indeed has been the loss of life among those who have tried to
reach the pole, but the ingenuity of man is great, and in spite of the
ice barrier thou hast built around it we have not lost hope that man by
some device of his own may yet be able to reach the pole."

After uttering these words I imagined I heard, again coming from the far
north, another laugh of the "Long Night." It seemed like a laugh of
defiance in response to what I had said.

Near me was a forest of tall fir trees; looking up I saw the great blue
of heaven studded all over with brilliant stars shining down upon the
snow-covered land where I was.

The next day the sun did not appear. I was now in "The Land of the Long
Night." It was strange now to see stars all the time, and the moon in
the place of the sun. The great pines and fir trees of the forest
contrasted strongly with the snow of the land.

The sun had disappeared below the horizon, but in clear days its glow
could be seen. I could not tell the hour of the day, for the stars set
and rose in continuous succession in this kingdom of the "Long Night." I
did not know when it was morning or when it was evening, but in fine
weather the glow over the horizon told me when it was about noon. It was
indeed a strange land; but the Lapps could tell from the stars whether
it was night or day, for they were accustomed to gauge time by them
according to their height above the horizon, just as we do at home with
the sun. I had my watch, but could not look at it often, for it was
under my garments.

For many days the land was illuminated for a while every night by the
aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. Sometimes the aurora seemed to
imitate the waves of the sea and moved like big heavy swells, changing
colors, bluish, white, violet, green, orange. These colors seemed to
blend together. Then the heaving mass would become gradually intensely
red. This red mass broke into fragments which scattered themselves all
over the blue sky. It gave its reflection to the snow. It was the end of
the aurora or electric storm. They were never twice alike; they varied
in forms and colors. The auroras are like everything in creation: on our
earth there not two men or women exactly alike, there are not two leaves
alike, two blades of grass, two trees, two stones alike, neither two
waves, for the sea is ever changing in its ripples.

CHAPTER XII

THE SNOW GETTING DEEPER.--LAPP HOSPITALITY.--A LAPP REPAST.--COFFEE