noon
The tall , straight pines of the Appleton holdings stretched away for a hundred miles , and formed a high wall on either side of the tote-road , which bent to the contour of ridge and swamp and crossed small creeks on rough log bridges or corduroy causeways . Gradually the stiffness left him , and his aching muscles limbered to their work . His moccasins sank noiselessly into the soft snow as mile after mile he traversed the broad ribbon of white . At noon he camped , and over a tiny fire thawed out his bread and warmed his salmon , which he washed down with copious drafts of snow-water . Then he filled his pipe and blew great lungfuls of fragrant smoke into the air as he rested with his back against a giant pine and watched the fall of the snow . During the last hour the character of the storm had changed . Cold , dry pellets , hissing earthward had replaced the aimless dance of the feathery flakes , and he could make out but dimly the opposite wall of the rod-wide tote-road .