Twelve o'clock
The strange lights began to reappear . Glowing in fantastic forms they seemed alive with lambent fire . As the boys gazed at each other they could see that their features were tinted with the weird fires of the polar sky . Twelve o'clock . Frank gave a hurried dash toward the compass and drew back with a shout . `` Look , '' he shouted , `` we are within the polar influence . '' The needle of the instrument was spinning round and round at an almost perpendicular angle in the binnacle with tremendous velocity .