"Yes," replied the boy, "that'll work! I'll take my whip with me."
"Do that."
Silently they came near the house of their employers, to which they slowly climbed up the high hill.
At the same hour on the following night the hired man sat on the big stone in front of the stable door, when the boy came to him, snapping his whip. "What a strange sound!" said the former.
"I should say--take care!" returned the boy; "I have stuck nails into the string, too."
"Then come," said the other.
As on the night before, the moon stood in the eastern sky and looked down with a clear light. Soon both were out on the dike again and looked over to Jevers Island, that looked like a strip of mist in the water. "There it goes again," said the man; "I was here in the afternoon, and then it wasn't there; but I saw the white horse skeleton lying there distinctly!"
The boy stretched his neck: "That isn't there now, Iven," he whispered.
"Well, Carsten, how is it?" said the man. "Are you still keen on rowing over?"
Carsten stopped to think a moment; then he struck the air with his whip: "Go ahead and slip the mooring, Iven."