noon
inquired Mrs Barnett . `` I conclude madam , '' replied the Lieutenant , `` either that the laws of nature are changed , or that this district is very peculiarly situated ... or rather ... I conclude nothing ... I explain nothing ... I am puzzled ... I do not understand it ; and therefore ... therefore I am anxious . '' Mrs Barnett asked no more questions . Evidently the total absence of tides was as unnatural and inexplicable as would be the absence of the sun from the meridian at noon . Unless the earthquake had so modified the conformation of the coast of the Arctic regions as to account for it-but no , such an idea could not be entertained by any one accustomed to note terrestrial phenomena . As for supposing that the Lieutenant could be mistaken in his observations , that was impossible ; and that very day he and Mrs Barnett , by means of beach-marks made on the beach , ascertained beyond all doubt that whereas a year before the sea rose a foot , there was now no tide whatever . The matter was kept a profound secret , as Hobson was unwilling to render his companions anxious .