ood, 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 kariol, 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 half-way 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 to-morrow morning," he remarked at
last. "Joel, I wish you would procure a kariol and dri