southern coast of Iceland. During the nights of the
third and fourth of May the worst nights of the gale--it collided
with one of those enormous icebergs that drift down from the shores
of Greenland. The shock was terrible, so terrible, indeed, that the
"Viking" went to pieces five minutes afterward.

It was then that Ole hastily penned his farewell message to his
betrothed, and after inclosing it in a bottle, cast it into the sea.

Most of the "Viking's" crew, including the captain, perished at
the time of the catastrophe, but Ole Kamp and four of his comrades
succeeded in leaping upon the iceberg, just as the vessel went down;
but their death would have been none the less certain if the terrible
gale had not driven the mass of ice in a north-westerly direction. Two
days afterward, exhausted and nearly dead with hunger, these survivors
of the catastrophe were cast upon the southern coast of Greenland--a
barren and deserted region--but where they nevertheless managed to
keep themselves alive through the mercy of God.

If help had not reached them in a few days, it would have been all
over with them, however; for they had not strength to reach the
fisheries, or the Danish settlements on the other coast.

Fortunately the brig "Genius," which had been driven out of her course
by the tempest, happened to pass. The shipwrecked men made signals to
her. These signals were seen, and the men were saved.

The "Genius," delayed by head-winds, was a long time in making the
comparatively short voyage between Greenland and Norway, and did not
reach Christiansand until the 12th of July, nor Christiania until the
morning of the 15th.

That very morning Sylvius Hogg went aboard the vessel. There he found
Ole, who was still very weak, and told him all that had taken
place since the arrival of his last letter, written from
Saint-Pierre-Miquelon, after which he took the young sailor home with
him, though not without having requested the crew of the "Genius" to
keep the secret a few hours longer. The reader knows the rest.

It was then decided that Ole Kamp should attend the drawing of the
lottery. But would he be strong enough to do it?

Yes; his strength would be equal to the ordeal, for was not Hulda
to be there? But had he still any interest in this drawing? Yes, a
hundred times, yes; both on his own account and that of his
betrothed, for Sylvius Hogg had succeeded in getting the ticket out
of Sandgoist's hands, having repurcha