the midnight sun
`` Why -- er -- '' He hesitated for an instant , then threw back his head , squared his great young shoulders , and looked us in the eyes , while all his embarrassment fled . `` I came back to marry Olive Marceau , '' said he . `` I came to take her back home to the little mother . '' He stared out wistfully at the distant southern mountains , effulgent and glorified by the midnight sun which lay so close behind their crests , and I winked at Martin . `` She 's left -- '' `` What ! '' He whirled quickly . '' -- the theater , and I do n't suppose you can see her until to-morrow . ''