Ticket No. 9672 - Jules Verne (i can read book club .txt) 📗

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 businessman 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 protégée has profited greatly by the exchange.”

“Why do you think so?”

“But think of it. What does this ticket represent? One chance in a million of winning.”

“Yes, one chance in a million. That is very small; it is true, Mr. Benett, very small.”

“Yes; and consequently such a reaction has followed the late madness that it is said that this Sandgoist who purchased the ticket to speculate upon it has been unable to find a purchaser.”

“So I have heard.”

“And yet, if that rascally usurer should win the grand prize, what a shame it would be!”

“A shame, most assuredly, Mr. Benett; the word is not too strong⁠—a shame, unquestionably.”

This conversation took place while Sylvius Hogg was walking through the establishment of Mr. Benett⁠—an establishment well known in Christiania, and indeed throughout Norway. It is difficult to mention an article that cannot be found in this bazaar. Traveling-carriages, karjolen by the dozen, canned goods, baskets of wine, preserves of every kind, clothing and utensils for tourists, and guides to conduct them to the remotest villages of Finmark, Lapland, or even to the North Pole. Nor is this all. Mr. Benett likewise offers to lovers of natural history specimens of the different stones and metals found in the earth, as well as of the birds, insects, and reptiles of Norway. It is well, too, to know that one can nowhere find a more complete assortment of the jewelry and bric-a-brac of the country than in his showcases.

This gentleman is consequently the good angel of all tourists desirous of exploring the Scandinavian peninsula, and a man Christiania could scarcely do without.

“By the way, you found the carriage you had ordered waiting for you at Tinoset, did you not, professor?” he asked.

“Yes. Having ordered it through you, Monsieur Benett, I felt sure that it would, be there at the appointed time.”

“You are a sad flatterer, I fear, Monsieur Hogg. But I judged from your letter that there were to be three of you in the party.”

“There were three of us, as I told you.”

“And the others?”

“They arrived here safe and sound last evening, and are now waiting for me at the Hotel du Nord, where I am soon to join them.”

“And these persons are⁠—?”

“Precisely, Monsieur Benett, precisely; but I must beg you to say nothing about it. I don’t wish their arrival to be noised abroad yet.”

“Poor girl!”

“Yes, she has suffered terribly.”

“And you wish her to be present at the drawing, though the ticket her betrothed bequeathed to her is no longer in her possession?”

“It is not my wish, Monsieur Benett, but that of Ole Kamp, and I say to you as I have said to others, Ole Kamp’s last wishes would be obeyed.”

“Unquestionably. What you do is not only right, but always for the best, professor.”

“You are flattering me now, dear Monsieur Benett.”

“Not at all. But it was a lucky day for them when the Hansen family made your acquaintance.”

“Nonsense! it was a much more fortunate thing for me that they crossed my path.”

“I see that you have the same kind heart still.”

“Well, as one is obliged to have a heart it is best to have a good one, isn’t it?” retorted the professor, with a genial smile. “But you needn’t suppose that I came here merely in search of compliments,” he continued. “It was for an entirely different object, I assure you.”

“Believe me, I am quite at your service.”

“You are aware, I suppose, that but for the timely intervention of Joel and Hulda Hansen, the Rjukanfos would never have yielded me up alive, and I should not have the pleasure of seeing you today?”

“Yes, yes, I know,” replied Mr. Benett. “The papers have published full accounts of your adventure, and those courageous young people really deserve to win the capital prize.”

“That is my opinion,” answered Sylvius Hogg, “but as that is quite out of the question now, I am unwilling for my friend Hulda to return to Dal without some little gift as a sort of memento of her visit to Christiania.”

“That is certainly an excellent idea, Mr. Hogg.”

“So you must assist me in selecting something that would be likely to please a young girl.”

“Very willingly,” responded Mr. Benett. And he forthwith invited the professor to step into the jewelry department, for was not a Norwegian ornament the most charming souvenir that one could take away with one from Christiania and from Mr. Benett’s wonderful establishment?

Such at least was the opinion of Sylvius Hogg when the genial merchant exhibited the contents of his showcases.

“As I am no connoisseur in such matters I must be guided by your taste, Mr. Benett,” he remarked.

They had before them a very large and complete assortment of native jewelry, which is usually valuable rather by reason of the elaborateness of its workmanship than any costliness of material.

“What is this?” inquired the professor.

“It is a ring with pendants which emit a very pleasant sound.”

“It is certainly very pretty,” replied Sylvius Hogg, trying the bauble on the tip of his little finger. “Lay it aside, Mr. Benett, and let us look at something else.”

“Bracelets or necklaces?”

“At a little of everything, if you please, Mr. Benett⁠—a little of everything. What is this?”

“A set of ornaments for the corsage. Look at that delicate tracery of copper upon a red worsted groundwork. It is all in excellent taste, though not very expensive.”

“The effect is certainly charming, Mr. Benett. Lay the ornaments aside with the ring.”

“But I must call your attention to