APTER XV.

Sylvius Hogg reached Dal on the evening of the following day. He did
not say a word about his journey, and no one knew that he had been to
Bergen. As long as the search was productive of no results he wished
the Hansen family to remain in ignorance of it. Every letter or
telegram, whether from Bergen or Christiania, was to be addressed to
him, at the inn, where he intended to await further developments.
Did he still hope? Yes, though it must be admitted that he had some
misgivings.

As soon as he returned the professor became satisfied that some
important event had occurred in his absence. The altered manner of
Joel and Hulda showed conclusively that an explanation must have taken
place between their mother and themselves. Had some new misfortunes
befallen the Hansen household?

All this of course troubled Sylvius Hogg greatly. He felt such a
paternal affection for the brother and sister that he could not have
been more fond of them if they had been his own children. How much he
had missed them during his short absence.

"They will tell me all by and by," he said to himself. "They will have
to tell me all. Am I not a member of the family?"

Yes; Sylvius Hogg felt now that he had an undoubted right to be
consulted in regard to everything connected with the private life of
his young friends, and to know why Joel and Hulda seemed even more
unhappy than at the time of his departure. The mystery was soon
solved.

In fact both the young people were anxious to confide in the excellent
man whom they loved with a truly filial devotion, but they were
waiting for him to question them. During his absence they had felt
lonely and forsaken--the more so from the fact that Sylvius Hogg had
not seen fit to tell them where he was going. Never had the hours
seemed so long. It never once occurred to them that the journey was
in any way connected with a search for the "Viking," and that
Sylvius Hogg had concealed the fact from them in order to spare them
additional disappointment in case of failure.

And now how much more necessary his presence seemed to have become to
them! How glad they were to see him, to listen to his words of counsel
and hear his kind and encouraging voice. But would they ever dare to
tell him what had passed between them and the Drammen usurer, and
how Dame Hansen had marred the prospects of her children? What would
Sylvius Hogg say when he learned that the ticket was no longer in
Hulda's posses