midnight
Come along then ; I will lead the way , and do thou tread softly and keep silence . Follow us , Alric , I have yet more work for thee , lad . '' Taking one of the numerous narrow paths that ran from Ulfstede to the shores of the fiord , Erling led his companions to a grassy mound which crowned the top of a beetling cliff whose base was laved by deep water . Although the night was young -- probably two hours short of midnight -- the sun was still high in the heavens , for in most parts of Norway that luminary , during the height of summer , sinks but a short way below the horizon -- they have daylight all night for some time . In the higher latitudes the sun , for a brief period , shines all the twenty-four hours round . Erling could therefore see far and wide over the fiord , as well as if it were the hour of noon . `` Nothing in sight ! ''