hey themselves were strutting and
waddling, fluttering and vociferating in every direction. They were
perfectly tame, knowing nothing of men, and having had no experience of
disturbance. The ducks that were leading their broods allowed Oddo to
stroke their feathers; and the drakes looked on, without taking any
offence.

"If Rolf is here," thought Oddo, "he has been living on most amiable
terms with his neighbours."

After an anxious thought or two of Nipen,--after a glance or two round
the sky and shores for a sign of wind,--Oddo began in earnest his quest
of Rolf. He called his name,--gently,--then louder.

There was some kind of answer. Some sound of human voice he heard, he
was certain; but so muffled, so dull, that whence it came he could not
tell. It might even be his grandfather, calling from below. So he
crossed to quite the verge of the little island, wishing with all his
heart that the birds would be quiet, and cease their civility of all
answering when he spoke. When quite out of hearing of Peder, Oddo
called again, with scarcely a hope of any result, so plain was it to his
eyes that no one resided on the island. On its small summit there was
really no intermission of birds' nests;--no space where any one had lain
down;--no sign of habitation,--no vestige of food, dress, or utensils.
With a saddened heart, therefore, Oddo called again; and again he was
sure there was an answer; though whence and what he could not make out.
He then sang a part of a chant that he had learned by Rolf singing it as
he sat carving his share of the new pulpit. He stopped in the middle,
and presently believed that he heard the air continued, though the voice
seemed so indistinct, and the music so much as if it came from
underground, that Oddo began to recall, with some doubt and fear, the
stories of the enchantment of the place. It was not long before he
heard a cry from the water below. Looking over the precipice he saw
what made him draw back in terror: he saw the very thing Hund had
described,--the swimming and staring head of Rolf, and the arms thrown
up in the air. Not having Hund's conscience, however, and having much
more curiosity, he looked again; and then a third time.

"Are you Rolf, really?" asked he, at last.

"Yes; but who are you,--Oddo or the demon,--up there where nobody can
climb? Who are you?"

"I will show you. We will find each other out," thought Oddo, with a
determination to take the leap,