two o'clock
It was impossible for Erica herself to fear that Nipen was offended , at the outset of this festival day . If he had chosen to send a wind , the guests could not have come ; for no human frame can endure travelling in a wind in Nordland on a January day . Happily , the air was so calm that a flake of snow , or a lock of eider-down , would have fallen straight to the ground . At two o'clock , when the short daylight was gone , the stars were shining so brightly , that the company who came by the fiord would be sure to have an easy voyage . Almost all came by the fiord , for the only road from Erlingsen 's house led to so few habitations , and was so narrow , steep , and rocky , that an arrival by that way was a rare event . The path was now , however , so smooth with frozen snow , that more than one sledge attempted and performed the descent . Erlingsen and some of his servants went out to the porch , on hearing music from the water , and stood with lighted pine-torches to receive their guests , when , approaching from behind , they heard the sound of the sleigh-bells , and found that company was arriving both by sea and land .