noon
`` We have not yet sighted any original inhabitants , and have found no signs of people living here ; nevertheless , we had traces of a fire thirty or forty miles east of here . That is what puzzles me . '' `` I am in favor of following this stream to the north , '' was Harry 's conclusion , `` unless we make a raft and cross the river . '' Harry 's view finally prevailed , and at noon of that day they camped at the mouth of a little stream which flowed into the West River . Beyond was a forest , and on the opposite side of the West River the wood had all along been dense . At that point the trees did not come down to the stream , and there was considerable lowland between the river and the forest . The Professor and George wandered up the banks of the little stream on a prospecting tour , as had been their constant practice .