The National tribune., 1909-10-21

NORWAY
hopes blasted each time by heavy black
clouds and a drizzling rain. No one on
the ship talks of anything else and
everyone looks as if he or she had lost
their best friend.
For your edification 1 will tell you
that the midnight sun is only visible
in the Arctic Circle, and is first seen at
about Sc degrees north latitude. Tour
lists have several opportunities to be-
hold il before reaching the North Cape;
that is, if the weather permits. One of
these is, l think, at the Lofoten Islands,
and l know it can be seen from TromSo
and Hammerfest. OF course, when the
weather is clear old Sol carries out his
little program of rising and setting ac-
cording TO Hoyle, SO to speak, out in
the blue open, where all who look may
: see, shirking no part of his daily duty.
But in this land of great rocks this
same rising and setting is liable to take
place entirely out of sight of the tour
ist eagerly watching from the deck of
a steamer, and the points mentioned
are where good view can be had of
the performance and where ships stop
largely for that purpose.
Elizabeth and 1 carefully planned
this cruise with view to the uncer-
tainty of the weather, which, I must
say, has far exceeded our gloomiest
fears, and selected the month of July,
because the guide books told US that
the best time for the trip was from
June 20 to Aug. 15. For some occult
reason, however, I suppose it was so
written in the stars, Bad Luck gave US
the glad hand of welcome as soon as we
struck this coast, and she has refused
to part company with us. When we
left Tromso it began to rain, and, if
Nrrfh hatfn l..1r- 1-r,1
almost without cessation ever since.
But / must cheer up and go on with
the story of my adventures which
dropped at Tromso. We were in sight
of that place, which we made a little
after O'Clock on the afternoon of the
14th, when l sealed my last letter to
you. 1t was fairly decent day-that
is, 1t wasn't raining-and we had even
occasional spells of sunshine, and con-
sequently great hopes of the midnight
sun that night. When Elizabeth and
stepped out of the Amazon's boat,
which had brought us from steamer to
shore, we saw before us a wide flight
OF slippery steps without the first thing
70 hang to. We Were obliged TO step
directly from the boat onto these steps.
Il can never do it in this world" said
to Elizabeth. Il shall get on my hands
and knees and crawl up" NO" re-
Piled Elizabeth, ever mindful of her
responsibilities as an American. I'VE
cannot, of course, make such sights of
ourselves as that. Wen take hold of
hands and go up together" But"
] continued, while / am waiting for
you to get out of the boat, or you are
waiting for me, something will have
happened to completely ruin your
touching plan. L shall have fallen into
the water or you will have done so,
and the place thereof shall know us no
s.taT 4
I'm not quite certain. In the mean
while we had come up TO the landing,
and, somehow, Elizabeth and / got sep
arated. / saw several people ascend
the fearful steps without tragic result
and, steadying myself good from the
grasp of the friendly hand which helped
me from the boat, / breathed silent
prayer and started up. When at the
top ! looked around for Elizabeth, aD>
what do you suppose was the signu
which met my gaze? Tenderly support
ed by the best-looking man in the boat,
never looking prettier in her life, with
a smile on her face which showedA all
her lovely teeth, and she has as perfect
teeth as / have ever seen, came that
helped her up. 1 might have known
he would, and she probably knew he
would when she was talking about our
going up together. a woman with the
magnificent hair and teeth Elizabeth
has. not to mention her numerous other
charms of mind and person, carries
around with her always an Aladdin's
lamp. She smiles, and, 10! the impos-
sible is made possible; the longed-for
object, whatever it may be, is, if not
actually AT hand, in sights Elizabeth
thanked the dark-eyed stranger very
prettiiy, no doubt getting off the old
bromide about his having rescued her
or vat
and then Joined me. l joked her a
little about it, and we then turned our
selves in the direction of the town,
tagging on after the other Amazonians
'but taking good care To keep at the
tail of the procession.
Baedeker tells you that Tromso is a
busy little trading place Of some 1000
Inhabitants, with several churches and
schools, the seat of an Amtmand ego
to your dictionary for that word. Miss
and a Bishop. 1t exports, according TO
this excellent authority, large quanti-
ties of dried and smoked berringS and
other fish and trades largely with Rus
sia, fitting out vessels for the capture
of seals and waIruses. Baedeker says
a good deal more about Tromso, but it
is all quite duh, as condensed informal
ton is apt 10 be, and, anyway, / would
rather do the talking myself, and tell
you about the place in my own pretty
way. 1t is an attractive little town,
green as an emerald, beautifully situat-
ed, with high hills topped by snow
splashed rocks all around. front, back
and both sides, planted with mountain
ashes, wild cherry trees, birches, etc.
which look quite large and abundant,
tho the trees I'm the town itself are
sSather stunted and poor-looking. The
houses are generally very plain and