noon
That passage does not take off half as much as appears to come in somewhere from the rocks , and sooner or later this must break through the ice . If it comes to the worst , we must turn engineers and block the passage by blasting down stones in that narrowest part till we have dammed the way out . We should then turn this fiord into a lake , which would , sooner or later , burst down its southern bank . '' There was a little talk that evening , too , about the sun , whose career above the horizon was coming to an end , the height at noon being far less , and at midnight so close down to the horizon that it ceased to shine down into the glen , the rays being hid by the glacier . This fact brought forth serious thoughts , for it suggested the time when the brief summer would be drawing to a close , and the approach of that long period during which the arc described by the sun grew lower and lower until it ceased to appear at all , and then came the worst of the wintry time -- that when , saving the rays of the moon , stars , and aurora , there was no light . `` I do n't want to suggest difficulties , '' said the doctor suddenly ; `` but suppose , when the time for fine weather to be at an end comes , there is no chance of our escape -- always supposing that we have seen nothing of the _ Ice Blink _ people -- what then ? '' `` In plain English , '' said the captain , `` we must make up our minds to pass the winter here . ''