You enter a nice, clean dining room, and there you see tables spread with very white tablecloths. Here and there upon the tables are stacks of soup plates, dinner plates and small dessert plates, and knives, forks and spoons close by them; dishes of boiled salmon with sauce, hot potatoes, boiled beef and cauliflower with cream sauce; then, too, ever so many kinds of cheese, and some smoked meats. We followed the example of the rest of the people, and forthwith helped ourselves to a plate, knife, fork and spoon. No waiters looked after our wants, so each person looked after himself, being careful not to push or elbow his neighbor. Everybody was orderly, and the dinner was splendid. Two women had the oversight of the dining room, but they sat off at one side, behind a little table, and did not leave their seats until paying time came, when they took the money and made the change. A servant appeared and took away each plate when it was needed no more, and when time for the dessert had come, she removed the fish, meat and vegetable dishes. There was no tarrying one for the other, but as each person desired a dessert he arose, took a plate and helped himself to the jellied raspberry juice, or tapioca pudding; and as a dressing for them delicious whipped cream, poured from a large glass pitcher, was used. After paying the bill, each one passed out to the train, which started soon after. [Illustration] CHAPTER III. _Norway.—Kong Halfdan.—Fjords.—Hay Transfer.—Government Vessel.—Two Young Girls.—A Glacier.—The Captain’s Kindness.—The Beautiful Picture.—Tromsö.—A Floating Buoy.—Eider Ducks.—Lapp Family.—Reindeer.—Torghatten.—Fish.—The Trap for Salmon.—Hammerfest.—The White Polar Bear.—The Drunken Sailor.—Arctic Ocean.—Whaling Station.—The Little White Church.—Striking a Reef of Rocks._ Before a tourist leaves home the mind is usually settled upon certain places to be visited in the Old World. We think it a very good plan, for then the history of those special points may be looked up and the visit made more satisfactory; for the more knowledge one has of noted historical places, the more pleasing is the visit. Norway was the country we had decided to visit, and “The Land of the Midnight Sun” was the point aimed for. So the twentieth day of August found us two in the city of Throndhjem, once the capital of Norway. Instead of railway coaches, passage was taken on a steamer which was then at the pier puffing heavy black smoke from the smokestack. [Illustration: _The Midnight Sun._]