The National tribune., 1909-10-28

1
and written know not BY whom:
| The midnight sun on the mountain lay,
| And blood-red was its hue;
1t was not night, it was not day,
But wavered 'twixt the two"
| I do not call that great poetry GER
tainly, but it states the case simply and
plainly. Everything, outside the direct
rays of the sun, was bathed in a light
which was neither night nor day, but
a sort of cross between the two, and
which gave an indescribdble charm to
! the picture. / was standing with
gauze scarf over my eyes looking at
| the sun, for l could not bear its blind
ing brilliancy, when q gentleman near
me kindly offered his glass. Thru it
old Sol looked like small white ball.
All pictures of the midnight sun look
exactly like the moon, which fact you
probably took in from the photograph
of North Cape which I sent you In my
last letter.
Elizabeth and gazed and gazed un-
til it seemed pretty certain nothing
further would happen. when we turned
to each other and grabbed hands. "Oh,
Elizabeth" / said, eff we had missed
this!" YES" she answered, "and think
how near you came to missing it as II
is" Which was perfectly true, for at
one time during the evening, before the
Captain stopped the ship, and while the
sun was behind the rocks, 1 became
discouraged, and actually made some
sort of a weak, half-proposition to give
it up and go below; but, as usual, EN-
abeth's good sense saved me from this
fatal blunder. 1t was hard to tear our
selves away, but at 1870, pretty thoroly
exhausted from the excitement, Sus-
pcnse lack of sleep and all, We went to
our cabins, filled with the wonder and
awe of the great spectacle, and, oh, so
happy that we had witnessed it.
| Yesterday was our second Sunday on
The Amazon. Neither of us slept much
after the performance which the mid
! night sun had given us, and did not
leave our cabin till luncheon time. 1t
was a cold, rainy, disagreeable day. the
same old weather, we have become so
well acquainted with which emphasized
our wonderful good fortune of the day
and night before. About O'Clock we
, made a landing at Raftsund (Which |
think is the name of a sound and not
a place, but that was what everyone
, called i), where there was little
peninsula with yellow lighthouse on
. it, about % houses, and q magnificent
; view, which out of mercy to you l VIII
r not attempt to describe. The ford winds
around so prettily here. The thing to
do is TO walk to the top of the Digger
mullen, from which it is said the view
=, just knocks you silly. The German
Emperor has had a little place for rest
and shelter built on the summit and
the story goes that having seen a pic
; ture Of this view once he calmly re
/ marked that he didn't believe it was a
genuine reproduction, because there
, simply couldn't be anything so heauti-
, full. To prove it he visited the place
himself. and, finding the view even
more lovely than the artist had por-
, trayed it, he built, or had built this
l little palivion as a mark of royal ap-
: proval. The Germans are very fond
of Norway. You meet them all the
time IN your travels thru the country,
and the German Kaiser is specially SO.
l / said l would spare you any descrip-
tion Of Raftsund, but l cannot refra n
r from remarking en- paSsant, as 1t were,
1 that the rocks opposite were wonderful
\ ly grand and imposing, and with the
mist hanging over the tops, as it was
! yesterday, the scene was-but you must
supply your own adjective, my stock is
entirely exhausted.
Our sojourn on the good ship Anna
Zon, which has been our home for the
4 past IL days, is nearly over. This is
our last day. Tomorrow morning We
I reach Moldc, where We will remain two
| days before beginning our driving tour
! down to Bergin. 1t seems hardly nee
essary TO tell you that il is cold and
v Idisagreeable to-day, tho 1t is not at pres
! ent raining. No sun since the night OF
Z the great display. Doesn't it look. really
as if Heaven, taking pity on us, had
9 deliberately changed its rnade-out pro-
. gram for bad weather, and given US
, that one perfect day ard night that W.
! might not return to our various lands
and homes wretchcd pessimists for life
c | believe so. Elizabeth and l are all
s packed to leave the ship, and have been
= sitting in our chairs, well tucked up by
t.N- .t..l.
n iyoung people who have been trying to
: kill time and keep warm. About hall
|, q dozen girls have just been engaged In
II lifc-preSeryer race. The girl who ad-
/ Ijusted the life preserver, and reached a
g certain point on the deck in the short
e est period of time, won. Nearly all OF
: them showed an amazing dcXterity IL
n getting into the life preservers. LITTLE
4 while ago we passed Torghattcn again
. and could see the hole in the queer
4 hat-shaped rock very plainly. No land
: ing has been made since we left Raft
f sund.
Elizabeth and j feel that we are
+ leaving the Amazon at just the righ
4 time ANY longer stay on her would b'
o too much. We are beginning TO bt
worn out by the noise made by Roya
and the other stewards. not cXceptin;
i Mrs. Jones, which has robbed us of 81
4 much sleep, difficult enough TO get un
!,
n in this land of continuous day, ant
q we're tired of several other things. Ou
n interest in the Amazon ans isn't keei
It enough to make us forget various dis
n comforts. We've gotten all there Is I,
, get out of the experience. and are long
E ing for fresh fields and pastures new
d The cruise has been delightful, anC
IL now that we have seen the midnigh
N sun we feel that il has been perfec
t. success. ! can't help feeling that W.
% must have stretched a little mental!
" and esthetically, if not spir tually. sine
q we started on this trip. The wonderful
II scenery of the coast has filled our soul
.e with delight, and the life on the Anna
10 zon has been of decided value to us, TO
h, by deepening our experience it has Wid
10 cncd our vision and enriched our ap
r. probation Of different phases of life
lt Except for the beauty Of the scener!
I the cruise has been uneventful Moth
,r ing specially thrilling in interest ha
g come TO us thru the people on boar,
: the Amazon. All have been very mic
i, and polite, but they will soon be for
ls gotten "Tootsey's" toilets, the Balti
o baths of the frowsly-headed Englisl
e lady. even the agreeable conversation
> we have had with our Scotch friends
- will. ! know, soon float from our memo
If ries as the smoke from our steame
L floats upward and is lost in the clouds
II The plunge we are about to make, al