about noon
Rifle in hand , ready for any quick shot , he searched hour after hour through the woods and thickets . He was wet , bedraggled , and as fierce as a famishing panther , but neither skill nor instinct guided him to anything . The rabbit hid in his burrow , the squirrel remained in his hollow tree , and the deer did not leave his covert . Henry could not well calculate the passage of time , it seemed so fearfully long , and there was no one to tell him , but he judged that it must be about noon , and his temper was becoming that of the famished panther to which he likened himself . He paused and looked around the circle of the dripping woods . He had retained his idea of direction and he knew that he could go straight back to the hut in the swamp . But he had no idea of returning now .