Of course, Joel might have asked anybody where Professor Sylvius Hogg lived.  Any one would have been only too delighted to point out the house or even to accompany him to it; but he did not ask, for fear of being indiscreet, and as the professor had promised to meet them at the hotel, it would be better to wait until the appointed hour.

After a time Hulda began to feel very tired, and requested her brother to take her back to the hotel, especially as these discussions, in which her name was frequently mentioned, were very trying to her, and on reaching the house she went straight up to her own room to await the arrival of Sylvius Hogg.

Joel remained in the reading-room, on the lower floor, where he spent his time in mechanically looking over the Christiania papers.  Suddenly he turned pale, a mist obscured his vision, and the paper fell from his hands.

In the “Morgen-Blad,” under the heading of Maritime Intelligence, he had just seen the following cablegram from Newfoundland: 

“The dispatch-boat ‘Telegraph’ has reached the locality where the ‘Viking’ is supposed to have been lost, but has found no trace of the wreck.  The search on the coast of Greenland has been equally unsuccessful, so it may be considered almost certain that none of the unfortunate ship’s crew survived the catastrophe.”

CHAPTER XVIII.

“Good-morning, Mr. Benett.  It is always a great pleasure to me when I have an opportunity to shake hands with you.”

“And for me, professor, it is a great honor.”

“Honor, pleasure—­pleasure, honor,” laughed the professor.  “One balances the other.”

“I am glad to see that your journey through Central Norway has been safely accomplished.”

“Not accomplished, only concluded, for this year.”

“But tell me, pray, all about those good people you met at Dal.”

“Excellent people they were, friend Benett, in every sense of the word.”

“From what I can learn through the papers they are certainly very much to be pitied.”

“Unquestionably, Mr. Benett.  I have never known misfortune to pursue persons so relentlessly.”

“It seems so, indeed, professor; for right after the loss of the ‘Viking’ came that miserable Sandgoist affair.”

“True, Mr. Benett.”

“Still, Mr. Hogg, I think Hulda Hansen did right to give up the ticket under the circumstances.”

“Indeed! and why, if you please?”

“Because it is better to secure fifteen thousand marks than to run a very great risk of gaining nothing at all.”

“You talk like the practical business man and merchant that you are; but if you choose to look at the matter from another point of view, it becomes a matter of sentiment, and money exerts very little influence in such cases.”

“Of course, Mr. Hogg, but permit me to remark that it is more than likely that your protegee has profited greatly by the exchange.”