noon
Even after this they lay talking for a long time , and it was between midnight and dawn when they finally fell asleep . This was the reason why it was long after sunrise when they awoke , feeling rather as if they had had a bad night . It was another clear , bright day , though still very cold , and they felt it imperative that they should reach the cabin before nightfall . That forenoon they made all the speed they could , halted for only a brief rest at noon , and pushed on energetically through the afternoon . The cabin could not be far , unless Macgregor had mistaken the way . Look as he would , he could not make out any landmarks that he could remember ; but he had been through only by canoe in the summer , and the woods have a very different appearance in the winter . As the afternoon wore on they began to grow anxious .