“Thanks, my friends, thanks!” he exclaimed, “this is far better than drugs.  And now do you know that but for your timely arrival upon the scene of action, I should have become much too well acquainted with the wonders of the Rjukanfos!  I should have rolled down into the abyss like a big stone, and have added another legend to those already associated with the Maristien.  And there was no excuse for me.  My betrothed was not waiting for me upon the opposite bank as in the case of poor Eystein!”

“And what a terrible thing it would have been to Madame Hogg!” exclaimed Hulda.  “She would never have got over it.”

“Madame Hogg!” repeated the professor.  “Oh!  Madame Hogg wouldn’t have shed a tear—­”

“Oh, Mister Sylvius.”

“No, I tell you, for the very good reason that there is no Madame Hogg.  Nor can I ever imagine what Madame Hogg would be like, stout or thin, tall or short.”

“She would, of course, be amiable, intelligent and good, being your wife,” replied Hulda, naively.

“Do you really think so, mademoiselle?  Well, well, I believe you!  I believe you!”

“But on hearing of such a calamity, Mister Sylvius,” remarked Joel, “your relatives and many friends—­”

“I have no relatives to speak of, but I have quite a number of friends, not counting those I have just made in Dame Hansen’s house, and you have spared them the trouble of weeping for me.  But tell me, children, you can keep me here a few days, can you not?”

“As long as you please, Mister Sylvius,” replied Hulda.  “This room belongs to you.”

“You see, I intended to stop awhile at Dal as all tourists do, and radiate from here all over the Telemark district; but now, whether I shall radiate, or I shall not radiate, remains to be seen.”

“Oh, you will be on your feet again before the end of the week, I hope, Mister Sylvius,” remarked Joel.

“So do I, my boy.”

“And then I will escort you anywhere in the district that you care to go.”

“We’ll see about that when Richard is himself again.  I still have two months leave before me, and even if I should be obliged to spend the whole of it under Dame Hansen’s roof I should have no cause for complaint.  Could I not explore that portion of the valley of Vesfjorddal lying between the two lakes, make the ascent of Gousta, and pay another visit to the Rjukanfos? for though I very narrowly escaped falling head foremost into its depths I scarcely got a glimpse of it, and am resolved to see it again.”

“You shall do so, Mister Sylvius,” replied Hulda.

“And we will visit it next time in company with good Dame Hansen if she will be kind enough to go with us.  And now I think of it, my friends, I must drop a line to Kate, my old housekeeper, and Fink, my faithful old servant in Christiania.  They will be very uneasy if they do not hear from me, and I shall get a terrible scolding.  And now I have a confession to make to you.  The strawberries and milk were delicious and extremely refreshing, but they scarcely satisfied my hunger, and as I won’t submit to being put upon short allowance may I not ask if it is not nearly your dinner hour?”