On apprising her of these different offers, however, neither Sylvius Hogg nor Joel made any attempt to influence Hulda.  She was to be guided entirely by her own wishes in the matter.  They knew now what her wishes were.

Joel, moreover, approved his sister’s decision unreservedly.  Ole Kamp’s ticket must not be sold to any person at any price.

Sylvius Hogg went even further.  He not only approved Hulda’s decision, but he congratulated her upon it.  Think of seeing this ticket sold and resold, passing from hand to hand, transformed, as it were, into a piece of merchandise, until the time appointed for the drawing arrived, when it would very probably become a worthless scrap of paper?

And Sylvius Hogg went even further.  Was it, perhaps, because he was slightly superstitious?  No.  Still, if Ole Kamp had been there, the professor would probably have said to him: 

“Keep your ticket, my boy, keep it!  First, your ticket, and then you, yourself, were saved from the wreck.  You had better wait and see what will come of it.  One never knows; no, one never knows!”

And when Sylvius Hogg, professor of law, and; a member of the Storthing, felt in this way, one can hardly wonder at the infatuation of the public, nor that No. 9672 could be sold at an enormous premium.

So in Dame Hansen’s household there was no one who protested against the young girl’s decision—­at least no one except the mother.

She was often heard to censure it, especially in Hulda’s absence, a fact that caused poor Joel not a little mortification and chagrin, for he was very much afraid that she would not always confine herself to covert censure, and that she would urge Hulda to accept one of the offers she had received.

“Five thousand marks for the ticket!” she repeated again and again.  “They offer five thousand marks for it!”

It was evident that Dame Hansen saw nothing either pathetic or commendable in her daughter’s refusal.  She was thinking only of this large sum of five thousand marks.  A single word from Hulda would bring it into the family.  She had no faith either in the extraordinary value of the ticket, Norwegian though she was; and to sacrifice fire thousand marks for a millionth chance of winning one hundred thousand was an idea too absurd to be entertained far a moment by her cool and practical mind.

All superstition aside, it is undeniable that the sacrifice of a certainty, under such conditions, was not an act of worldly wisdom; but as we said before, the ticket was not a lottery ticket in Hulda’s eyes; it was Ole’s last farewell, and it would have broken her heart to part with it.

Nevertheless, Dame Hansen certainly disapproved her daughter’s resolve.  It was evident, too, that her dissatisfaction was constantly increasing, and it seemed more than likely that at no very distant day she would endeavor to make Hulda change her decision.  Indeed, she had already intimated as much to Joel, who had promptly taken his sister’s part.