About noon
After this , we employed our time in scraping the inside of the leopard 's skin , which gave us enough to do ; we then made a sort of lye from the ashes of our fire , which would have , we hoped , some effect in preserving the skin , though we were aware that the process we adopted was very rude and imperfect . As several hours had passed since Tubbs and the two blacks had left us , we became somewhat anxious about them . If the natives had proved treacherous , Tom would very likely be put to death or kept a prisoner , and we should see nothing more of him . About noon , Harry and I had gone down to the lake to get a saucepan of water , when we remarked a tiny speck on the broad shining expanse of the lake , where nothing previously had been visible . `` Hurrah ! that must be the canoe at last , '' he exclaimed . I was of the same opinion .