the midnight sun
From his vantage place on the rising ground the watcher saw a rather short man moving up from the wharf accompanied by the obsequious factor , and behind him two other men and four ladies , with the factor 's wife and Gerald Ainley . The sound of feminine laughter drifted up the Square , and as it reached him Stane stepped out from the store and hurried away in the opposite direction . It was near midnight , but far from dark . In the northern heavens a rosy glow proclaimed the midnight sun . Somewhere in the willows a robin was chirping , and from the wide bosom of the river , like the thin howl of a wolf , came the mocking cry of a loon still pursuing its finny prey . And in his little canvas tent , sitting just inside , so as to catch the smoke of the fire that afforded protection from the mosquitoes , Hubert Stane still watched and waited for the coming of his promised visitor . He was smoking , and from the look upon his face it was clear that he was absorbed in thoughts that were far from pleasant .