midnight
It was the sound produced by the soldier boys , pounding their coffee fine in their tin cups with the butt of their bayonets . And the effect of a pint of that hot Government Java coffee was perfectly marvelous . It would almost instantly take the aching and tired feeling from the muscles , and we could have marched all night if necessary . '' `` I can not realize that this is midnight , '' said Mattie , as they stood upon the balcony , well wrapped in furs , looking over the vast fields of ice and snow . `` One would hardly know when to get up or go to bed in this wonderful country . '' The time rapidly passed ; they reached the 86th , 87th , 88th , 89th degrees of latitude , and the strain upon their nerves grew to be tremendous . The Doctor and Professor could not rest anywhere but in the observatory , glasses in hand .