noon
Even Wolf , now and then stretching his gaunt self , would nose the air with eager suspicion , as if longing for the excitement of the tragedies in which he was to play such an important part . `` If you can stand it , '' said Wabi , nodding at Rod over his caribou steak , `` we wo n't lose a minute from now on . Over that country we ought to make twenty-five or thirty miles to-morrow . We may strike our hunting-ground by noon , or it may take us two or three days ; but in either event we have n't any time to waste . Hurrah for the big camp , I say -- and our fun begins ! '' It seemed to Rod as though he had hardly fallen asleep that night when somebody began tumbling him about in his bed of balsam . Opening his eyes he beheld Wabi 's laughing face , illuminated in the glow of a roaring fire .