noon
The brown stone was slippery with a faint coating of slime , and the scrape of the deerskin down the side gave it a white gleam like the belly of a fish . It was a `` slip '' in every sense , and , when the slight splash announced it , Black Bear at the head of the procession turned about with his most impressive scowl . The party made a halt on the other bank . It was considerably past noon , and , while some busied themselves in starting a fire , and a couple began fishing in the stream , two others going into the woods with their guns , Deerfoot was quite sure that they had decided to spend an hour or so for dinner . He concluded , however , to follow the two who went into the woods , and it was fortunate that he did so . The first surprise that came to him was when the Winnebagos had gone nearly an eighth of a mile from camp . All this time they were making their way up quite a steep slope , so that they were close to the top of a high , wooded ridge .