noon
Forward , if it were only a yard ; if it were only a foot . Forward over the heart-breaking , rubble ice ; forward against the biting , shrieking wind ; forward in the face of the blinding snow ; forward through the brittle crusts and icy water ; forward , although every step was an agony , though the haul-rope cut like a dull knife , though their clothes were sheets of ice . Blinded , panting , bruised , bleeding , and exhausted , dogs and men , animals all , the expedition struggled forward . One day , a little before noon , while lunch was being cooked , the sun broke through the clouds , and for upward of half an hour the ice-pack was one blinding , diamond glitter . Bennett ran for his sextant and got an observation , the first that had been possible for nearly a month . He worked out their latitude that same evening . The next morning Ferriss was awakened by a touch on his shoulder .