noon
There was no poker ; all hands were too tired for play . The ice in which the schooner was packed began to show signs of disintegration . The surface rotted by day and froze again by night and this destroyed its compactness . If the sun 's arc above the horizon had been longer , its rays more vertical , the ice must infallibly have melted and freed the _ Karluk _ , for it was salt-water ice , and there were times when the thermometer stayed above its freezing point for two or three hours around noon . Lund gave the holding floe scant attention . So long as the present weather kept up he declared that he could dynamite his way out inside of four hours . The effect of all this on Rainey was a bit bewildering .