rolf soon became tired of having
nothing to do. The water was so very cold, that he deferred till noon
the attempt to swim round the islet. He once more examined his boat,
and though the injuries done seemed irreparable, he thought he had
better try to mend his little craft than do nothing. After collecting
from the wood in the cave all the nails that happened to be sticking in
it, and all the pieces that were sound enough to patch a boat with, he
made a stone serve him for a hammer, straightened his nails upon another
stone, and tried to fasten on a piece of wood over a hole. It was
discouraging work enough, but it helped to pass the hours till the
restless waters should have reached their highest mark in the cave, when
he would know that it was noon, and time for his little expedition.

He sighed as he threw down his awkward new tools and pulled off his
jacket, for his heart now began to grow very h