“But you were just talking of returning to Christiania,” remarked Joel.

“Well, I shall go to Bergen instead, if I find it necessary to go to Bergen.”

“But you were about to leave us, Mister Sylvius,” said Hulda.

“Well, I have changed my mind, that is all.  I am master of my own actions, I suppose; and I sha’n’t go until I see you safely out of this trouble, that is, unless you are disposed to turn me out-of-doors—­”

“What can you be thinking of, Mister Sylvius?”

“I have decided to remain in Dal until Ole’s return.  I want to make the acquaintance of my little Hulda’s betrothed.  He must be a brave, honest fellow, of Joel’s stamp, I am inclined to think.”

“Yes, exactly like him,” replied Hulda.

“I was sure of it!” exclaimed the professor, whose cheerfulness had returned, at least apparently.

“Ole is Ole, Mister Sylvius,” said Joel, “and that is equivalent to saying that he is the best-hearted fellow in the world.”

“I believe you, my dear Joel, and what you say only makes me the more anxious to see him.  I sha’n’t have to wait long.  Something tells me that the ‘Viking’ will soon come safely into port.”

“God grant it!”

“And why should He not hear your prayer?  Yes, I shall certainly attend Hulda’s wedding, as you have been kind enough to invite me to it.  The Storthing will have to do without me a few weeks longer, that is all.  It would have been obliged to grant me a much longer leave of absence if you had let me fall into the Rjukanfos as I deserved.”

“How kind it is in you to say this, Mister Sylvius, and how happy you make us!”

“Not as happy as I could wish, my friends, as I owe my life to you, and I don’t know—­”

“Oh! please, please say no more about that trifle.”

“Yes, I shall.  Come now, who drew me out of the frightful jaws of the Maristien?  Who risked their own lives to save me?  Who brought me to the inn at Dal, and cared for me, and nursed me without any assistance from the Faculty?  Oh!  I am as stubborn as an old cart-horse, I assure you, and I have made up my mind to attend the marriage of Hulda to Ole Kamp, and attend it I shall!”

Hopefulness is contagious, and how could any one resist such confidence as Sylvius Hogg displayed?  A faint smile crept over poor Hulda’s face.  She longed to believe him; she only asked to hope.

“But we must recollect that the days are passing very rapidly,” continued Sylvius Hogg, “and that it is high time we began our preparations for the wedding.”

“They are already begun, Mister Sylvius,” replied Hulda.  “In fact, they were begun more than three weeks ago.”

“So much the better; but in that case, we must take good care not to allow anything to interrupt them.”

“Interrupt them!” repeated Joel.  “Why, everything is in readiness.”

“What, the wedding-dress, the bodice with its silver clasps, the belt and its pendants?”