Noon
And Russ had too few cartridges to wish to waste any on the creatures . `` We may have to spend another night in the open , '' he confided to Paul . `` It does n't look very hopeful , '' agreed the young actor . Noon came , and as far as could be told from listening , and from looking about , they were as far off as ever from the steamer . `` And yet it may be within a comparatively short distance of us , '' said Russ , as cheerfully as he could . `` Only the woods are so dense that we ca n't see it , and if our voices and the sounds of the gun carry to the _ Magnolia _ those aboard ca n't tell from which direction they come . '' They had been keeping on in the course first decided on -- southeast -- and there were many twists and turns to the trail .