midnight
Here William , who was , as we have seen , of an inquiring turn of mind , interrupted the Captain to ask if he would not be so good as to mention again how dark it was in this polar winter . `` Dark as midnight , '' replied the Captain , promptly . `` Dark all the time , did you say , Captain Hardy ? '' `` Yes , dark all the time , my lad , -- dark in the morning , dark in the evening , dark at midnight , dark at noon , dark , all the time , as any night you ever saw ; only , everything being white with snow , of course makes the night lighter than it does here , where the trees and the houses , and other dark objects , help along the blackness and make it more gloomy , -- absorbing the light , you see , while the snow reflects it . '' `` But what , '' asked William , `` did you do for light in this dark time , since you did not have a lamp ? '' `` Easy there , my lad , '' replied the Captain ; `` I 'm just coming to that , you see . Somebody has said that ` necessity is the mother of invention , ' or words to that effect ; and darkness , I think , may be considered a ` mother ' of that description .