This Captain Mosselman was an honest man.  Very possibly some less scrupulous person would have kept the ticket; but he had only one thought—­to transmit the ticket to the person to whom it was addressed as soon as he entered port.  Hulda Hansen, of Dal, that was enough.  It was not necessary to know any more.

But on reaching Copenhagen, Captain Mosselman said to himself that it would perhaps be better to transmit the document through the hands of the Danish authorities, instead of sending it straight to the person for whom it was intended.  This would be the safest, as well as the regular way.  He did so, and the Naval Department at Copenhagen promptly notified the Naval Department at Christiania.

Sylvius Hogg’s letter, asking for information in regard to the “Viking,” had already been received, and the deep interest he took in the Hansen family was well known.  It was known, too, that he intended to remain in Dal some time longer, so it was there that the ticket found by the Danish sea-captain was sent, to be delivered into Hulda Hansen’s hands by the famous deputy.

And ever since that time the public had taken a deep interest in the affair, which had not been forgotten, thanks to the touching details given by the newspapers of both continents.

Sylvius Hogg stated the case briefly to his friend Help, who listened to him with the deepest interest, and without once interrupting him.  He concluded his recital by saying: 

“There is certainly one point about which there can be no possible doubt:  this is, that on the third day of June, about one month after the departure from Saint-Pierre-Miquelon, the ticket was picked up two hundred miles south-west of Iceland.”

“And that is all you know?”

“Yes, my dear Help, but by consulting some of the most experienced mariners of Bergen, men who are familiar with that locality, with the general direction of its winds, and, above-all, with its currents, will it not be a comparatively easy matter to decide upon the route followed by the bottle?  Then, by calculating its probable speed, and the time that elapsed before it was picked up, it certainly would not be impossible to discover the spot at which it was cast into the sea by Ole Kamp, that is to say, the scene of the shipwreck.”

Help, Junior, shook his head with a doubting air.  Would not any search that was based upon such vague indications as these be sure to prove a failure?  The shipowner, being of a decided, cool and practical turn of mind, certainly thought so, and felt it his duty to say as much to Sylvius Hogg.

“Perhaps it may prove a failure, friend Help,” was the prompt rejoinder; “but the fact that we have been able to secure only vague information, is certainly no reason for abandoning the undertaking.  I am anxious that nothing shall be left undone for these poor people to whom I am indebted for my life.  Yes, if need be, I would not hesitate to sacrifice all I possess to find Ole Kamp, and bring him safely back to his betrothed, Hulda Hansen.”