noon
At that moment Victor , or any one else , might go hang . All they thought of was the awful thirst that assailed them . Breakfast over , the work of loading the sleds proceeded with the utmost dispatch . Thus it was that at noon , without question , without the smallest suspicion of the night 's doings , they set out for the weary `` long trail . '' Jean saw them go . He stood at the door of the store and watched them until they disappeared behind the rising ground of the great Divide . Then his solemn eyes turned away indifferently , and he gazed out into the hazy distance .