nearly noon
He realized suddenly how fine a thing it was to be inside four walls , and with it came a great feeling of comfort . It was the same feeling that he had known often in childhood , when he lay in his bed and heard the storm beat against the house . There were others in the room -- the floor was almost covered with them -- but all of them were asleep already , and Dick , wrapping himself in his blanket , joined them , the last thing that he remembered being the swish of the rain against the glass . He slept heavily and was not awakened until nearly noon , when he saw through the window a world entirely changed . The rain had melted only a portion of the snow , and when it ceased after sunrise the day had turned much colder , freezing every thing hard and tight . The surface of valley , slopes and ridges was covered with a thick armor of ice , smooth as glass , and giving back the rays of a brilliant sun in colors as vivid and varied as those of a rainbow . Every tree and bush , to the last little twig , was sheathed also in silver , and along the slopes the forests of dwarfed cedar and pines were a vast field of delicate and complex tracery .