the midnight sun
The whole scene might well have been the fantastic dream of some imaginative painter , whose ambition soared beyond the limits of human skill . Yet it was only one of those million wonderful effects of sky and sea which are common in Norway , especially on the Altenfjord , where , though beyond the Arctic circle , the climate in summer is that of another Italy , and the landscape a living poem fairer than the visions of Endymion . There was one solitary watcher of the splendid spectacle . This was a man of refined features and aristocratic appearance , who , reclining on a large rug of skins which he had thrown down on the shore for that purpose , was gazing at the pageant of the midnight sun and all its stately surroundings , with an earnest and rapt expression in his clear hazel eyes . `` Glorious ! beyond all expectation , glorious ! '' he murmured half aloud , as he consulted his watch and saw that the hands marked exactly twelve on the dial .